Online now: The new H2O-Wissen media database | Umweltbundesamt

This year’s focus on water in the framework of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development provided grounds to amplify the H₂O-Wissen database.  The goal of the global initiative is to integrate the principles of sustainable development into all national educational systems. With H₂O-Wissen, UBA aims to help achieve this goal. ”Teachers can rouse pupils’ interest in lakes and rivers and as early as primary school andget them excited about protecting bodies of water”, said Dr. Christiane Markard, Head of the Division for Environmental Health and Protection of Ecosystems at UBA.

The second generation of H₂O-Wissen integrates online media more heavily than before. A search mask enables a search according to various criteria such as pupils’ age or topic. The focus topic of flooding, for example, produces 32 contributions, and there are185 hits for ”aquatic animals and plants”.  In addition to a brief assessment of contents of the educational materials, teachers and other multipliers of environmental education are provided with material source information and advice on how to use the materials. A more in-depth evaluation was worked out for some of the materials by the Independent Institute for Environmental Concerns e.V. together with the Martin-Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg. Key criteria applied are, e.g., pupil-oriented approach to teaching and learning, steering of the learning process during discussion of results, or interdisciplinary approach, that is, inclusion of topics and issues that play a significant role in the life of its target audience.

Please write to us if you have developed learning materials on the protection of waters which is not yet included in the database.