A playful approach to environmental education

Since the Agenda 2030, sport has become a recognised tool for development that can contribute to the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Article 37 of the Agenda 2030 states “Sport is also an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognise the growing contribution of sport to the realisation of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives” (UN, 2015).

In this statement, environmental goals such as Goal 13 (Climate Change) are not mentioned. However, sports and sporting events have the potential to raise awareness and inform about important socio-political issues such as climate change. Sports organisations can ensure that sporting events are run in an environmentally friendly way by reducing the event’s carbon footprint, and by using environmentally friendly products, services and sports equipment.

Since 2015, it has been recognised that sport can also contribute to the fight against climate change, and organizations such as the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have developed some valuable tools on this topic and published them on their websites.

The organising of environmentally friendly sporting events, the production and use of ecological sports equipment, and the practice of sport in nature are obvious approaches to establishing a link between sport and the environment. But the sporting activity itself can also serve as an instrument to impart environmentally friendly behaviour and knowledge.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as part of the Agenda 2030 goals is the basis for this approach.

“By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development” (UN, 2015).

As a development organisation, Play Handball is guided by the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Empowering young people is at the heart of Play Handball’s activities.

Since 2016, a focus of Play Handball has been on raising awareness and educating about environmentally friendly behaviour and climate change. With initial support from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the youth and sports development organisation has implemented a holistic program that uses handball as an educational tool for sustainable development. Under the motto “Play Fair for the Environment” the organisation developed a programme consisting of an educational manual, train-the-trainer workshops for teachers and coaches, and a tournament series.

The Play Handball Supercup was the first tournament series aimed at raising awareness about climate change. Since 2016, the organisation has organised eight Supercups in South Africa and Kenya. In addition to handball, the tournament is organised as a zero-waste event and includes environmental education elements. The eco-trail will teach participants about waste management, composting, water pollution and other topics related to a sustainable world.

At a waste station operated by Waste-ED in South Africa, players learn how to separate waste and can also earn points for their team. In addition, each year there is a core theme, such as saving water or recycling, about which the teams are asked to initiate a project.

In train-the-trainer workshops before the tournament, teachers and coaches learn how to use games as a tool for environmental education or how to become a zero-waste school, run a clean-up event or build with eco-bricks. The foundation of this workshop is Play Handball’s educational game manual “Play Fair for the Environment”. The manual contains 15 games, which use the sport activity to teach environmentally friendly behaviours and knowledge.

The team sport of handball and the training of its basic technical-tactical elements provide the methodical basis for the learning experience on four environmental topics: Waste and Recycling, Fresh Air, Healthy Soil, and Clean Water (Scholl & Fasold 2022). Games are used to train specific sport skills and abilities, but also to promote social skills and impart environmental knowledge to the participants.

The sporting experience becomes a learning experience. It creates the basis for reflection and transfer to specific environmental competencies.

In each game, the focus is on an environment-specific key competence. In contrast to conventional teaching of sports games, where the sport goal and the acquisition of motor skills are at the centre of the exercise/game form, environmental competence is the focus of these games.

Environmental learning objectives include understanding separation of waste and recycling, learning about soil, water or air pollution, understanding what role trees and the oceans play for clean air, among others.

In different game forms, such as running and catching games or passing, throwing or group tactics games, environmental topics are integrated into the sport activity. Different methods are used to achieve the transfer from the sporting action to the environmental learning objective. There are games where making the right decisions is the learning objective.

In other games, analogies serve to support the learning and transfer process. The ball or action is linked to positive environmental abilities or characteristics. For example, the ball may represent oxygen or clean water, or a failed pass may represent littering. Even though these games were developed from a handball perspective, they can be modified for different sports such as basketball, soccer, frisbee and others.

Through an interdisciplinary approach environmental and sport education are linked. The idea is not only that learning is more enjoyable, but also that the learning objectives, in this case the environmental learning objectives, are learned more deeply through the execution of actions.

Sport can contribute to sustainable change. Sport is not only able to improve health and well-being. Sport can also transfer knowledge and create interest for specific socio-political topics such as climate change.

Young people have fun while they become aware about socio-political issues, which enable them to become responsible citizens in the society as they learn important skills to sustain our planet.

Main image: Play Handball ZA, 2017 by Dominic Gorin

________________________________________________________________________________________

About the author

Nicola Scholl is the founder of Play Handball, the first youth development organisation through handball in South Africa. She started the non-profit organisation in 2013 and has since developed it into an international organisation, working in South Africa, Kenya and Germany. Nicola is also a consultant and freelance expert on Sport for Development. Among other things, she has worked on “Sport for Development” projects for the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).