International Masters in Geoinformatics

EduCamp – Education for Sustainable Development beyond the
Campus
Introduction and Background
The Tempus IV project “EduCamp – Education
for Sustainable Development beyond the
Campus” aims to promote Education for
Sustainable Development (ESD) in the
Egyptian society. School education presents a
great challenge for Egypt. Frontal teaching
methods without interactive and participatory
involvement of students do not respond to
today’s societal as well as labour market’s
needs. Overcrowded classrooms with up to 60
students per class make high quality teaching
difficult. As education is seen as one of the
most important tools for achieving sustainable
development, this practical-oriented project
takes action to serve these needs of the
Egyptian society. On the basis of developing
innovative teaching resources as well as a
training for trainers program, multipliers will be
educated that carry sustainable and holistic
thinking into their society.
The involvement of RCE Graz-Styria1 at the
University of Graz results from a close
cooperation with the SEKEM foundation in
Cairo as well as expertise in the field of
Education for Sustainable Development. Dr.
Clemens Mader (director of RCE Graz-Styria)
strongly supported the establishment of RCE
Cairo as well as conducted a research project
with SEKEM, where he investigated the
integrative development process of SEKEM.
Title
Education for Sustainable Development beyond the
Campus
Project Type
Joint Projects Higher Education and Society
Coordinator
RWTH Aachen University
DE
Partner
Universität Graz
AT
Ingenieurgesellschaft Dr. Ing. NackenMBH
DE
UNESCO International Hydrological Programme
DE
Alexandria University
EG
American University in Cairo
EG
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
EG
Cairo University
EG
Fayoum Governorate - Ministry of Education
EG
Fayoum University
EG
Heliopolis University
EG
Ministry of Higher Education
EG
SEKEM Development Foundation
EG
Suez Canal University
EG
The American-Mideast Education and
EG
Training Service
Wadi Environmental Science Centre
EG
Zagazig University
EG
Future Generation Foundation
EG
University of Limerick
IE
Centre of Studies, Information & Education
for the Environment
PT
Project Number
511132–TEMPUS–1–2010–1-DE-TEMPUS-JPHES
EU Grant
1.121.556,88 Euro
1
The Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable
Development (RCE) Graz-Styria is part of an international network,
the Global Learning Space for Sustainable Development, that
consists of 85 RCEs worldwide (February 2011). The network is
coordinated by the United Nations University, Institute of Advanced
Studies (UNU-IAS). RCEs are founded in the context of the UN
Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and contribute
to sustainable development by acting on a local and regional scale,
but thinking globally.
Contact
Dr. Clemens Mader
University of Graz / Regional Centre of Expertise on
Education
for
Sustainable
Development
(RCE)
Heinrichstrasse 36 / A-8010 Graz
[email protected]
www.educamp.eu
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EduCamp – the Project
“Education for Sustainable Development
beyond the Campus” is a project that is funded
by the European Commission’s external
programmes and policies in the framework of
Tempus IV. The project started in October
2010 and runs over three years until October
2013. Twenty partners from across Europe as
well as Egypt are involved in the project, which
is led by RWTH Aachen University in Germany.
EduCamp aims at incorporating Education for
Sustainable Development into the Egyptian
society. This project presents the first initiative
in Egypt that structurally interlinks universities
and schools.
Concrete Project Goals are
 Establishing
seven
“Centres
of
Excellence”
within
Egyptian
universities to deliver training activities
for ESD.
 Developing ESD teaching resource kits
for students at the age of ten until
fourteen years.
 Developing
innovative
methodologies for students.
teaching
 Developing and implementing a
Training for Trainers programme for
Egyptian university professors and
students of educational science.
 Developing a virtual platform for
networking and exchanging knowledge
and experiences in the field of ESD
between universities, schools, society
and other stakeholders.
A Centre of Excellence will be established at
each of the seven involved Egyptian
universities
(Cairo
University,
Heliopolis
University, Suez Canal University, Alexandria
University,
Fayoum
University,
Zagazig
University, American University Cairo). These
centres aim to promote Education for
Sustainable Development and bundle the other
objectives and results of the project. Training
programmes for both teachers and students
will be offered that are developed in the
context of EduCamp. ESD concepts and
teaching kits will be structured in a way so
they can be easily adapted to Egyptian school
curricula. The centres will act as nodal points
for
networking
various
educational
stakeholders, such as universities, schools,
NGOs, companies as well as local and regional
governments and ministries. Each centre will
have the capacity to serve about thirty schools
in respective regions. Furthermore the Centres
of Excellence should become role models for
other universities.
The development of four teaching resource kits
for schools will enable the Centres of
Excellence
to
incorporate
sustainable
development into teaching and learning.
