ESD snack
ESD snack
What is the ESD snack?
The ESD snack is an event format for dialogue on the topic of ESD as well as alternative concepts such as global learning or environmental education. It lasts approx. 60 minutes and the first half is usually a short input, which is discussed in the second half.
The ESD snack is an initiative of the ESD working group.
The event is informal and serves as an opportunity to exchange ideas and get to know each other.
The ESD snack takes place digitally on various dates from 12:30-13:30 in the room meeting.uol.de/b/ver-6w9-u1b-2gy.
All interested parties are cordially invited!
Events in winter semester 2025/2026
Tue, 21 Oct 2025 I Sustainability you can touch: How Lego brings the SDGs to life
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the education for sustainable development (ESD) based on them provide a good basis for teachers to design teaching concepts that deal with the importance of sustainability. As global sustainability processes are often difficult for pupils to grasp, I have developed a concept that uses Lego to enable a vivid discussion. Specifically, the aim is to recreate various stages of the iPhone production chain with Lego in order to analyse the extent to which the SDGs are violated in these processes, for example through environmental destruction, exploitation or social inequalities. The pupils not only deal with the global impact of economic decisions, but also learn to critically evaluate them. The aim of the teaching concept is to convey the SDGs in a tangible way and at the same time promote the learners' evaluation skills.
Cedrik Speckmann & Prof Dr Corinna Hößle (Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences)
Thu, 30 Oct 2025 I Transformative ESD in the context of water: Aqua Citizens project
Aqua Citizens is a transformative ESD project funded by the DBU, in which the Regional Environmental Education Centre RUZ Oldenburg, the Oldenburg-East Frisian Water Association OOWV and the Physics Didactics Department of the University of Oldenburg are cooperating. The starting point is that water as the basis of life and as a threat is associated with key tasks for the future. Aqua Citizens is a citizen science project that is enriched with mobile school laboratory programmes. Young people collect water data where they live and analyse it together. They also ask citizens about how they use water. They decide in a participatory manner which aspects to analyse and which transformation needs to focus on. They develop their own transformation proposals and use them to mobilise citizens and political decision-makers. In particular, non-grammar schools, young people in rural areas and girls should be involved. The poster reports on the survey of young people. In a problem-centred interview (Witzel 2000), their knowledge and ideas for solutions to severe weather events, floods and droughts are asked. In addition, they are asked how relevant they consider the knowledge gained through citizen science to be for science and society and how they believe their proposals for transformation will be heard. The interviews are analysed on a category basis (Kuckartz 2022).
Prof Dr Michael Komorek, Dr Kai Bliesmer and Tjorben Meyer (Institute of Physics)
Tue, 02.12.2025 I ESD in all-day schools: co-operation and learning spaces for sustainability
All-day schools offer special opportunities for the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). They have more time and space so that action-oriented forms of learning such as school gardens, upcycling workshops, sustainable cooking or excursions can take place not just occasionally, but continuously. The extended time frame also enables a close link between lessons and extracurricular activities. Sustainability topics such as fair trade, climate protection or healthy eating can therefore be explored in greater depth in projects and study groups. As places to live, all-day schools are also ideal for making sustainability a practical experience, be it in the canteen through a sustainable food concept or through projects on waste avoidance, for example. Finally, by opening up to the outside world, all-day schools offer the best conditions for co-operation with local partners, environmental organisations, companies and even the city administration. This creates networks that anchor sustainable learning and action in the long term. These and other ideas will be presented in the ESD snack. This will be followed by a joint discussion on the extent to which all-day schools and ESD fit together in terms of structure and content and what questions this raises for practice and future (joint) research.
Dr Stephan Kielbrock (Institute of Educational Sciences)
Thu, 15.01.2026 I ESD inclusive: Farm as a place of learning for all
Pupils with disabilities on a farm? There is great interest from teachers and the pupils themselves! Many farmers report frequent enquiries from inclusive classes or special schools. In the context of education for sustainable development, inclusion also takes on an emphatic and emphasised significance. The ESD Snack presents important aids and principles for inclusive organisation in the context of the farm as a place of learning as well as specific networks in the region. The opportunities for direct encounters with agriculture can thus be utilised intensively.
