Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) means nothing less than a technological and social transformation. Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution, for example, present society with enormous challenges that can only be overcome together. It is important to overcome fears and resistance to the upcoming changes at an early stage.

This is where a new funding initiative from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) comes in. The aim of the "Transformative Education for Sustainable Development" call is to promote innovative projects in which different institutions work together - for example, a university and a local authority with a medium-sized company. Different target groups are called upon to participate in "concrete change processes in areas such as mobility, energy, housing, neighborhood development, consumption and food production". "The transition to sustainable development is particularly successful when changes are actively tackled by as many people as possible," says DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde.

Initiating concrete change processes

The respective projects are intended to promote concrete change processes for sustainable development, for example in a city or in a company. "It's also about how we produce and consume energy, food and goods, how we get around, how we live and work," explains Cornelia Soetbeer, DBU Head of Department for Environmental Communication and Cultural Heritage Protection and International Funding.

The call for proposals is aimed at stakeholders from education, civil society, local authorities, museums and small and medium-sized enterprises. Funding is available for approaches such as real-life experiments and methods from the fields of citizen science and service learning. The DBU-funded project "Meals on Wheels" is a prime example of such cooperation. Here, researchers from the University of Münster are working together with schools, various local civil society initiatives and a company to make the city of Essen more attractive for cyclists.