ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Curiosity and mindfulness
We offer environmental education from Germany to Indonesia. Here, children, young people and adults can learn how to take effective action against global challenges.
CHILDREN + YOUTH
What is environmental education?
ESD (education for sustainable development)
Originally, “environmental education” focused primarily on ecological issues and the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems. It was not until the 1992 Rio Conference that social and economic issues began to be addressed more extensively in order to pursue a holistic, sustainable development. This educational approach is more in line with “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD).
The aim here is to impart the skills needed to actively shape the sustainable development of society. However, ESD and environmental education need not be mutually exclusive and their boundaries are often blurred.
Why is environmental education important?
Today, the world’s population needs around 1.7 Earths to cover its entire resource requirements. In Germany it is almost three earths!
In 2020, the global demand for resources already exceeded the resources that can be regenerated by the earth each year on August 22, on Earth Overshoot Day. As a result, global challenges arise on a social, ecological and economic level. From biodiversity loss and climate change to combating hunger and poverty and dealing with the scarcity of resources. In order to overcome these challenges and comply with planetary boundaries, society, including lifestyles and economic styles as well as consumption and production patterns, must be made more sustainable.
Internationally, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are regarded as groundbreaking in this regard. Education is seen as a necessary prerequisite for driving forward this sustainable development. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) thus contributes “to the realization of all other Sustainable Development Goals”.
We also come to your school!
As an extracurricular partner, we form the interface between theory and practice. In addition to our learning units, your students will gain an insight into the work of an environmental protection organization. Whether 1st or 13th grade, we adapt our offers according to the age and educational level of your students! No matter what type of educational institution you are, we are always happy to come to you and look forward to your inquiries.
Please note that we are particularly active in our region (Rhineland-Palatinate) in order to avoid long journeys. If your school is located outside of RLP, you are still welcome to write to us: depending on the request and scope, we can also come to you!
We offer two options for cooperation:
Long-term school sponsorships
We are firmly convinced that environmental education has the greatest impact when it is continuous and accompanying. As part of a partnership, your school will receive a quota of 65 school hours, which can be redeemed in the following areas according to your needs:
– Workshops / project days and weeks
– Sustainable school festivals
– Environmental training for class representatives / student representatives
– Private lessons in individual classes
This allows us to monitor and optimize the development of the individual measures during the school year. Throughout the year, students are constantly given new impetus and can celebrate successes and receive feedback. Individual classes/grades can set themselves goals in environmental protection and implement and evaluate these together with the class representatives. Children and young people who are particularly interested in the environment can develop their own ideas in workshops and implement them together at school.
Short-term cooperation
In addition to our long-term school partners, we also offer schools short-term cooperation to provide important impetus in the area of environmental education. The individual modules range from at least 45 minutes (individual lesson) to an entire school week (project week). Here a school can choose its offer from a range of learning units.
Our content is based on age and the current curriculum. This allows us to reach more children and educational institutions in order to achieve a greater impact. We have also found that some schools would like to enter into a long-term partnership with Project Wings after a short-term collaboration.
Are we supposed to come to your school?
Or do you still have questions?
Contact us at: bildung@project-wings.de
OUR PROJECTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
REGIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
It therefore makes sense for us to focus on ecological issues in our educational work. At the same time, however, we do not view these problems in isolation. We combine environmental protection with humanitarian and economic challenges. Here we are guided by the three-dimensional model, in which the three dimensions of ecology, economy and social aspects are mutually dependent and therefore cannot be changed or optimized independently of each other. The effects of decisions must therefore always be considered in relation to all dimensions.
We also want to refrain from using threat scenarios. Instead, we focus on developing new visions and design options. In our view, it is more important to enable pupils to act competently in terms of sustainable development rather than to point the moral finger. Because only through a joint exchange can we change the structures of our society in the long term and achieve the goal of sustainable development.
INDONESIA
GREEN CLASS
Suriono Masno founded the “Green Class” with his son, Imam, in 2016. Together with other volunteer teachers, they give up to 120 children and young people the opportunity to learn about environmental issues through play. With the help of excursions, meetings with other school classes and visits from our partners, the children learn how to treat our planet responsibly. Current challenges are explained and sensible solutions can now be discussed and tried out in the newly built Green Education Center in the recycling village.
