What is RETIBNE?
RETIBNE stands for repair knowledge and skills as an element of technical and Computing Science education for sustainable development and describes a three-year project funded by the DBU that leads to the didactic and methodological development of teaching materials.

Why?
In recent years, the technological development of electronic devices has led to a rapid increase in the amount of electronic waste, not only in industrialised countries but also in emerging and developing countries, which is largely disposed of improperly and causes massive damage to the environment and people. The enormous increase in these mountains of waste is partly due to the phenomenon of obsolescence. In addition to planned or condoned obsolescence, in which the rapid wear and tear of important components leads to an avoidable reduction in service life for economic reasons, the ever faster succession of innovations is causing an increasing proportion of functional obsolescence because older and new devices and functions are no longer compatible. In addition to these forms of unsustainable development caused by producers, consumers are also making a decisive contribution to exacerbating the problem by disposing of fully functional technical artefacts. The phenomenon of obsolescence is accompanied by a decline in awareness of the possibility of repairing defective items and extending their useful life in this way. Whereas just a few decades ago, repair was an area relevant to education and the concern for maximising service life was taken for granted, today these topics play no role either in general education or in the awareness of children and young people. This is where the project comes in. With this project, the Technical Education working group at the University of Oldenburg, in co-operation with the Computing Science degree programme, aims to implement repair as an educational task in technology and Computing Science lessons in general education schools.

Who is involved?
We can count a total of eight institutions among our co-operation partners:

TU Berlin | University of Duisburg-Essen | iTBH University of Hamburg-Harburg | University of Hildesheim | University of Magdeburg | University of Oldenburg | University of Paderborn | University of Vechta

The following schools are also involved:
IGS Flötenteich | IGS Kreyenbrück | HRS Zetel | IGS Helene-Lange-Schule | OBS Uplengen