Freedom in transition? Intergenerational Dialogue on Planetary Boundaries and Responsibility (SHIFT)
Project management:
Project collaborators:
Bosse Sottmann
Project description
Compliance with planetary boundaries, which define a safe scope of action for humanity, requires societies and individuals to give up freedom. A possible overstepping of planetary boundaries will have enormous consequences that could severely restrict the freedom of current and future generations. These questions of intergenerational justice require an intergenerational dialog.
The SHIFT project, which the Geography Didactics working group is carrying out together with the Geographical Human-Environment Research working group, is creating an intergenerational exchange format for schoolchildren and senior citizens in which the participants reflect on the earth system-related restrictions on the freedom of the other group. The "Photovoice" method is used to initiate this learning and reflection process. Here, the participants document their everyday lives using photos they have taken themselves, asking the following questions:
- Where is my freedom already being restricted by global environmental changes in my everyday life?
- Where do I limit myself in my everyday life so as not to further restrict the freedom of future generations?
- Where do I gain new freedoms by changing my behavior?
The participants then acquire skills together in the field of planetary boundaries and human-nature relationships at an extracurricular learning location and start the 2nd Photovoice phase with this new knowledge. The educational format ends with a final presentation, which serves as an intergenerational exchange using the photos taken. Individual reflection on their own learning process takes place in a self-guided (e-)portfolio.
The aim of SHIFT is to encourage participants to think more deeply about freedom and the individual responsibility to preserve this freedom and to derive their own changes of action. The intergenerational exchange is intended to contribute to cooperation and a better understanding of the other generation's perspectives on freedom.