MÜHLEN. How do I plan sustainability project days as a school? How do I get teachers and pupils on board? What can sport (lessons) do to develop values and the personality of young people and adults in addition to technical, tactical and coordination skills?
These and other questions were the focus of the second digital network meeting of the "AG Bildung", initiated by the Mühlen-based climate protection initiative "Sports for Future" (SFF), on 14 February 2024. A total of 25 participants, including twelve representatives of regional educational institutions, exchanged ideas with each other on this evening.
"Our network is growing, which makes us very happy. It is already an exciting mix of teachers and network partners who are supporting each other on the way to systematically anchoring sustainable development as a topic in lessons and school culture," says Antonia Böckmann, Head of Project Management and Communication at Sports for Future.
Patric Vaihinger from the "Home of Goals" organisation began with a keynote speech. Home of Goals uses sport to develop not only athletes with their technical, tactical and coordination skills, but also people's personalities with their personal and social skills - through slightly modified games and extensive reflection. In workshops and project days at schools, Home of Goals focuses on applying skills such as self-confidence, empathy, discipline, motivation and teamwork to situations off the pitch and in the everyday lives of children and young people.
Claudia Totzke from the secondary school in Holdorf then reflected on the Climate Days that had just ended at her school and gave helpful tips and ideas to the group. A lively discussion followed. Antonia Böckmann then presented the working group's exchange platform "Teams" once again. There, experiences and ideas, practical examples, materials, contacts and much more can be exchanged. She also presented the "cooperation signs" specially produced by SFF, which partner schools can request and hang up at their premises if they are interested.
Schools are crucial places for societal transformation. The United Nations' goal is to integrate the theme of "Education for Sustainable Development" into all educational areas by 2030. Schools are thus tasked with systematically incorporating sustainable development as a theme in teaching and school culture. This is because SDG 4 (SDG = Sustainable Development Goals, the UN's 17 goals for sustainable development) can only be achieved if schools, as significant institutions, incorporate ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) into their teaching and school development.
"Sport, with its power to move, inspire, and unite people worldwide, can play an important role in environmental education," says Antonia Böckmann, Head of Project Management and Communication at Sports For Future. "We see this in the increasing number of individuals and organizations from the education sector joining our initiative. That was the reason to connect these people from our network through the working group."
Regular digital meetings will be held to discuss key topics. "Our aim is to motivate each other, show role models, join forces, start collaborations and increase expertise," says Antonia Böckmann.
Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Sports for Future education working group is cordially invited to contact Antonia Böckmann at antonia@sportsforfuture.de or find out more at www.sportsforfuture.de .
DE