Teaching modules will be developed for school
children at the age of ten until fourteen years,
dealing with following topics:
 Water: this kit will contain topics such
as water cycle, analysis and the water
system of the community, water
consumption, virtual water or water
scenarios for Egypt.
 Agriculture: including today’s role of
agriculture, Egyptian and future crops,
food security, irrigation, food export
and import as well as virtual games
about agriculture.
 Biodiversity: the module will consist of
information about biodiversity and
ecosystems,
endangered
species,
pollution, evolution or climate change.
 Energy: the energy kit deals with
renewable energies such as wind, sun
and water, energy consumption and
increasing demands, different sources
of energy as well as includes an
energy audit in schools.
All teaching kits will include specifications of
the objectives and contents, comprehensive
background information of respective topics,
pedagogical guidelines as well as teaching
methodologies, tools and materials. The
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development of teaching kits will be based on
pedagogical principles that are relevant for
ESD, such as being holistic, interdisciplinary,
inquiry-based,
problem
and
application
oriented, participatory and interactive, relate to
local as well as global needs and appreciate
human rights. The development of innovative
teaching methodologies presents another
outcome of EduCamp, which is very strongly
linked to the development of contents of the
teaching resource kits. These methodologies
will include school games, demonstrations and
interactive parts that demonstrate the
connection between action and learning,
learning outside school as well as materials
and guidelines for applying virtual learning.
The development and implementation of a
Training of Trainers programme on Education
for Sustainable Development aims to prepare
Egyptian trainers at the seven Centres of
Excellence to multiply their know-how. They
will
train
university
professors
and
undergraduate students of educational science
about ESD, who will again act as multipliers on
their part and spread the gained knowledge
and experiences. They also present the direct
target groups of the project. Indirect
beneficiaries will then be teachers, school
children and hence the Egyptian society.
During the project the Egyptian trainers will be
trained in Austria, Germany, Portugal and
Ireland. The topics cover ESD, water,
agriculture, energy and biodiversity. Specific
knowledge as well as innovative teaching
methodologies will be imparted. After
completing
the
training
modules
the
participants should be able to implement such
trainings on their own at Egyptian universities,
where they will educate teachers and
undergraduate students. The aim is to raise
awareness within the Egyptian society about
the relevance of sustainable development as
well as high quality education for a liveable
and happy future. RCE Graz-Styria will be
mainly responsible for managing and delivering
results of the Training of Trainers programme.
Furthermore a virtual platform for schooluniversity partnerships will be established in
the framework of EduCamp. This platform will
foster
communication
between
the
stakeholders,
networking
activities,
the
exchange of knowledge and experiences as
well as ensure internal and external
dissemination activities.
Project Partners
Six European partners and fourteen Egyptian
partners are involved in the EduCamp project.
The interdisciplinary consortium represents
different stakeholders in the project and
consists of ten universities, four RCEs, three
NGOs, two business companies, two Egyptian
ministries as well as Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
This mix of institutions provides the required
and specific know-how as well as experiences
for a successful implementation of the project.
Status Quo and first Results of
EduCamp
First outcomes of the EduCamp project contain
two reports – one on an assessment of
Egyptian school curricula as well as one on a
review of worldwide available ESD teaching
kits. First report contains a comprehensive
review of Egyptian school curricula for grades
5-9 (age ten to fourteen years) of basic
education. It aims to identify strengths and
weaknesses of the Egyptian curricula as well
as inter-linkages between teaching units in
different courses. The results of this report are
based on questionnaires of stakeholders, a
curricula mapping and an assessment of the
national curriculum from the perspective of the
Egyptian
government.
Additionally
a
framework for the further development of
complementary teaching kits is provided. The
second report includes a review and
classification of worldwide available teaching
kits that deal with energy, water, biodiversity
and agriculture. A definition of “teaching kits”
in the context of the EduCamp project is also
provided, as well as criteria that characterise
teaching and learning for sustainable
development. Moreover the report contains
specifications for the development of school
games, experiments, demonstrations, group
works, materials for learning outside classes as
well as e-learning. The review of teaching kits
as well as these specifications will act as good
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practices and application-oriented guidelines
for the further development of the teaching
kits within EduCamp.
Furthermore a project homepage for visibility
and dissemination activities has been created
as well as an intranet to foster the internal
communication as well as sharing information
and project results.
The political upheaval in Egypt, which started
in January 2011, also affected the EduCamp
project. But due to these changes a particular
interest in the project on the part of the
Egyptian ministries is expected, as EduCamp
aims to enhance quality education, which
consequently may contribute to poverty
reduction. A more sustainable future is the
overall goal.
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