Contribution short abstract:

Transcending the physical and epistomelogical boundaries of the classroom, we promote a blended approach in Education for Sustainable Development: Virtual exchanges between students and Indigenous knowledge holders with outdoor learning exercises informed by indigenous cultural practices.

Contribution long abstract:

Achieving a just and sustainable future for every being on earth is the aim of the UNESCO programme Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). As for every aspect of education, this is also a task for schools and universities as institutions of formal education.

In this session, we would like to present a combined approach of including anthropological perspectives into the formal curriculum of German schools. The north rhine-westphalian ESD-programme ‘Schule der Zukunft’ (school of the future) that focusses on the implementation of ESD in all aspects of school life serves as a frame for different school activities.

One practical example is a school partnership between the Goethe School in Essen and the MaeYod School in Chiangmai Province which shows the action anthropological approach of INFOE. It brings indigenous perspectives into the classroom by virtually exchanging with indigenous knowledge holders who share their experiences on topics such as sustainability, resource management, climate change or community resilience and lets students (re)discover their relationships and connections to the topics of the curriculum beyond the cognitive and theoretical through outdoor exercises. This learning approach with ‘head, heart and hand’ is mutually beneficial: indigenous peoples are given a voice as authors, researchers, teachers, students, speakers and storytellers to share their views and concerns. In this way, their knowledge, cultural practices and strategies for preservation and transmission are valued and strengthened. Learners and teachers are encouraged to examine values and attitudes, broaden their perspectives and develop options for action facing multiple crises in the Anthropocene.