ESD: District honours schools

The Waldeck-Frankenberg district has recently awarded the ‘Waldeck-Frankenberg ESD School’ label to further schools. This award recognises the school community’s commitment to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Valentin Primary School, Helsen: Democracy and Nature
Valentin PrimarySchool in Helsen has set up a class and pupil council to promote democratic structures in line with the school’s motto, ‘My school is our school’. This enables the children and young people to learn how to resolve conflicts independently, collaboratively and peacefully, to take responsibility for the school and class community, and to contribute and implement their own ideas.

In addition, the school’s Nature Club offers children in Years 2 to 4 a range of environmental learning activities, such as life in water, nature through the seasons, native wildlife, tending the school garden and growing vegetables, as well as experiencing the forest. This programme promotes participatory teaching methods and helps pupils to recognise, understand and appreciate ecological interrelationships.

Schule am Enser Tor, Korbach: Participation & School Garden
At the Schule am Enser Torin Korbach, a class council has been introduced in every class; depending on the year group, pupils are either involved in facilitating the meetings or take on this role themselves. In this way, they learn to participate actively, contribute ideas, and form and express their own opinions.

The school also has a school garden with nesting boxes, a garden shed, a greenhouse, a garden pond, flowerbeds and raised beds. In an extracurricular club, the pupils grow vegetables and are involved in sowing, cultivation, harvesting and processing throughout the school year. Factors affecting growth, such as time, light, water, nutrients and pests, are thus demonstrated in a practical way, and pupils gain first-hand experience of sustainability. Harvesting and processing take place both in the club and during home economics lessons, ensuring that all year groups are involved.

Mathias-Bauer School, Bad Wildungen: Recertification & practical education
The Mathias-Bauer School in BadWildungen has been an ESD school since November 2023 and was recently recertified for a further two years. The class council, which was already established there, has been revised and adapted to the needs of the pupil body, with particular emphasis placed on fostering critical and reflective opinion-forming, self-determination and participation among pupils with different educational needs.

In addition, the herb box project developed earlier was expanded into a raised bed. It was built by the pupils during practical skills lessons and is maintained by a gardening group. The vegetables grown are harvested and prepared as part of cookery lessons, enabling pupils to gain hands-on experience of seasonality, regional produce, organic production, as well as the care and labour involved in social collaboration.

Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
Other ESD schools in the district include the Schule am Goldberg in Allendorf and the Kellerwaldschule in Frankenau. Together, all ESD schools are committed to the long-term embedding and practical implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as to the firm establishment of participatory structures in everyday school life. They collaborate with partners outside the school, bring the entire school community together and integrate the experience- and action-oriented educational approach of Education for Sustainable Development into many aspects of school life.

Congratulations to the University of Kassel and Humboldt University of Berlin
“As a district, we promote activities in the field of ESD and provide support with certification, networking and the development of sustainable school projects,” says District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst. In this context, he also congratulates the University of Kassel and HU Berlin, whose joint project “Socio-ecological Education for Sustainable Development in Primary School General Studies” has been honoured by UNESCO and the BMBSFJ with the “National Award – Education for Sustainable Development”. “We are delighted that this project – which, during the past school year, also involved teaching sessions led by students at our Schule am Goldberg and our Diemeltalschule, and in which the district was involved as the school authority – has received this special honour.”

 
Caption: The Mathias-Bauer School in Bad Wildungen has been an ESD school since 2023 and has been recertified for a further two years. (Photo: Waldeck-Frankenberg District)

Keywords:

Education for Sustainable Development ESD School Waldeck-Frankenberg