Prof Dr Clemens Hillenbrand (Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation) & Prof Dr Ines Oldenburg (Institute of Educational Sciences)
Events in the WS 2023/2024
Wed, 22.11.2023 I The plastic dilemma - as a simulation game
This short article presents, among other things, a simulation game with learning sequences on the topic of "Plastic in the sea" for science lessons at secondary levels I and II.
Plastic is an important part of everyday life. Plastic is both a blessing and a curse. A simulation game teaches pupils in science lessons about the topic of plastic through exploratory experiments and helps them to find solutions to reduce plastic in everyday life. The simulation game promotes ethical application skills and enables participation in social discourse.
Prof. Dr Corinna Hößle, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Biology Didactics Group, University of Oldenburg
Wed, 13.12.2023 I From "sitting and talking" to action: Action orientation from the perspective of political sustainability education
Annegret Jansen, Institute of Educational Sciences, University of Oldenburg
Wed, 10.01.2023 I Date postponed to summer semester 2024
Negotiation processes between practice and ideal - creating a collection of materials for primary schools on the topic of sustainability
In this short contribution, I would like to give an insight into the process of creating a folder of materials on sustainability in the classroom. How should or can ESD be brought into schools via textbook publishers? Which subjects and subject areas should be covered? What trade-offs were made between the various players in the conceptualisation and production process? The material emerged from my work as a freelance author for educational materials, while at the same time I became a junior researcher. The process gradually became part of my autoethnographic research. On the one hand, I would like to present the material and encourage people to try it out and develop it further, but on the other hand I would also like to provide insights into a complex but pragmatic negotiation process.
Svenja Jessen, Institute of Material Culture, University of Oldenburg
Wed, 31 Jan 2024 I Climate physics meets education for sustainable development (ESD)
The climate crisis is a prototype of what is known as a wicked problem, both scientifically and socially. Characterised by manifold complexities, dealing with man-made climate change is also challenging in an educational context. Learners bring with them a wealth of prior knowledge, but often also misconceptions; terms such as sustainability have already been eroded in some cases and the media discourse is heated, particularly in the context of the search for solutions to climate protection.
In this ESD snack, the advisor will provide an insight into the module "Climate Physics meets Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)", which is designed and implemented at the Heidelberg School of Education (HSE) in co-operation with the Institute of Environmental Physics and the Institute of Geography at Heidelberg University for student teachers of STEM subjects.
Dr Nicole Aeschbach, Heidelberg School of Education, Heidelberg University and Heidelberg University of Education
Events in the SS 2023
Mon, 08.05.2023 I A biology seminar with interdisciplinary ESD development potential: The CampusGarden - a multi-perspective learning and working field.
Education for sustainable development unfolds its potential when subject boundaries are crossed - this is also a requirement for schools. This only happens very rarely as part of teacher training, which means that there is a lack of ideas for implementing cross-curricular projects and corresponding lessons. The pb module CampusGarten - a multi-perspective learning and working field, which will be presented at this event, could be an attempt to develop such ideas and put them into practice in teacher training.
Dr Birgit Weusmann, AG Biology Didactics, University of Oldenburg
Mon, 22.05.2023 I FREI DAY - What is that? Presentation of a learning format that provides space for structurally anchoring ESD in schools.
FREI DAY is an open ESD project learning format with at least 4 hours on one day of the week in which students develop and implement project ideas in teams. They work across year groups without time limits on their questions about the future and take responsibility for themselves, others and the planet. Teachers become learning guides and schools open up to the educational landscape in the spirit of the Whole School Approach.
Laura Blum, Initiative School on the Move
Wed, 31.05.2023 I Too much of a good thing? Proclamations and realities of education in the mirror of sustainability and transformation
Education for sustainable development has been the subject of harsh criticism since its beginnings in the 1990s. In exploring the question of what ignites this criticism, the lecture will develop the thesis that it is not shortcomings or deficits, but too much of a good thing that makes education for sustainable development worthy of criticism. As a result, I argue in favour of a double focus on the practice of education and upbringing in the context of social transformation efforts.