Every week, the children can take part in all activities and the additional English course free of charge. The newly acquired knowledge is passed on by the children to their parents, manifested and gradually integrated into everyday life. Thanks to the additional free opportunity to learn English, their career prospects will increase.
The aim of the Green Class is to raise awareness and find solutions for various environmental challenges – for both children and adults.
Indonesia
ECO-TRAIL
Eco-Trail – Environmental Education & Native Flora on Sumatra
Papayas, mangosteens, ginger, or pineapples—do you actually know how these plants grow?
On our “Eco-Trail,” you’ll learn about Sumatra’s native flora. This nature trail provides information about fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants, as well as their sustainable cultivation. You’ll learn what conditions the plants need to grow, why they thrive so well right here, and how they can be used.
School groups, tourists, and volunteers are guided through the Eco-Trail by our experienced Indonesian team. During the tour, traditional knowledge is shared, and visitors learn how natural gardening and farming can work entirely without chemicals.
The Eco-Trail is currently being revised and further developed. Together with a master’s student from Germany, a new concept for the future Eco-Trail in the Recycling Village is currently being developed.
INDONESIA
WINGS AMBASSADOR
Our latest project, of which we are particularly proud, focuses on educating the next generation about climate protection and activism. Children are especially creative and full of great ideas. We want to create an environment for them that helps them develop these valuable skills and use them to bring their own visions of an environmentally sustainable future to life.
That’s why we launched the Wings Ambassador program. We’re collecting the best environmental ideas from 13 schools. The top three winners will receive further training from us on waste management and conservation.
You’ll learn the basics of project management, draft your own proposals, and go through a guided training phase to implement the ideas you’ve developed yourself. A special bonus: You’ll receive a budget so you can actually bring these ideas to life!
In interim and final reports, the young climate activists document their successes and lessons learned. This approach creates a domino effect that also inspires other children—and thus our future— inspires a shift toward climate-friendly thinking and action.
INTERNATIONAL
ENLIGHTENMENT
We bring more clarity to sustainable everyday life. Through interactive and highly engaging content, we make seemingly complex topics accessible to a wide variety of audiences. Our mission is to make environmental protection socially acceptable. To this end, we reach out to people in Germany and Indonesia through various media to educate them and provide them with solutions that are easy to incorporate into their daily lives.
Whether through social media and funny Reels or through lectures at Indonesian universities—we’re trying every possible avenue to mobilize as many people as possible to help preserve our planet. The ranger patrol, the trash collection team, and the Ecobrick station also actively reach out to the local population to raise awareness in their respective fields.
INDONESIA
LOW-WASTE SCHOOLS
We are in the process of developing a structured curriculum for environmental education and waste management strategies to support local schools on their path to sustainability. To be continued…
INDONESIA
ADULT EDUCATION
English classes not just for kids, but for adults, too! Our team in Bukit Lawang takes English classes every Friday to improve their English skills and feel more confident communicating in everyday situations, with guests, and with volunteers. In this way, we foster both the language skills and future prospects of our employees over the long term. Nopa’s story—one of our employees in the Recycling Village & Construction division—highlights just how important it is to regularly attend English classes. After years of working on palm oil plantations with no prospects for the future, Nopa joined Project Wings. He started out with no knowledge of English as a grass cutter in the Recycling Village. Now he guides tourists through the village and works closely with volunteers from all over the world, which has already led to genuine friendships. And he does it all in English. English opens doors—to new opportunities and to friendship.
INDONESIA
BUKIT LAWANG FOOTBALL CLUB
Near the recycling village, there is an area plagued by drug abuse and gambling. As a result, many families find themselves in financial distress, while theft is becoming an increasing problem. For the children growing up in this environment, their future prospects are often limited.
Unless, that is, they find a place where they can discover their strengths and become part of a community. The Bukit Lawang Football Club is just such a place.
The club was originally founded by the HPI tourism initiative, and now we are working together to further develop the organization. We have already built a new sports field, which has now become a gathering place for a growing community.
