My research focuses on energy education in Germany. Unfortunately, there isn’t a wide base of literature specifically addressing energy education in Germany to pull from. Energy education and literacy do, however, emerge through other educational initiatives. My research has found energy education present in education for sustainable development (ESD), environmental education (EE), climate education, energy literacy, and sustainability education (Singer-Brodowski et al., 2019; Jorgenson et al., 2019; Rohmatulloh et al., 2023, Kowasch & Lippe, 2019). There is considerable overlap in scholars’ definitions of each of these terms. The blurring of these concepts also came up in my survey results. When asked how they hope their child feels emotionally about the energy transition, many parents responded about how they hope their child feels about climate change. When asked if they hope their child behaves in ways that help conserve energy, many parents responded that they hope their child recycles properly and appreciates nature. This conflation of ideas about energy, climate, environment, and sustainability makes researching specific educational goals around any of these concepts difficult. One of the unexpected findings from my research is that policies and individuals may not be explicit in their support for energy education, but are broadly supportive of initiatives they perceive as helping the planet that raise issues of energy.
Because it is difficult to analyze energy education efforts in Germany broadly, my research will explore specific educational initiatives that promote energy education, whether explicitly or tangentially. Germany’s National Action Plan on Education for Sustainable Development began in 2017 with the aim of scaling ESD in early childhood education, school education, vocational training, higher education, non-formal learning settings, and local authorities (Singer-Brodowski et al., 2020). Under this plan, German states are given the agency and responsibility to implement different objectives. Desired outcomes include adopting a systems approach to ESD in schools, developing ESD and climate change action plans in UNESCO project schools, and moving toward democratically structured schools that encourage student leadership (Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2017). Specific cognitive outcomes are not detailed, but the Federal Ministry of Education and Research defers to the UN SDGs, which include “affordable and clean energy” and “climate action” (The 17 Goals). Affective outcomes are also somewhat neglected, though the plan alludes to ideas of agency, courage, and hope. Another educational initiative addressing issues of energy is the Bildungszentren Klimaschutz Netzwerk, or Education Centers for Climate Protection Network. This project of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection joins sixteen federal Climate Protection Training Centers with an additional existing fourteen extracurricular education centers, or Climate Protection Education Centers, in each of four regional zones to receive training and funding to promote climate “awareness and action” (BildungKlima-plus-56, 2021). The goals of this initiative include reducing the carbon footprint of education and training facilities and closing “the gap that still exists all too often between climate knowledge and climate-friendly action” (EducationKlima-plus, 2021). Individual centers have a great deal of autonomy in approaching these goals.
While none of the parents or caregivers I spoke to in my survey referenced either of these initiatives or other formal educational projects, it was clear that many of them had thought through questions of energy, climate, environment, and sustainability in their own lives and hoped to communicate their beliefs to their children. In many ways this reflects the belief of federal initiatives that having conversations with young people about clean energy and climate change is key to empowering them to conserve energy and contribute to a wider societal transition. This is relevant to sustainability because it demonstrates the desire to sustain sustainability efforts in Germany by bringing younger generations to the table. Not unlike this virtual exchange, coordinated through the Stevens Initiative, these initiatives work to build strong networks that engage youth in critical conversations about sustainability. I’m grateful for the time American University of Sharjah students invested to share their own cultures and understandings of sustainability in America!
https://www.cosmopolitanschool.de/en/learning/nature-campus/nature-school-mueggelsee/
References
BildungKlima-plus-56. (2021, November 2). Nationale Klimaschutzinitiative Des Bundesministeriums Für Wirtschaft Und Klimaschutz. https://www.klimaschutz.de/de/projekte/bildungklima-plus-56
EducationKlima-plus. (2021). https://16bildungszentrenklimaschutz.de/projekt/
Federal Ministry of Education and Research. (2017). National Action Plan on Education for Sustainable Development: The German contribution to the UNESCO Global Action Programme.
Jorgenson, S. N., Stephens, J. C., & White, B. (2019). Environmental education in transition: A critical review of recent research on climate change and energy education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 50(3), 160–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2019.1604478
Kowasch, M., & Lippe, D. F. (2019). Moral impasses in sustainability education? Empirical results from school geography in Austria and Germany. Environmental Education Research, 25(7), 1066–1082. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1557112
Rohmatulloh, Hasanah, A., Sahlani, L., Zuhri, M. T., Kholifah, N., & Nurtanto, M. (2023). A systematic review of energy literacy programs at primary and middle schools. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 13(1), 145–155. https://doi.org/10.47750/pegegog.13.01.17
Singer-Brodowski, M., Brock, A., Etzkorn, N., & Otte, I. (2019). Monitoring of education for sustainable development in Germany – insights from early childhood education, school and higher education. Environmental Education Research, 25(4), 492–507. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1440380
Singer-Brodowski, M., von Seggern, J., Duveneck, A., & Etzkorn, N. (2020). Moving (Reflexively within) Structures. The Governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany. Sustainability, 12(7), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072778