Empa Collaborates with St. Gallen University of Teacher Education and Schoolchildren to Create a Children’s Book on Sustainable Future

Empa Collaborates with St. Gallen University of Teacher Education and Schoolchildren to Create a Children’s Book on Sustainable Future

(IN BRIEF) Empa, a Swiss research institute, is collaborating with St. Gallen University of Teacher Education and primary schoolchildren to develop visions for a sustainable future and compile them into an illustrated children’s book. The project, titled “Co-creating a Circular Future,” is part of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s Agora program and is supported by household appliance manufacturer V-Zug and trade association SWICO. The project aims to combine the creativity and imagination of children with the expertise of researchers to provide food for thought and inspire new ideas for research and a better future. The book will be integrated into the school curriculum and will promote sustainability while encouraging future generations to be engaged in shaping a sustainable future.

(PRESS RELEASE) DÜBENDORF, 2-Mar-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — Empa, the Swiss research institute for applied materials sciences and technology, announces its collaboration with St. Gallen University of Teacher Education (PHSG) and primary schoolchildren to create a children’s book on visions for a sustainable future. The project, titled “Co-creating a Circular Future,” is part of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s Agora program and is supported by household appliance manufacturer V-Zug and trade association SWICO.

Empa believes that it is essential to engage with younger generations in finding solutions for building a sustainable society. Our collaboration with primary schoolchildren aims to combine their creativity and imagination with our expertise in biophysical limitations. The visions developed in joint workshops will be compiled into an illustrated children’s book by designer and artist Maya Ivanova, portraying life in a circular economy.

“If you ask adults for solutions for our future, you will get a thousand reasons why this or that won’t work. But if you ask children, you will deliver a thousand ideas,” says Harald Desing, a researcher in Empa’s Technology & Society laboratory and initiator of the project. The idea of combining his research with children’s creativity came to the father of two during the Corona lockdown. “I was annoyed that my sons’ children’s books almost exclusively depicted the world of yesterday,” says the researcher. So he decided to combine children’s imagination, openness and creativity with Empa researchers’ understanding of biophysical limitations.

The PHSG will also develop appropriate supporting materials to ensure that the book can be integrated into the school curriculum. Our hope is that the book will not only provide food for thought but also inspire new ideas and generate new impulses for research.

Empa is proud proud to collaborate with the St. Gallen University of Teacher Education and schoolchildren to create a better future for all. Our project seeks to make a positive impact on society by promoting sustainability and encouraging future generations to be engaged in shaping a sustainable future.

“We don’t want to predict the future, but provide food for thought,” Desing says. And that cuts both ways: The children’s ideas could also generate new impulses for research.

Further information

Dr. Harald Desing
Technology and Society
Phone +41 58 765 75 13
harald.desing@empa.ch

Editor / Media Contact

Anna Ettlin
Communications
Phone +41 58 765 47 33
redaktion@empa.ch

SOURCE: EMPA