As part of the iniative of the Ministry for International Cooperation, the Hamburg Institute for Vocational Education and Training (HIBB) is committed to Education for Sustainable Development (BNE) and Global Learning (GL) in Vocational Education and Training. Five vocational schools in Hamburg are currently involved in so-called implementation projects, in which they build and maintain school partnerships with countries on the African continent. The goal is the integration of BNE and GL into the learning areas at the VET schools.

For the coordination work between the institutions and the participating schools, HIBB has set up a project coordinator. The task includes the following activities:

  • Support of the schools participating in the implementation project in building and maintaining global learning partnerships with partners in Africa
  • Maintain contacts with state institutions and schools in the partner country
  • Support of the schools involved in the implementation project in integrating BNE and GL into the learning areas of the respective sections
  • Public presentations of the ongoing work and its results
  • Application for funding to carry out school partnership activities
  • Organizational preparation of meetings in Hamburg and in the partner countries
  • Reporting on the work done at schools
  • Networking with NGOs and state development cooperation institutions

Global Learning and ESD in Vocational Education and Training

On 15 June 2021, the Hamburg Senate adopted the strategy „Hamburg Master Plan Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) 2030“.

This is intended to anchor ESD with the guiding principle of sustainable development as a basic orientation and overarching educational goal in the educational and framework curricula of all school forms of vocational education.

On this basis, Hamburg contributes to the UNESCO ESD programme and supports the implementation of the United Nations‘ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Hamburg Institute for Vocational Education and Training (HIBB) has already been working with Engagement Global gGmbH since 2015 as part of the country initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ). The common goal is to integrate ESD into the learning fields of vocational schools in line with the Orientation Framework for Global Development Education.

With the completion of the second state initiative, in which the vocational schools BS 08, BS 13, BS 15, BS 22 and BS 25 participated, the documentation of the work done is now available. It shows in an exemplary way how environmentally sound and fair business practices can be integrated into vocational education. This publication can serve as an orientation for other vocational schools in Hamburg that are working on the implementation of the Hamburg Master Plan for their own further activities.

Furthermore, the results of the above-mentioned school network have received several awards from the BMBF and UNESCO in recent years as part of the World Action Programme, which speaks for the consistently good work of all those involved. In addition, BS 15 and BS 25 have twice received the Federal President’s Award for „Global Learning“. Thus, the results achieved have also been noticed nationwide and deserve special recognition.