The Aurel Steinert Foundation is committed to raising awareness among young people about environmental and climate issues by teaching children and teenagers the importance of protecting and preserving a healthy natural environment.
Specifically, the Aurel Steinert Foundation is enabling a school in Munich—Haldenberger Elementary School—to integrate outdoor learning into its curriculum. Additional learning spaces in southern Germany are in the works.
What is outdoor learning?
Outdoor learning means that children are not only taught regular subjects like math or German in the classroom, but that some lessons also take place outside in the forest. The material is taught using environmental education methods, so that the surrounding nature and forest can be directly incorporated into the lessons. In this way, children not only learn the curriculum content but also gain knowledge about and an appreciation for local forests and the need to protect our natural environment.
Outdoor Learning at Haldenberg Elementary School
To implement outdoor learning, we have partnered with the Bavarian branch of the German Forest Protection Association to establish a forest classroom on Lechelstraße in Moosach, where lessons with elementary school students take place. In addition, teachers at Haldenberg Elementary School receive the necessary environmental education training through professional development programs offered by the Bavarian branch of the German Forest Protection Association. In this way, outdoor learning is directly and permanently integrated into the school’s internal structures.