Hanstedt High School: Second award celebrated as a nature park school!

Hanstedt High School: Second award celebrated as a nature park school!

A happy celebration at the Hanstedt secondary school! Today the school was recognized as a Nature Park School for the second time, an honor that recognizes the institution's remarkable commitment to education for sustainability. The school received its first certification from the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park five years ago. This time the award was presented in a festive ceremony moderated by students Lele and Emma from class 8a.

The highlight of the event was the performance of seventh grader Said, who thrilled the audience with his guitar playing. In a moving speech, district councilor Ana Cristina Bröcking emphasized the relevance of the concept and called on the students to act responsibly. Community mayor Olaf Muus presented the school with the certificate and plaque. In his contribution, he highlighted the voice of the young generation and encouraged everyone to integrate fun, creativity and curiosity into their environmental work.

Commitment to sustainability

As part of the nature park school project, the Hanstedt secondary school has committed itself to integrating nature park topics and education for sustainable development (ESD) into its lessons. Teacher Cornelia Braun emphasized the importance of this connection and described how students are actively involved in processes that shape their environment. This approach aims to prepare children for a thoughtful life in which they take responsibility and reflect on decisions.

But the celebratory event didn't just offer speeches and music: to show their appreciation, the eighth graders planted a red-flowering robinia, a so-called "climate tree", together with Detlef von Elling from the organic tree nursery. This green symbol will provide food for the school's bees in the future and is a beautiful expression of the commitment to nature.

How it all began

The Nature Park School concept was initiated in 2014 by the Association of German Nature Parks and has since opened up new perspectives for many schools in the region. Seven schools are currently part of this network, which, in addition to the Hanstedt secondary school, also includes the Sprötze-Trelde primary school, the Neuenkirchen primary and secondary school and the IGS Buchholz. Everyone works to not only give the little ones knowledge about their home region, but also to further develop their design skills.

The various teaching contents include topics such as biological diversity, nature and landscape as well as questions about agriculture and forestry. Extracurricular partners, including foresters and conservationists, are included in the lessons to present students with a comprehensive picture of their environment. Thanks to the long-term support from the network and sponsors such as Sparkasse Harburg-Buxtehude, the implementation of project weeks and excursions that combine learning with exciting experiences is possible.

With the renewed award as a nature park school, the Hanstedt secondary school has once again proven that it plays an important role in education for sustainability. The voices of young people are not only heard, but also actively integrated into new projects - and so they remain part of the overall social change towards greater environmental awareness and responsibility.

We look forward to what the future holds for the Hanstedt High School and its committed students!

For further information about the network of Naturpark schools and the diverse activities carried out by these schools, you can take a look at the pages of naturpark-lueneburger-heide.de and naturparke.de.