Summer School 2003: "The Global Aspects of Sustainable Education"

   
Once again, BLK-Programme "21" will be organizing an international Summer School near Berlin, in Germany, this August. The title of this year's Summer School is "The Global Aspects of Sustainable Development", and the programme will include seminars on Globalisation, Poverty and Wealth, Biodiversity, Waterworld (in English), Tourism, and Intercultural Competencies. There will be separate seminars for teachers and students. The event will be held in Blossin/Brandenburg, near Berlin, Germany, with about 100 teachers and 100 students expected to participate, mostly from Germany but also from Austria and Switzerland. However, in order to add a more international aspect, the organizers will also invite 6 school teams (teacher and students) from the Eco-schools network to participate and will cover their costs. The event will take place in, with delegates arriving 3^rd and departing 8^th August. A final programme for the Summer School will be available in January.
   
More information on BLK-Programme "21" (in German language) from: www.service-umweltbildung.de

   
Teacher-training on "Sustainable Development" and "International Co-operation" is one of the major objectives within the "Eco-Schools"- network in Germany. Each academic-year DGU (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Umwelterziehung e.V., FEE Member for Germany) organizes at least two training seminars for every region in co-operation with regional partners. In February (11-13/02/02) there had been a seminar in Weilburg/Hesse. The regional co-ordinator, Ms Beekman-Mathar, was happy to welcome not only 25 teachers from Hesse but also two representatives from Greece, Mr. Joachim Zeiger from the "Maus-Zentrum Gießen" (Media-Support-Center) and the European Co-ordinator, Mr. Sergio Santos. Mr. Zeiger hold a lecture about various possibilities for "Eco-Schools" to present their projects in the internet, Mr. Santos presented the "Eco-Schools"-linking system. More teacher-training seminars were organised in Gera and Erfurt (Thuringia), Leipzig (Saxony), Hamburg and Stralsund (Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania) and Hannover (Lower-Saxony) on the 4^th March 2002.

(March 2002)

   
“International Co-operation and Participation in Europe” was the topic of the first Eco-Schools three-days meeting on the federal level in Germany in Lüneburg (Lower-Saxony). The aim of the conference was to strengthen the European dimension of Eco-Schools, to exchange experiences of international co-operation between schools (e.g. in the context of COMENIUS or ENSI) and to initiate international contacts between schools. The partnership-region for the conference this year was Scandinavia. More than 100 Eco-Schools teachers and students from all over Germany and several representatives from Scandinavian countries followed DGU invitation to attend the conference, organised in co-operation with the University of Lüneburg and the Ministry of Education of Lower-Saxony. In the opening session, Jürgen Schlegel from the head office for environmental protection from Deutsche Telekom AG, pointed out that international co-operation is a common task for people involved in environmental education on the one hand and business-companies on the other hand. Prof. Dr. Ute Stoltenber from the University of Lüneburg added that working together could be a benefit for NGO's, companies, Eco-Schools and municipalities. Within the framework of the conference Sérgio Santos, the European Eco-Schools Coordinator, presented the concept of the new Eco-Schools linking system. Mr Santos considered the conference a success and a good example for regional/national and international exchanges of experiences within the Eco-Schools network. Next year DGU will organise a follow-up conference, with “Iberian Peninsula” as a possible partner-region.

(December 2001)

Representatives from six European Countries Participate in Summer University

   
The summer university was organised by the Free University of Berlin in the framework of the “Programme 21” for schools, which aims to provide children and young people with the competence to form and shape a sustainable life and economy in the 21 Century. DGU - representing FEE in Germany - invited representatives from Eco-Schools all over Europe to take part; delegations from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Italy and Portugal followed the invitation to meet their colleagues from Germany, making this a truly international event, with more than 150 participants. After five days of seminars and workshops, the groups, which focused on “Future of Work”, “Participation of Children and Teens”, “Sustainability and Gender”, “International Justice” and “Learning Region” presented their results. An informative and trend-setting market of possibilities emerged in the form of billboards, quizzes and action games and presentations. For more information (results, photos, etc.), consult the website: www.blk.21.de

(August 2001)