Going Green
Going Green – Education for Sustainability is an annual school project that engages German and U.S.-American schools in intercultural and technology-enhanced project work in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Sustainability is used as a case study to help German learners develop a deeper understanding of the socio-political and cultural contexts of U.S. society. We are specifically emphasizing the function of local, state, and federal policies as well as civic engagement.
How it started
Since the first pilot project was launched in 2014, over 3,000 students and their teachers in Germany and the U.S. have participated in Going Green - Education for Sustainability. They have explored how sustainable development is targeted in both cultures, focusing on best practice examples and local case studies. Learners have connected project contents to their own communities by reaching out to local policy makers and businesses in an effort to design and initiate their own sustainability action plans. Many project ideas have been put into practice in schools and communities. In 2015, Going Green - Education for Sustainability was awarded as Landmark in the Land of Ideas in the prestigious initiative Germany - Land of Ideas, supported by the German Federal Government and Deutsche Bank.
Project curriculum
The goal of Going Green is to foster interest in innovative sustainability research across the curriculum including the humanities, languages and STEM subjects, to encourage civic engagement, and develop job qualifications for young people. The suggested classroom work for Going Green can be divided into three steps: (1) an introduction to the topic of sustainability, especially focusing on underlying concepts like sustainable development, the ecological footprint, and global warming; (2) an exploration of exemplary sustainability topics in connection to local case studies in the U.S. as well as the students' own communities; (3) the development of an action plan to promote sustainable development in the students' own communities, e.g. their schools, families, neighborhoods, or cities.
To view the curriculum in context, take a look at the demo Moodle course for this project. Inside the course, you will find detailed teaching notes guiding you through the individual steps of the project and how to use the provided tasks and materials in your classroom.
Demo Course