Dr Steffen Hamborg, Institute of Educational Sciences, University of Oldenburg
Mon, 12 Jun 2023 / ESD in the teaching of mathematics didactics
What can ESD look like in mathematics lessons? ESD should take place in schools (Lower Saxony School Act, ESD Decree), and mathematics is also a central tool for sustainability research. Nevertheless, ESD has so far received little attention in German maths lessons and in mathematics didactics research. The snack is intended to provide concrete insights into how ESD can be implemented in mathematics lessons and in teacher training in mathematics/elementary mathematics and what the key challenges are.
Dr Birte Specht, Institute of Mathematics, University of Oldenburg
Mon, 19 Jun 2023 I Two weeks, one trip and lots of inspiring school visits - the learning journey of AG Kreidestaub Oldenburg
Schools without subjects, learning in offices, interdisciplinary learning in projects, free and interest-based learning, Montessori or Dalton pedagogy, researching teachers at university schools, learning according to completely individual timetables - the learning journeys from Oldenburg have seen and experienced all this and much more in recent years. The seminar is by students for students. There is no hierarchy. The selection of schools to visit on the two-week trip is made by the group and voted on democratically. The overarching question is "What is a good school?".
The learning journey can be taken as part of module pb406 and can be completed with 6ECTS in the Bachelor's programme.
We would like to report on the enrichment gained from the exchange and the trip.
Carla Kleinschmidt and Dorothea Ferrari
https://www.kreidestaub.net/
Mon, 26 Jun 2023 I "We teach children, not individual subjects" - ESD at IGS Oyten
A teacher and a student from OGS Oyten report on the learning concept at IGS Oyten.
You are welcome to watch the video in preparation for the ESD snack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZC_38huOSw
Further links to the school and the ESD concept can be found here
igs-oyten.de
igs-oyten.de/index.php/ueber-uns/nachhaltigkeit-bne
Anja Keiten (teacher) and Merlin Hankel (Year 11), both IGS Oyten
Attention the event on 03.07.2023 is unfortunately cancelled and will be made up for in the winter semester
Mon, 03.07.2023 I From "sitting and talking" to action: Action orientation from the perspective of political sustainability education
Annegret Jansen, Institute of Educational Sciences, University of Oldenburg
Mon, 10.07.2023 I "Academic Appointments and Sustainability - Fields of Action and Research Questions"
Markus Allbauer-Jürgensen and Prof. Dr Rudolf Schröder, Institute for Economics Education, University of Oldenburg
Events in the WS 2022/2023
Mon, 21 Nov 2022 | Promoting environmental skills in learners, examples from teaching practice
(Dr Michaela Maurer, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Biology Didactics)
Mon, 05 Dec 2022 | The attitude-behaviour gap in sustainable consumption - and its implications for ESD
(Markus Allbauer-Jürgensen, Institute for Economics Education)
Mon, 12.12.2022 | ESD operationalised didactically - how do you get to the concrete?
(Dr Kai Bliesmer, Prof Dr Michael Komorek, both Institute of Physics, Physics Didactics)
Mon, 19.12.2022 | ESD in youth centres - offers of the mobile school laboratory phymobil_OL
(Jana-Dorothea Schmitz, Fk V, Institute of Physics, Physics Education)
Mon, 16.01.2023 I Agriculture goes to school
(Prof. Dr Ines Oldenburg, Institute of Educational Sciences, Didactics of Science)
Mon, 23 Jan. 2023 I ESD - how has the ESD decree affected lessons/schools?"