Through regular practice, the children don’t just learn to play soccer. They experience team spirit, responsibility, and camaraderie, and find a place where they can simply be kids, have fun, and believe in themselves.
Since many families cannot afford the necessary equipment, we also provide soccer cleats and jerseys to the children who participate regularly.
The Bukit Lawang Football Club is more than just a soccer club. It is a place for community, opportunities, and new perspectives, and as such, it has the power to bring about lasting change in the lives and futures of the children growing up in this community.
INDONESIA
FACILITATOR: INDOOR PROGRAM
As interest in the Recycling Village grows, so do the demands on the staff of our Indonesian organization. To ensure the long-term quality of our programs and offerings, staff members will receive targeted training to become competent facilitators. Through theoretical and practical “train-the-trainer” sessions, they learn how to professionally guide visitors and groups through the various programs and activities. At the same time, they are given the opportunity to share their own needs and ideas, thereby continuously developing their skills.
BECOME A WINGS MEMBER
Support the areas of nature conservation, animal welfare and humanitarian aid with a regular donation.
Thanks to your help, we can make a contribution to environmental protection in Germany and Indonesia!
As an environmental organization, we at Project Wings are particularly committed to environmental education. We see environmental education as the key to making environmental protection socially acceptable and to protecting nature in the long term. Here you can learn why environmental education is important and how we at Project Wings are actively involved in environmental education.
What is environmental education?
Environmental education is an educational approach that focuses in particular on the environment. Knowledge is imparted here that is intended to contribute to learning how to treat the environment responsibly. Traditional environmental education focuses primarily on ecological problems. Whereas in “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD), social and economic challenges are considered equally. Environmental education is also a component here. There is a variety of offers designed to bring people closer to nature and the conscious interaction with it.
How we understand environmental education
Our understanding of education is based on the Education for Sustainable Development approach. We do not believe in focusing exclusively on the environmental problems of our time. We do not raise our index finger to encourage pupils to behave in an environmentally friendly way. Transferring this enormous pressure to the next generation is frustrating for adolescents. Ultimately, frustration can lead to people no longer wanting to deal with the issue. We want to avoid that.
That is why we also look at the challenges and problems, but always with solutions and a lot of motivation in our luggage.
We need a generation that is motivated to face the current challenges. And is competent to actively tackle them. We therefore focus on new possible solutions and show students how they can help shape their own environment in a sustainable way. We work in a future-oriented way and communicate skills and opportunities on an equal footing in order to bring about lasting change in our society.
Why is environmental education important?
Environmental education plays a key role in addressing the growing environmental challenges and their consequences facing our society.
The last few years have shown that climate change is progressing and the effects are devastating. Challenges and consequences that affect all our lives. And above all affect those who are often already living in poverty. Famines occur more frequently and more intensively. Animals die in search of food and drinking water. People have to leave their homes and flee from environmental disasters. Triggered by prolonged droughts or floods.
Aid organizations can barely keep up because they lack the financial resources.
If we close our eyes for a moment and think about it, most of us have images in our heads that underline the scale of the problem.
This was caused not least by the floods and fires that were now reaching more and more of Germany and Europe. For a long time, the problems seemed far enough away. After all, they didn’t happen on their own doorstep. However, the fact that what happens in other countries, on other continents and in our oceans also has an impact on all of us is often overlooked.
Deforestation of entire rainforests, plastic swirls the size of entire cities, mountains of garbage as high as skyscrapers and the hunting of rare animals also rarely happen in Europe. But if you take a closer look at these issues, you quickly realize that everything that happens in and with the environment has a long or short impact on us all.
Only when the effects get closer and it becomes uncomfortable do people become active and start to act.
But we at Project Wings want to start before that. We have set ourselves the goal of making environmental protection socially acceptable. Environmental protection concerns us all. After all, environmental protection is not just about protecting and saving the world and nature, but also our species.
“Nature doesn’t need people – people need nature.” – Henry Ford
Through our work, we want to help people think outside the box and look beyond their own doors. We want to show them what is happening on the other side and that our own actions have an impact on the entire system. To this end, we run awareness campaigns and bring environmental issues closer to people through our project work. Both on a regional and global level.
