World Heritage Earth – Our Common Future

What we want to do
„There is only one Planet Earth, and all of its citizens have one future.“ (Al Gore, „Eine unbequeme Wahrheit“, S. 287)
Our project ”World Heritage Earth – Our Common Future“ deals with the current state of our planet. According to a report by the UN in 2019, our planet is in a bad state:
The earth’s climate is changing, the average temperature is rising, the polar ice is melting, our eco-systems are about to lose their natural balance and our resources are being used up on an unprecedented scale. Our planet is in danger. Our lifestyle endangers our health and our planet’s ability to recover from all the human-made damage.
Planet Earth will turn into a desert if humans do not change their behaviour. Young people have realised this recently and gather for the “Fridays for Future“ demonstrations which were first held by the Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg. These protests, which are a form of political participation, cross the borders within Europe and the whole world. They highlight the worries of young people and the importance of climate change. The protesters demand the countries’ commitment to the Paris Climate Deal. They have realised that humankind needs to change its attitude towards life on this planet if this plant is meant to be the living space for future generations. Every one of us can contribute to change and to the protection of natural resources. We have to start with ourselves.
This project aims to tackle the issues above together with young people by looking at the facts provided by the UN, by double-checking our lifestyle and by reflecting about how we can make our lifestyles more sustainable for our society and for the environment. Therefore, we will look at topics like:
- Naturpark Aostatal: protection of natural resources found in fauna and flora
- sustainable ways of creating energy
- environmental pollution and its consequences for the society and the environment
- dealing with resources and food, sustainable farming
- including children with long-term illness with the help of our avatar AV1(Charlie)
- the latest UN report from 2019
Together with the pupils we want to redefine “living in wealth”. We need to define a standard of living that mirrors the circumstances of current generations without endangering future generations. We need a standard of living which is affordable and realistic for everyone regardless of their cultural or national background. We need a standard of living which is based on sustainability.
It is our aim to create awareness of the importance of political engagement. It is only through political and societal engagement that we can have a say in forming our environment.
It is today’s European pupils who will shape the future. We want to enthuse young people for the idea of Europe and we want to get the message across that a common European future will be based on values such as tolerance, empathy, respect and a sense of responsibility.
We aim to exchange date about current global changes and individual lifestyles using e-Twinning and project meetings. Our results will be published in a final presentation and through a film. There will also be a public forum in which results will be presented in a “market stall” manner. Learning will not only be a cognitive task - pupils will need to research outdoors, engage in practical activities such as baking and building a solar oven. They will also be encouraged to cook regional and local food and create their own recipes using food leftovers.
Most of these topics will already have been mentioned in the schools’ curricula of all participating countries. Their importance can be deduced from the fact that environmental issues are a global problem which needs to be tackled internationally.
The project enables co-operation between different European cultures and school systems. Pupils will get the opportunity to broaden their horizons and to develop their own view on the European Idea, the importance of responsibility. They learn to use new digital tools and analytic skills. All these form a new foundation for an idea about European Citizenship.
Participating schools from Italy, Portugal, Poland and Germany will be responsible for the organisation of project meetings in their respective schools. Each school is given a specific task and has to involve its school community. The results will be made available to everyone involved.