On September 25-29 this year, representatives of schools (SP8 and SP10 from Zamość and SP1 and SP5 from Mińsk Mazowiecki) and of the Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités", participated in a study visit to Berlin organized as a part of the project Visions2045: Schools as drivers to Climate Neutraty in Cities. The visit was aimed at preparing teachers to plan pro-climate activities and inspiring them with German experiences in this area.
Each day, during short workshop sessions organized and led by experts from the UfU (Independent Institute for Environmental Issues), participants had the opportunity to learn more on various methods of working with students. Together, with the support of experts, they considered what measures – in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, schoolyard management and water use, mobility, consumption, supplies, nutrition, waste management and climate education – should be taken in schools to reduce energy and water consumption, emit less environmentally harmful greenhouse gases, avoid wasting food, generate less waste, and increase students' environmental awareness.
On the first day, participants divided into groups with the use of the "brainstorming" method tried to invent and develop, within the above mentioned thematic areas, as many activities as possible that they would like to implement in their schools. In the afternoon, the group visited one of Germany's secondary schools Peter-Lenne-Schule. The school headmaster told the guests how his institution operates, and then invited them to a site visit to show what steps they had already made on their path to climate neutrality. Participants admired the beautifully developed schoolyard with diverse and well-kept vegetation and a rainwater tank used for watering plants. Guests also explored a mini zoo located there, near-by greenhouse, a demonstration mini biogas plant, as well as a rain and vegetable gardens. At the end, they visited the modern and well-equipped physics and chemistry laboratory, which included educational kits for practical lessons e.g. on the construction and operation of photovoltaic panels.
On the second day, participants went to the Steglitz Primary School, where they attended a workshop on nutrition. Malte Schmidthals from the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment talked about climate-friendly and energy-efficient school kitchens. He explained how environmentally friendly meals could be composed and which products should be avoided because of their very high carbon footprint. During the next workshop session, participants (with the support of an expert from the UfU) proceeded to create a 'roadmap to climate neutrality'. In doing so, they used the climate actions proposed the day before, which they placed on a timeline: from now to 2045. Then they were tasked with selecting two most important ideas that should be implemented in their school first. This allowed them to identify the most interesting activities.
After the workshop part, one of the teachers talked about how the vision workshops were conducted in her school and how the selected actions were implemented. Then the group toured the school and its surroundings and viewed the raised vegetable and herb beds and sensory garden prepared by the students.
On the last day of the study visit, the guests went to the Szweizerhof Primary School, where they learned about the project entitled 'Frei Day Concept – education for sustainable development'. It is aimed at engaging students in practical work that develops a variety of skills useful in everyday life. Every Thursday, instead of attending classes, students go to the 'experience garden' where, supervised by an adult, they look after the animals, the garden and they build small architectural objects using ecological materials: tree houses, huts, arbours, benches, etc. Each group of children has a different task to perform, also inside the school building, such as seeding, preparing a play or using recycled materials.
At the end, the teachers were asked by the organisers to share their opinions and impressions. As part of the summary of the study visit, they indicated which initiatives they liked most and would like to implement in their schools.
The diverse and interesting agenda of the study visit to Berlin enabled the Visions2045 project participants to gain new experiences and inspirations, and also prepared them to carry out vision workshops in their schools and implement the activities planned within them. Teachers, full of enthusiasm and new ideas, returned to their cities to effectively use the gained knowledge and pass it on to their students and colleagues.
