Handbook "My footprint. My voice. My choice"

Is it easy or difficult to raise children who care and are responsibility for nature and society?

Before answering this question, however, let us first ask ourselves what do we think that children know, think and believe about their role in the world? What do they know, think and feel about current local and global issues? What do they know, think and do to solve these problems?

Fortunately, the children, aged 7 to 14, who took part in the "My Footprint. My Voice. My Choice" contest showed us that the young people nowadays are already aware of some leading issues, such as nature pollution and the need for food, and clothes that some families around them face. More and more young people are trying together with their families and schools to find ways to tackle these problems - through volunteer initiatives, donations, waste recycling and reusing items.

The purpose of this handbook is to support children in learning more and observing in real time these issues around them, to make sense of how they feel about these problems, to think about what they consider being able to do themselves to tackle those problems. For this to happen we are offering you a structured way (through 4 projects) held for a longer period of time simultaneously for all children from a community - one class or a school club. In this way, they will be able to go through the process of realizing their role as key actors in solving and preventing such problems and, by supporting each other, they will be able to build their own the identities of active and responsible individuals.

Of course, this process would not be possible without the leading role of you, their teachers. Working with children on global citizenship topics is extremely delicate - children need to be aware of the seriousness of the situation, but without feeling overwhelmed with negative information, stress and fear. At the same time, adults must show and prove to them that they see them and listen to their messages and suggestions. The only way for our children to grow into responsible adults is to feel as responsible children, to be trusted and to be supported in their decisions.

We hope you find this handbook useful. We will be happy to share your experience with its implementation with us.

Thank you in advance for your work with the children on the topics in the handbook. It is important and valuable! And it answers our question from the beginning - if we teach care and responsibility from the heart and by personal example, yes, it is easy to educate good people and responsible citizens.

Download the handbook from HERE.

Co-financed by the European Union and project Bridge 47