Education for Sustainable Development

atavus advises schools and other educational establishments on how to create dye-plant gardens. These gardens serve to preserve the diversity of cultivated plants and promote interdisciplinary learning. Dye-plant gardens promote the production and use of colors according to Agenda 21. By focusing on topics such as cosmetics and various types of paints, both children and adults are encouraged to reflect on questions related to ecology, economics and social matters. In addition, opportunities to participate actively in this process are developed. Along with the dye-plant institute in Essen Altendorf, the international dye-plant garden in Gelsenkirchen, and the ones in South Africa, atavus offers numerous possibilities for networking. By including handicrafts we want to create economic cycles where children, as communicators of the "do-it-yourself" approach can find vocational training opportunities.

We get special support from the UNESCO city of Gelsenkirchen. With various activities, Gelsenkirchen is well on its way from being industrial town to becoming the ‘city of 1000 colours'. In the international exchange with South Korea (cultural exchange), Azerbaijan (paint extraction), Lithonia (Africa workshop), South Africa (cosmetics), Nicaragua (manufacturing) and numerous European partners (Ruhr 2010), we are currently running a set of interlinked projects.

Old knowledge, personal responsibility, and pleasure in learning will be taught in various events and places: Landesgartenschau Hemer 2010, European Film Awards 2009, Vilnius 2009, BNE conference 2009, Africa Conference North-Rhine Westphalia, Kaffeegarten Eine Weltnetz 2010, Mondialogo-Unesco, International Painters Camp 2010 and others.