Together for Sustainable School

To encourage young people to act for a more sustainable future, it is essential that teachers make sustainability issues an integral part of their curricula. Furthermore, non-traditional, interactive formats of education such as summer camps are a powerful tool to empower young people to take part in climate action. Working with both teachers and young people towards the same objective, the project employed a comprehensive approach on sustainability education and thus encouraged lasting change. 

According to this two-fold approach, the project consisted of two main parts. The first one focussed on the teachers: the project provided them with a practical guide on how to include sustainability topics in their everyday school curriculum. Furthermore, it supported teachers in implementing the guide and adapting it for their individual work. Such training was intended for 330 teachers in Lithuania. 

The second part focused on introducing young people to climate action. The Sustainable Development Ambassadors Camp provided 60 young people from Lithuania, Cyprus, and Germany with the option to discuss sustainability issues and to develop solutions for them. This experience enabled them to initiate climate initiatives for their local communities. 

Additionally, the project trained a team of sustainable development ambassadors who in turn supported the formation of youth-led climate initiatives. The project enabled them to raise awareness on climate action through a variety of informative and interactive events in 30 schools. These events reached around 600 teachers and 2,000 students in Lithuania as well as 1,500 members of local communities in all three project countries. 

• Climate protection in the classroom: A methodological tool developed as part of the project to integrate the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into lessons was successfully trialled in 27 schools in Lithuania. This enabled teachers to systematically embed topics such as reducing emissions and acting sustainably in everyday school life. 
• Young people get involved in climate protection: As a result of workshops, an international youth camp and a youth conference, young people in Cyprus, Germany and Lithuania independently initiated 27 local climate protection projects. In doing so, they utilised the action skills they gained at the events and developed a long-term motivation to get involved in climate protection. 
• More dialogue and visibility in education and the public sphere: The approaches and results of the project were introduced into educational practice and public debate at the international youth conference and a conference for teachers in Lithuania. The combination of formal and informal education proved to be an effective lever for behavioural change in favour of climate protection.