"Zukunfts(K)reise" published as a book
A children's book with ideas for a planet-friendly future
What could a sustainable life for everyone look like? Together with schoolchildren and the St. Gallen University of Teacher Education, Empa researchers have published a children's book on circular economy that aims to inspire reflection. The illustrated book, entitled “Zukunfts(K)reise” (Journeys into the Future), has now been published.
Children are bursting with imagination. Combining this creativity with the in-depth expertise of researchers gives rise to new ideas – for example about how we want to live on our planet in the future without overstretching its planetary boundaries. This is the topic of the children's book “Zukunfts(K)reise”, which Empa researchers from the Technology and Society laboratory in St. Gallen developed together with children from the gifted education program at the St. Gallen University of Teacher Education (PHSG). The book was presented last Wednesday at a launch event at the PHSG in Rorschach.
“When you ask adults for solutions for the future, you get a thousand reasons why this or that won't work. But when you ask children, you get a thousand ideas,” says Harald Desing, initiator of the project. Under the guidance of PHSG, the children immersed themselves in sustainability issues. They then developed visions of the future in joint workshops with the researchers. Designer and artist Maya Ivanova subsequently translated these into a visual story about a sustainable circular economy.
“Zukunfts(K)reise” is available in German and aimed at children in grades 3 to 6 of primary school. For use in schools, researchers at PHSG have developed comprehensive accompanying materials that provide teachers and parents with scientific background information and list numerous activities to help children learn about sustainability and circular economy.
“Zukunfts(K)reise” is the result of the Co-creating Circular Futures project, which was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) as part of its Agora program, together with the household appliance manufacturer V-Zug and the trade association SWICO. The book is available as a free e-book or can be purchased as a high-quality printed edition for 15 Swiss francs either at the reception desk of Empa in St. Gallen and Dübendorf, at the PHSG media library, or . For shipping, 10 Swiss francs per order will be charged extra for packaging and postage.
