Review of a youth camp week under the sign of sustainability

How do we work with young people from six countries on the topic of sustainability and learn German at the same time? The project Netzwerk Kima enabled 24 young people and 6 accompanying teachers to spend an eventful week in Thailand.

Interdisciplinary GFL lessons as a pedagogical concept

The youth exchange project Netzwerk Klima is based on the so-called FüDaF lessons (interdisciplinary German as a foreign language lessons) as a pedagogical concept. Here, German language skills are taught together with subject knowledge from another subject. During their week together in Thailand, the participants of Netzwerk Klima discussed topics such as environmental protection, consumption and sustainable development, learned a lot and developed their own projects, primarily in German. Where they were unable to make progress in German, they switched to English in order to minimize barriers to the content of their work.

Sustainability workshop with project partner Traidhos | Photo (detail): Goethe-Institut Thailand During the week together, the project partner Traidhos imparted professional knowledge and skills that the participants could apply and continue autonomously. In the second half of the day, there were application-oriented German lessons on the topics of environmental protection and sustainability, as well as further training and observation for the accompanying teachers, so that they could carry out project-based German lessons themselves after their return.

Eat local, reduce waste, experience sustainable places

To get to know the venue better, Traidhos organized a scavenger hunt through the hotel on the first day. The first workshop was dedicated to the so-called SDGs, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations.

The second day of the youth camp brought a lot of rain in addition to German learning activities and sustainability workshops. But the participants didn't let that dampen their spirits. In the workshops, they learned how to make soap with natural ingredients - like rosemary from the hotel garden. Or how to make spring rolls organically and environmentally friendly with vegetables and herbs (also from the hotel's own garden). The young people now know why local food is so important for climate protection. They could experience for themselves how to not only grow local vegetables in their own garden, but also compost the leftovers there to enrich the soil with important nutrients and avoid waste. How great would it be to try out this circular principle in your own school cafeteria?

Workshop in the rain | Photo (detail): Goethe-Institut Thailand The third day was dedicated to sustainable cities and communities and the underwater world. With experiments and workshops, the participants learned how to determine the pH value of water. They learned about the challenges faced by fishermen who are supposed to conserve Thailand's fish stock but are at the same time subject to strong economic pressure. In the afternoon, the group worked on their German language skills and developed projects to solve local sustainability problems at their schools.

During the youth camp, the teams worked on concrete projects. | Photo (detail): Goethe-Institut Thailand With a paddle tour and a hike in the rainforest of Khao Lak, the fourth day became an excursion day. The group experienced a lot there: kayaking, visiting a hydroponic farm, handicrafts and painting. The community of Ban Tha Din Daeng specializes in environmental protection and sustainable tourism and was the perfect place for the excursions that day.​​​​​​​

Paddle tour at Ban Tha Din Daeng | Photo (detail): Goethe-Institut Thailand In the days that followed, the young people continued to develop their own projects. They visited an exhibition and watched videos about plastic in the ocean and the damage to marine life. They collected garbage on the beach, shredded some of the plastic waste and were able to make small flower pots out of it with the help of a special machine. The hotel has its own garbage separation station, so they learned a lot about separating and recycling garbage. They learned how important it is to create a species-appropriate habitat for marine animals at the turtle sanctuary, the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet See Turtle Nursery in Phang Nga. After a traditional trip on bamboo rafts, the stay was coming to an end. Students, accompanying teachers and the team of the Goethe-Institut Thailand said a festive goodbye at a country evening, where each team presented their regional specialties, clothing, dances or other customs.

At the country evening, teams present regional customs and specialties. | Photo (detail): Goethe-Institut Thailand

What remains?

During the week together, the country teams worked on their own ideas that they would like to implement at their schools. Representatives of these country teams remain in regular exchange with the Goethe-Institut Thailand. They have founded the Network Climate Environment Club (LINK), with which they can support each other and implement their own projects. The environmental club is particularly important because one thing is certain: it is not enough to be sensitized to environmental protection and sustainability if no action follows afterwards. With the environmental club, the Goethe-Institut Thailand wants to support this implementation and be effective in the long term.