It's the end of August, Wednesday morning, shortly after eight o'clock. Gerhard Schneider, a member of the threshold corporation of the municipality in question, is standing on the banks of the Emme. An upper school class will soon arrive at the meeting point, equipped with good shoes and gardening gloves.
Gerhard Schneider will welcome them and patiently and clearly explain the work they will be doing that morning. The young people will look for so-called invasive neophytes along the river and at pre-recognised locations and uproot them expertly.
Working in the fresh air is a welcome change from everyday life at school. The commitment is correspondingly high.
«Neophytes are plants that have been introduced since the discovery of America and have since successfully established themselves in the native flora,» writes the Canton of Bern's Department for the Promotion of Nature. Some of these introduced plant species reproduce extremely quickly and uncontrollably, which is why they are referred to as invasive.
Neophytes displace native plants
They are very dominant and displace the native flora in a harmful way. This impairs the biodiversity of the affected areas. In the Emme area in question, it is mainly Japanese knotweed that needs to be combated. But goldenrod and summer lilac are also on the list of undesirable species.
The danger posed by these plants has also been recognised by the cantonal authorities. They have therefore issued appropriate guidelines and measures to curb their further spread. The main focus is on watercourses, as neophytes spread particularly quickly along the banks. In the canton of Bern, the obligation to construct watercourses is generally the responsibility of the municipalities. They either fulfil this duty themselves or delegate it to threshold corporations or hydraulic engineering associations.
A common goal
It was the municipality's environmental commission that put forward the idea of school work assignments in favour of the threshold corporation. The concept was finalised after just two meetings. Each class in secondary level 1 will take part in one work assignment per school year to combat invasive neophytes. The threshold corporation will pay an hourly rate of CHF 12.50 per young person for the work. This raises a considerable amount of money for the four-hour assignment with the entire school class. Incidentally, this money goes directly into the school's snow sports camp budget.
The aim of the work assignment is to teach young people to take responsibility in society and for the environment.
For our school, this cooperation with the local authority is a stroke of luck in more ways than one. The school class takes part in a meaningful activity and earns money for the camp at the same time. The work in the fresh air and the physical exertion are healthy. The activity is also a welcome change from everyday school life. All the young people have a common goal and experience the effectiveness of a group. It is therefore not surprising that the young people put in a lot of effort.
This is also evident on site. The school class has now earned a break. Sandwiches and sweet cider are served. The snack is provided by the Schwellenkorporation. The atmosphere is relaxed and cheerful. The work seems to be progressing well. A cleared green area and a considerable pile bear witness to the effort.
Even if more areas are cleared throughout the morning, the work will never run out. Gerhard Schneider knows the region only too well and knows that the neophytes cannot be completely eliminated. However, in addition to the recurring containment of the plants, he is also hoping for a preventative effect. With a total of three work assignments at secondary level 1, the young people will be able to recognise the most common neophytes straight away in future and will be sensitised to their harmfulness.
Anchored in curriculum 21
However, the work assignment can be clearly located in the curriculum. The competences to be acquired can be found in Curriculum 21 under «Education for sustainable development». The scope of this subject area is so broad that it has been defined as a transversal module in the curriculum. This means that the acquisition of competences is not assigned to one subject area, but takes place across all subjects.
The mission is over at 12 noon. Although the young people can see the efforts of the past few hours, they seem satisfied. Gerhard Schneider thanks the school class and praises their enthusiasm. While the pupils have a lesson-free afternoon ahead of them, he will collect the uprooted plants on a trailer. This is because the plant waste may only be disposed of in the waste incineration system and not in the normal green waste collection system.
What does education for sustainable development mean?
(Source: education21.ch)