In Germany, our focus is on environmental education in educational institutions. Environmental education is often neglected in schools. It falls down at the back. However, according to a study by the BMBF, pupils and teachers would like to see more reference to sustainability in lessons. And this is exactly where we come in.
We are also committed to environmental education in Sumatra. This is how we manage to connect two continents and countries and learn from each other.
Environmental education in Germany
We at Project Wings have been active with our environmental education program at schools in Germany since 2019 and run exciting workshops. Since then, we have continued to develop our educational program and have been able to inspire schools to cooperate with us.
In our workshops and project days, our goal isn’t to point fingers and highlight everything that’s going wrong. We work with the children and teens as equals, engage in lively discussions, introduce them to our project in Sumatra, and show them that it’s possible to find and implement solutions. True to our approach: “Find a way, not an excuse.”
Together with the schools, teachers, and students, we brainstorm what topics would be exciting for the class and put together a great program. In doing so, we make sure to offer a varied program that combines theory and practice.
It is important to us to inspire children and young people and to reach them with our topics. Because the earlier they learn that it is important to protect our world, the sooner they can integrate environmentally friendly behavior into their everyday lives and, above all, consolidate it.
We show that environmental protection isn’t just for the “eco-conscious neighbor.” We’re a diverse group ourselves—from roofers to business students to environmental activists—who all share a common goal. It’s time to take the initiative, find solutions, and collaborate across borders without reservation. And that’s exactly what we bring to our workshops. We’ll come to your school with plenty of motivation and a sense of fun.
As the founders and team members of the aid organization, we stand in front of the class and share our own experiences, stories, and impressions. We show what a difference getting involved in environmental protection can make—and that sometimes all it takes is a lot of courage and motivation. We talk about what it’s like to work at a nonprofit organization, highlighting a different career path and showing how easy it is to get involved as a volunteer.
As a young and committed team, we have already inspired many schools and pupils with our work and motivated them to act and engage in an environmentally conscious way in the long term. We always look forward to the great exchange with the students.
But we are also committed to environmental education and awareness-raising efforts on Sumatra. After all, it is just as important here for children to learn at a young age how their own actions affect nature and the environment—and how this, in turn, affects their own lives.
Environmental education on Sumatra
The children and young people from our project region are not familiar with plastic waste, deforestation and huge palm oil plantations from television. For them, these challenges and the consequences are part of everyday life. It is therefore particularly important to show them the direct effects of their actions and how to deal with them.
Our project region has the Green Class and the Education Center for this purpose. In addition to English lessons, regular courses and workshops on environmental education are held there. Here, too, important environmental issues are communicated in a playful way and solutions are shown. But they were also given practical tips and taught why it is important to dispose of waste correctly.
What happens without a functioning waste system? Used diapers, plastic bags, clothes and all sorts of other things end up in nature and rivers. Rivers in which people bathe or wash their clothes and dishes at the same time. This not only has a negative impact on the environment, but also on people’s health. This is also taught in the Green Class.
To help local people dispose of their waste properly, we have implemented a waste disposal system in our project region. This will be gradually expanded. This also includes waste garbage cans that have been set up in the village and at the recycling village. This is where the Green Class comes in, for example.
The Green Class shows children and young people how to separate waste correctly so that they learn directly which waste belongs in which garbage can. But the timetable also includes environmental education about native animals and the upcycling and recycling of materials.
Through the Recycling Village, we aim not only to keep plastic waste out of the environment and store it safely, but above all to create a gathering place and educational center for locals and tourists.
This is why a holistic learning space is now also being created at the recycling village. A building consisting of various units designed to help provide education and environmental education at various levels for local people.
The recycling village thus offers sufficient space for education at various levels.
Are you looking for an exciting environmental education project?
Then you’ve come to the right place. We offer a wide range of workshops on environmental topics, featuring engaging learning activities. We provide DIY projects, hands-on and interactive exercises, theoretical and practical knowledge, and plenty of fun.
Or are you looking for a cool project that your class or school can support? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
Together, we are strong. Let’s work together to make the world a little greener. Here, you can support us directly in carrying out our environmental education programs or any of our other projects.