Target group: Pupils and teachers at upper secondary level (grammar schools) aged 15 and over
Few people deliberately harm the environment through their behaviour. Rather, negative environmental impacts are unintended side effects of our choices. This workshop helps pupils to understand how everyday decisions can be influenced and made. The aim of the workshop is to get to know one’s own values, to promote considerate behaviour and to identify measures for effective climate protection on a personal, political and economic level.
The programme enables young people to counteract the powerlessness sometimes felt in the face of climate protection issues and to experience self-efficacy by showing them specific ways they can make a difference.
Specific benefits
Secondary school pupils will…
…investigate how climate-friendly behaviour comes about and explore the psychological processes involved in decision-making
…discuss value systems and how they are changing at the individual and societal levels, and experience how this is relevant to climate protection
…get to know effective solutions and ways they can make a difference in the field of climate protection
…develop approaches for taking action on a personal, political and economic level
…experience self-efficacy by taking action themselves to promote a climate-friendly future
Mobilising the population for climate protection has inspired many secondary school pupils in particular. Since then, many young people have become increasingly involved in the issue or have asked questions about possible solutions. However, when the topic is discussed in school, the focus is often on causes and consequences. Teaching materials often provide only superficial information about solutions and possible courses of action.
The «Psychology for Change» programme aims to fill these gaps. Firstly, background information, such as the psychological processes involved in decision-making, shed light on why certain changes have so far failed to materialise. Secondly, suitable starting points for initiating climate-friendly behaviour are explored and effective fields of action for climate protection are identified.
The workshops promote value-orientated and considerate action and equip pupils with expertise, solution-orientated thinking and an interactive approach to climate-friendly behaviour.
