In two years’ time, the ÖBZ (Ökologisches Bildungszentrum München) will celebrate its twenty-five-year anniversary, looking back on a multitude of projects, and seminars, lectures, courses, workshops and projects that have attracted thousands of participants. And here, learning has always been about more than just the transfer of knowledge. There have always been opportunities to get active, to travel your own, new path, to try out different approaches, to exchange ideas and to network with other people. 

Another thing that makes the ÖBZ unique is the long-standing collaboration between the Munich Adult Education Centre (MVHS) and Münchner Umweltzentrum e.V. (MUZ), the Munich Environmental Association. “The association and its municipal subsidiary actually both had similar ideas at the same time about the site of what is now the ÖBZ, and similar interests,” recalls biologist Marc Haug, the director in charge of the ÖBZ within MUZ. Dr Gesa Lüdecke, who until recently was Head of MVHS at the ÖBZ and the ESD Coordination Centre for Adult Education, says: “The two organisations complement each other well, offering programmes for different target groups.” 

MUZ tends to deal with children, schools, young people and families, while the MVHS provides adult education programmes. But the target groups also include all multipliers dealing with sustainability, the environment and education, such as teachers and educators. However, the ÖBZ is not only unique in its collaborative nature; it is also a unique, state-recognised environmental station, here in the Bogenhausen district, that includes 6.5 hectares of permanently accessible open space. 

“We have become an outdoor learning centre for Munich, with a nature play area, biotopes, gardens and nature trails,” explains Marc Haug. “In an urban area as hermetic and densely populated as Munich, that’s really something special,” adds Gesa Lüdecke. This was one of the reasons the ÖBZ was awarded the “Bavarian Seal of Quality for Environmental Education” and recognised by the German UNESCO Commission as an “outstanding learning facility for education for sustainable development”.

Environmental education for all age groups

Anyone looking to engage with the topics of environment, nature and sustainability in education is welcome here. There are often children and schoolchildren in the mornings, teenagers in the afternoons and adults in the evenings and at weekends. And of course there are projects for the whole family or multiple generations – like “the pillar of sustainability”. This is a work of art that stands on the site and was prompted by reflection on the United Nations’ 17 sustainability goals, interpreting them through images. 

The MVHS offers an extensive programme for adults. “Ecological gardening, repairing and upcycling, sustainable mobility and planning, environmentally-aware shopping and eating, engaging with your local neighbourhood – there are many ways to reduce your ecological footprint and get involved in sustainable development in urban society,” says the centre. Topics thus range from “Sensory gardens” to “Cooking with herbs and mushrooms” to “Design your own green oasis”. Of course, health and relaxation are not neglected either.

“Yes, these are all subjects we offer at other locations, but many people come here quite consciously – precisely because of the special nature of the ÖBZ,” says Lüdecke. This includes the huge outdoor area and the garden, where learners can gain very practical experience and try things out. The garden is itself an educational project and facilitates projects, for instance on biodiversity, that could only work at the ÖBZ. But the training kitchen, which allows participants to experiment with sustainable cookery, is another draw.

Initial proposals to restructure language courses and possibly rename them “Environment and Language” are new. Even these courses can have environmental issues such as ecological construction, energy, nutrition and upcycling built into them.

A particular highlight of the programme is “Thinking the unimaginable, writing the unbelievable”. This is the title of a discussion evening in mid-November with Indian writer Amitav Ghosh on the subject of climate change and creative writing. It is not, of course, a lecture where all attendees are expected to do is listen. “Exchanging ideas is an integral part of the event,” Dr Gesa Lüdecke says enthusiastically. 

The goal is sustainable development

The entire programme is focused on three letters – “ESD”, or Education for Sustainable Development. The global ESD programme was launched by UNESCO in 2015 and Germany’s National ESD Action Plan was presented in 2017. “Development is sustainable when it allows people around the world, now and in the future, to live in dignity, fulfil their needs and exercise talents while respecting planetary boundaries. To achieve this kind of social transformation we need strong institutions, participatory decision-making and conflict resolution, expertise, technologies and new patterns of behaviour,” as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research says. The ÖBZ is committed to this, too. 

“We create enabling spaces, development spaces, and spaces for reflection and creativity,” Haug summarises. Here, education is seen as discursive. To put it another way, people plan and design educational processes in the ÖBZ grounds by creating spaces in which to experience nature. This is much more than a leisure activity. Gesa Lüdecke adds, “This is where inspiration is provided that can trigger social change”. From the end of 2024, for example, freelance lecturers at the MVHS will be trained in integrating ESD into their subject sessions. “This is initially being introduced for selected subjects, but in the long term it will be provided for all areas, from maths to nutrition. And it will benefit the ÖBZ later, too,” she says happily. 

“We’re doing something real, we’re not pretending, and so we see the ÖBZ as a true laboratory,” says Marc Haug. The joy of experimentation and the courage to break new ground are inseparable from each other, and also from scientific appraisal. One example of this is the bean project. This works on the diverse varieties that need to be preserved. Some of them are grown on the ÖBZ site, while others are grown by gardening enthusiasts and bean sponsors throughout Germany. From small beginnings, a seed archive has now emerged that has collected, described and catalogued around 150 varieties. 

Scientific support

The ÖBZ is also part of the Global Bean Project. This is a worldwide network that has set itself the goal of increasing the cultivation and consumption of pulses. “Legumes are low-emission crops” and less dependent on fertilisers. It is not for nothing that the ÖBZ organises an annual seed festival that attracts thousands of visitors. “Crop diversity and its preservation depend on people who are enthusiastic about this issue, who have the relevant information and who grow suitable varieties in their gardens,” says the background information on the festival. This is about seed sovereignty, about “understanding the political context, establishing the ecological connection, raising awareness of good nutrition, and winning over and inspiring people.”

In line with the slogan “Education means action”, committed people come together to deliver horticulture projects; people, for example, who have acquired their own expertise over time and pass it on – alongside the lecturers at the ÖBZ. “They complement each other,” says Marc Haug. This high level of commitment to education and sustainability has also attracted international attention – ÖBZ is collaborating on initiatives from France to South Korea, for example, and has even been invited to give talks in China.