In order to contribute to reaching the targets set out in the Paris Agreement and in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), with the involvement of Chinese policy makers, promotes the strengthening of environmental awareness and sustainable behaviour in the Chinese administration and within the general population. The main partners of the HSF include the Chinese Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. In addition, the foundation cooperates with several universities and provincial teacher training centres. A strong emphasis has been placed on the development and implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), as defined in the SDGs, in the Chinese education sector. Through its engagement in ESD projects, the HSF wants to contribute to a change in thinking and behaviour patterns towards more sustainability.
The German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), together with the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Land Development, has been implementing a project on integrated waste management since 2017. The NAMA project (IWM NAMA) supports China's ambitions for low-carbon urban development by implementing climate-friendly approaches to waste management in a number of demonstration communities and cities all around China. The sponsor of the NAMA project, the NAMA Facility, is financed by the Governments of Germany, the United Kingdom and Denmark as well as by the European Commission.
In addition to maximising the resource potential of municipal waste while reducing greenhouse gases, the cooperation will raise awareness among citizens, in particular among teachers and pupils. The aim is to address waste prevention, re-usage of waste, waste separation, recycling, waste recovery and waste disposal.
A total of two publications will be developed as a part of the cooperation.
In a learning book, Chinese students get to know the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and combine them with topics from the waste management sector. In addition to the pure transfer of knowledge, students and their parents will be encouraged to change their behaviour patterns. The learning book will illustrate economic, ecological and social aspects of sustainable development with examples from the waste management sector.
Based on the learning book, an educators’ guide book will be developed for the use of academia, teacher trainers and teachers. The guide book has several objectives. Firstly, the target groups will receive the necessary background information about the SDGs and waste management. This will enable effective curriculum development and course planning. The guide book will also showcase how the interdisciplinary learning book can be embedded into national learning plans and provide methodological-didactic guidance for the design of lessons.
The development of teaching and learning materials makes only sense if they can, or are allowed to, be applied in educational institutions. To ensure this, the Hanns Seidel Foundation works closely with several Chinese universities and provincial authorities in developing the materials. This is also why the “Training Center for Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Education Administrators of Zhejiang Province” (TC) will participate in the development of the educators’ guide book.
The HSF has cooperated more than 30 years with the Education Department of Zhejiang Province. The TC, which was founded by the two partners, is the executive agency in this bilateral cooperation. During the past decades the TC has gained a China-wide role in promoting new educational concepts. The cooperation in the area of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) illustrates this. Already in 2015, shortly after the SDGs were announced by the United Nations General Assembly, the HSF and the TC started implementing educational projects focusing on the implementation of ESD, a core element of SDG 4 (quality education), in the Chinese education system. During the past five years the TC and the HSF have trained selected educators in the Chinese provinces of Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Xinjiang.
For more information:
GIZ: China Integrated Waste Management NAMA (IWM NAMA)
Contact
Janne LEINO
Chief Representative
Hanns Seidel Foundation Zhejiang Office
leino[at]hss.de