(Dirk Wolf, ESD consultant, Regional State Office for Schools and Education Osnabrück)
Mon, 30 Jan 2023 I How are other universities in Lower Saxony introducing ESD into teacher training? - Report from the network meeting "ESD in teacher training" in Hildesheim on 20.01.2023 by participants from the University of Oldenburg
Svenja Jessen (Institute of Material Culture) and Dr Verena Niesel (DiZ office)
Events in the SS 2022
22/04/2022 | Decomposition? Textiles and plastic in mini compost
Speaker(s)
Dr Michaela Maurer, Didactics of Biology
Svenja Jessen, Institute of Material Culture
Description
Experiments with students from the perspective of biology didactics and textile teaching
06.05.2022 | Tying in with ESD with current DaF/DaZ textbooks!
Speaker(s)
Dr Zuzana Münch-Manková, Institute for German Studies
Description
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a multidimensional educational concept that has also been adopted in foreign and second language didactics. Following on from the tradition of environmental education and global learning, many of the social topics can be identified in the GFL/second language textbooks, although they rarely go beyond the pure concept of the environment. As a rule, climate and environmental protection are the main topics addressed from B1 language level onwards, with the social dimension receiving less attention. For teachers, it remains unclear how and which topics are included in the GFL/LFL textbooks and how these can be discussed from an ESD perspective. This article will therefore first provide an overview of which topics are emphasised at which level, which language didactic goals are used to achieve this and which ESD goals they can be assigned to. In order to illustrate the interconnectedness of the ESD goals, the next step is to take a closer look at the thematic anchoring of Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions in current textbooks. This can illustrate the complexity of the concept of sustainability: No positive peace without sustainable development, no development without peace. The impact of such textbooks should not be underestimated, as they are not only used in Germany, but everywhere in the world where German is learnt. This also conveys a specific view of this topic. The perspectives, mediation and presentation possibilities in the GFL/GCE textbooks will be critically discussed here.
20.05.2022 | N-Trail
Speaker(s)
Eike von Lindern, Institute Dialog N in Switzerland
Description
"N-Trail is an innovative visitor guidance and information concept developed by Dialog N to communicate environmental and sustainability topics, which can be customised for different target groups and easily adapted to different content. The aim of N-Trail is to motivate visitors to discover and reflect on social, ecological and economic sustainability, their own relationship to it and their commitment to their own actions. It draws on findings from motivational, health and environmental psychology (e.g. promoting intrinsic motivation to learn).
N-Trail is an interactive trail that allows participants to solve puzzles about sustainability (e.g. climate, consumption, biodiversity, etc.) in a playful way and by "coming into contact" with the environment around the post. The posts can be installed at any easily accessible location in the form of QR codes and scanned with internet-enabled smartphones or tablets. Incentives for completing the N-Trail posts are provided by reward systems such as clues to a solution word or the collection of points through the quiz-like design of the posts.
The N-Trail concept is suitable for promoting and implementing ESD, as it goes beyond typical educational content with its experience-orientated and emotional reference and can increase the effectiveness of environmental education by combining knowledge transfer with positive experiences. It is particularly suitable as a practical application of ESD in Swiss parks, whose core tasks include sensitising the population to the complex interplay between nature, society and the economy with environmental education offers on site.
03.06.2022 | Repairing makes you happy
Speaker(s)
Dr Katharina Dutz, Institute of Physics, Technical Education
Description
What is the significance of repair in the context of climate change and ESD?
The culture of repair is being revived at the Oldenburg Resource Centre. People of all ages have the opportunity to revitalise their repair knowledge and skills or to experience for the first time the feelings of happiness that arise when a repair is successful.
17.06.2022 | Presentation project seminar "Concepts for Body and Space" IMK,
Winter term 2021-Summer term 2022
Speaker(s)
Petra Eller, Institute of Material Culture
Description
In the first part of the project "Making of...Slow Fashion" (WiSe 2021), the participants asked themselves how they can influence the consumption of fashion. They then explored repair practices, the redesign of clothing and alternative consumption concepts and acquired the relevant skills. In the summer semester, they want to offer services, workshops and participatory activities in a non-university open research and exhibition workshop (temporary conversion of vacant space in Oldenburg city centre) to bring their ideas to the people: Repairing clothes instead of throwing them away, borrowing instead of buying and valuing the importance of clothing.
The presentation of the project will be thematically adapted to the stage of development at the time of the appointment.