Project goals and the role of schools
Sustainable development has become a topic “everyone” is talking about and something children and youth hear about across different platforms. At the same time, the sustainability concept can often seem too abstract and far away from our everyday lives to fully grasp. Against this backdrop, Hva nå? Endringslaben aims to
- Help children and youth gain a better understanding of how they fit into the larger story about sustainability. This is done by using products and industries that children and youth are familiar with as a starting point, thereby anchoring the sustainability concept in students’ everyday lives.
- Strengthen notions among younger generations that it is possible to contribute to positive change. This is done by highlighting real-world examples of work being done by businesses, organisations and others, and by giving students experiences and tools that make them better equipped to contribute to change.
- Inspire longer-term attitude and behavioural changes in more sustainable and circular directions, and contribute to making children and youth empowered, equipped, and motivated to shape a more sustainable future for our environment and society. This is done by strengthening awareness and younger generations’ view of themselves as part of the solutions.
Schools are becoming an increasingly important arena for children and youth’s learning about sustainability issues, with these topics being integrated into school curricula in a range of countries. In Norway, sustainable development has been introduced as one of three cross-cutting topics in the national curriculum. Using this as a starting point, Hva nå? Endringslaben also aims to add something new to Norwegian schools’ ongoing work on the topic of sustainability, and to give teachers practical tools to help them meet the requirements in the national curriculum for teaching on this topic.
