Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has a clear objective: people should develop the knowledge, values and skills that enable them to make an effective contribution to a sustainable future.
The educational concept therefore specifically supports learning processes that encourage responsible thinking and action – with a view to present and future generations as well as to global coexistence.
It is not a question of simple answers, but of weighing up different interests and perspectives. Because truly sustainable solutions can only be found with a networked and integrative way of thinking and acting. ESD thus combines ecological, social, economic, political and cultural dimensions to promote systemic thinking and the management of complexity, uncertainties and conflicting goals.
Germany has set up a steering body for the ESD process in the form of the National Platform for ESD, which adopted a national action plan in 2017. It contains more than 100 targets and over 300 recommendations for action at all levels of education – from nursery to university – which, by 2030, will enable all learners to develop the skills they need to act sustainably.
What does this mean specifically? ESD reveals connections, encourages a change of perspective and creates space for the discussion of controversial topics. As an interdisciplinary educational concept, ESD also offers a framework for contributions from all disciplines, with the aim of strengthening the skills needed for a sustainable society.
In this way, pupils develop an awareness of interrelationships. They are able to make informed decisions for the future and assess their short-term and long-term effects at a local and global level. For these reasons, ESD is seen as an important key to achieving the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Education for Sustainable Development aligns directly with myclimate’s mission statement. The approach stands for quality and future-oriented learning and aims to transform society – towards a good life for everyone.
ESD is also relevant to myclimate because it:
All of these are key elements in myclimate’s education work and in its communications.
Learners, employees and customers are at the heart of myclimate’s education projects. The declared aim is to make sustainability tangible and encourage young people to actively shape their future.
To this end, the projects create environments that enable active, participatory and project-based learning. Systemic thinking and the consideration of several dimensions are a common thread running through the formats.
In other words, learners are involved in decisions and processes. They develop their own projects and plan them in teams. They are not simply receptacles for taught knowledge; they develop their own skills that enable them to think and act sustainably.
This encourages them to change their perspective and enables them to design new visions for the future, reflect on conflicting goals and recognise complex interrelationships.
Specific examples include the following programmes:
In the Energy and Climate Pioneers project, schoolchildren throughout Germany engage intensively with energy sources and climate protection. At interactive workstations, they learn in a fun way how to make sustainable decisions. At the end, the participants develop their own climate protection project at their school and learn how they can actively shape their environment.
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The Young Climathon is an innovative ideas competition for schoolchildren from the 10th grade onwards, which is held throughout Germany several times a year for a specific city or region.
Over the course of one day, young people develop creative, practical solutions for real climate protection challenges that companies and administrations bring into the project as challenge partners. The students deal in detail with the challenges of sustainability management, develop their proposed solution step by step using project management methods and then present it in a pitch. The best ideas are rewarded and implemented in a follow-up with the companies. At the integrated job fair, young people can get to know their partners as potential employers and get ideas for their own future.
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The Climate Conference Simulation is an interactive simulation game in which students (from grade 10, Germany) take on the roles of global interest groups and develop and negotiate global climate protection measures using a climate simulation model.
Despite differing interests, the challenge for all participants is to achieve the internationally agreed two-degree target. In a final reflection, the climate target achieved and the associated co-benefits are considered, and a look is taken at areas where the students could potentially take action to protect the climate.
Through the project, students gain an understanding of effective climate protection measures and are empowered to participate as effective actors in climate-relevant social processes.
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Our educational programme for schools and companies
Would you like to find out more about our educational programme or are you interested in carrying out a project at your school or in your workplace?
