Discover the environment: Children's Research Day in Hanover on June 11th!

Discover the environment: Children's Research Day in Hanover on June 11th!

On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, the Children's Research Day will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m Leibniz University Hannover instead of. This event is aimed at school classes in the 3rd and 4th grades and will be held in the university's atrium, located at Welfengarten 1 in 30167 Hanover. Participation is open and free.

The Children's Research Day is organized by students of the Bachelor's degree program in Special Education, specifically from the Department of Subject Matter Teaching and Inclusive Didactics. The aim of the event is to promote awareness of climate change and the sustainable use of the environment. The event receives technical input from the Institute of Meteorology and Climatology, which is also actively involved.

Activities and concepts

The event offers a variety of hands-on stations that deal with topics related to climate, environment and sustainability. The focus is on the children's independent discovery and research. The contact for further information is the Institute for Special Education, reachable by email at oliver.miller@ifs.uni-hannover.de.

Viewed in a broader context, promoting sustainability is a central concern across the board Leibniz Association. These institutions deal intensively with sustainable development in the areas of research, transfer, administration and operations. The community is guided by the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The implementation is carried out in accordance with the handout “Sustainability Management in Non-University Research Organizations (LeNa)”, with a particular focus on sustainable research and operational processes.

An essential part of the Leibniz Association's commitment is the sustainability model, which was launched in 2022. This promotes a “culture of sustainability” that encourages employees to reflect on their actions and thus contributes to the sustainable development of society. A steering group led by Prof. Dr. Barbara Sturm and Dr. Martin Mittelbach, is currently developing a comprehensive sustainability concept that also includes the findings and experiences from ten pilot projects to promote climate-neutral research operations. These pilot projects are to be carried out by spring 2024 and current inventories of greenhouse gas emissions are to be analyzed.

Education for sustainability

As part of these efforts, the active participation of young people in education for sustainability is essential. Information such as that from the Federal Environment Agency emphasizes that including children and young people in the conception and methodology of environmental education programs is crucial for the social transformation towards greater sustainability here. The impact of such environmental education projects depends heavily on various factors, especially in informal and extracurricular educational situations.

The Children's Research Day at Leibniz University Hannover focuses on both education and concrete practical experiences and makes a valuable contribution to raising awareness among the young generation about environmental and climate issues.