Wortels en Vleugels

“There are two things we should give our children: one is roots and the other is wings.” Hodding Carter

“The name ‘Roots & Wings’ perfectly reflects the tension between conservation and development, which is the core of sustainability issues. Roots and wings literally refer to the plant and animal kingdoms, the soil and the air, so to nature as context and universe. Finally, the apparent contradiction between being connected and being free speaks as a powerful emotional starting point for imagination.” Pina Dekker, policy officer municipality Ooststellingwerf.

‘Roots & Wings’ is a program that focuses on both familiarizing children with sustainability issues as making room for imagination. In addition to knowledge transfer, the program is aimed at raising the awareness of children in primary education: the feeling of being co-responsible for the earth, starting with and based on the immediate environment. This awareness will ultimately lead to responsible behavior and is therefore also part of citizenship education. By combining knowledge transfer and awareness with creative imagination, the program gains effectiveness and meaning.

Schools find themselves in a dynamic world in which new developments, also in the field of sustainability, are not always easy to incorporate into education. The ‘Roots & Wings’ program offers, among others, the business community the opportunity to fit their educational offer on sustainability into the curriculum of local schools. In this way, ‘Roots & Wings’ enables a dynamic connection with a changing society. Moreover, the program is in line with the existing offer (Veerkieker and Kunst & COO) so that a mutual reinforcement of cultural education and sustainability education takes place.

The structure of the ‘Roots & Wings’ program is based on the development line used at ‘De Veerkieker’ (heritage education for primary education in the Stellingwerven (deveerkieker.nl). At ‘Roots & Wings’ this has been translated into the classification: from nature education, via biodiversity to awareness of sustainability.