The school program titled “Ways towards an Earth-friendly lifestyle”, offered within the Open Forum at the Lifefair for Sustainability 2011 (held between September 23rd to October 2nd) was recognized on October 13th as an activity of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) by the Swiss UNESCO Commission. The course, which is in German, is aimed for 5th and 6th graders, lower and upper secondary school students, visitors to the fair, and people with an interest in issues on sustainability.
The course was created and promoted by Earth Charter Switzerland in collaboration with more than 18 organisations and enterprises, including the management of Lifefair GmbH and Gammarus Umweltkommunikation in Zurich, and it works on two levels. Firstly, it is a multi-faceted form of education for sustainable development (ESD) both in terms of content and methodology. Individual visions of a sustainable life, one’s own future, sustainable lifestyles, forms of renewable energy, social justice, and peace are addressed via different approaches. Secondly, the project aims to develop cooperation between different civil society actors to further strengthen ESD.