“Roots creep underground everywhere and make a firm foundation. Shoots seem very weak, but to reach the light, they can break open brick walls. Imagine that the brick walls are all the problems we have inflicted on our planet. Hundreds of thousands of roots & shoots, hundreds of thousands of young people around the world, can break through these walls. We can change the world” (Jane Godall)

Last year in November I attended the 2017 Agenda Congress on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and I was very impressed to see so many committed people from so many different fields gathered in one place for sustainability. During these two days, however, I am once again reminded of how little attention is paid to early childhood education in relation to education for sustainable development.

It makes me sad. Especially the first three years of the children’s development lay the basis for their whole life. (more…)

 

Goal No. 5 Gender Equality

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

“I do not wish them to have power over men; but over themselves.” Mary Wallstonecraft

The greatest luck I had in my life was to have my wonderful grandfather, who was and remains my hero. One important lifelong wisdom he gave me along the way was:

“You should never depend on a man, you have to be able to take care of yourself. “

In my family women were always treated equal, they went to school, they had jobs and the household was shared. There was never any discussion about these things. In addition, my family, especially my grandfather, taught me about cross-gender (if you think in stereotypes) skills such as: artisan, painters, fishing etc. It was important to him that one had a range of lifelong skills and abilities.

I am very grateful for these opportunities and the freedom of choice. Unfortunately, nowadays many girls and women in this world still do not have the same opportunities that I was able to have. (more…)

 

Goal No. 3 Good Health and Well-Being

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

The second part of the blog series which looked at the SDG’s No. 1 No Poverty and No. 2 Zero Hunger, will now be considered more closely with the next two parts of the SDG’s, these being: No. 3 Good health and well being and No. 4 Quality Education.

I was born in Germany and I live here still as well. More precisely, I live in Berlin which is the capital. I often think about faraway places and long to live in foreign countries. From a young age, my grandfather taught me to consider all factors, evaluate and weigh out the pros and cons.  I often reflect on my own desire to emigrate, and one very important detail does come to mind. There is hardly any country which offers such a good health system such as here in Germany (even though one also complains about it) and this aspect especially makes me hesitant to move elsewhere.

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Following the first part of my blog series “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD) as well as the Global Goals that were explained in detail, the individual goals are presented in more detail. I would however, also like to point out that all the goals are very closely interwoven and are dependent on each other.

Before it goes any further, you might ask yourself the question:

What is the point of all this? (more…)

In order to correctly cover this issue, there will be a series of blogs.

How everything began:

In the 12th grade, I gave a presentation on gorillas for my class in biology, and for this purpose I especially researched about Dian Fossey, who not only researched about gorillas, but also protected them. Her book “Gorillas in the Mist”  really inspired and captivated my interest at the same time.

How could people be so cruel? How could the world allow these kinds of things to happen? (more…)