The following is a short interview conducted by Euractiv with science teacher Federica Borgognoni from the Petrarca Classical-musical high school (Arezzo) on the need to integrate EU concepts into the high school science curriculum.
E: What do you think your subject can contribute to the inclusion of European issues in the school curriculum?
FB: I am a science teacher. The contribution that my disciplines can make in the context of this Erasmus Plus project is linked to the sector of European policies for sustainable development.
The CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Article 37, concerning states that “a high level of protection of the environment and the improvement of its quality must be improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the Union’s policies and in accordance with the principle of sustainable development”.
In European politics, “sustainable development” has been a key term for years, an expression that refers to economic development that respects the environment.
E: How do you think the concept of “sustainable development” relates to the EU?
FB: In the strategies of the European Union, the concept of sustainable development is interpreted in such a way as to include, in the notion of growth, also health services and social progress.
Mainstreaming is the most important principle in the context of sustainable development, as it takes into consideration all the dimensions (social, environmental and economic) necessary for the elaboration of transversal policies. Through the optimization of policies, the conjunction between long and short term objectives, between local and global ones, it is possible to design a new and sustainable vision of progress.
E: Why do you think it is important to include this topic in high schools?
FB: The school is the place of choice for activating educational projects on the environment,
sustainability, cultural heritage and global citizenship.
The link with the territory, the intercultural richness, the daily dialogue and observation with the young people, the interdisciplinary dimension, and the possibility of developing targeted cognitive pathways are crucial aspects.
In a modern school curriculum, sustainability must have a central place. A sustainable school is one that follows the principle of the three healings:
-care for oneself
-Care for each other
-Care for the environment
It cares about the energy and water it consumes, the waste it produces, the food it serves, the transportation it uses to get to school, and all the opportunities it offers and all the possibilities that are of interest to the inhabitants of the territory and the world. Education for sustainability therefore means adopting a multidisciplinary and global perspective, and human rights, respect for the environment and different cultures.
In order for education for sustainability to be a vector for the development of young people’s disciplinary, personal and social and social skills for young people, and to express its transformative and evolutionary power, sustainable development must be transformative and evolutionary power, sustainable development must be integrated into the entire educational program, occupying a transversal
area of learning.
