The participants of the HEC project are representatives of the humanities (literature researchers, literary critics, linguists, historians, teaching methodology researchers), and educators with practical experience, all coming from a variety of institutions and branches of education in V4 countries, which makes the team interdisciplinary and international. The collaboration of researchers and practitioners makes it possible to adopt a holistic and multi-faceted perspective on the issue; moreover, it guarantees the effective operation of the team and ensures a broad impact of HEC activities.
The project consists of two parts: (1) identification of the current state of affairs (DIAGNOSIS) and (2) planning of institutional, scholarly and teaching activities (BEST PRACTICES, RECOMMENDATIONS)
(1) We will examine the place and range of climate issues in the curricula of the humanities studies and school subjects, analyzing and interpreting it so as to evaluate its status. We will examine the competences of future teachers. We assume on the basis of our preliminary diagnosis that the mentioned issues are poorly addressed, both regarding the curriculum and educators’ competence. We are planning to conduct the research again after 5 years to evaluate the achievement of the team in an effective and reliable manner.
(2) We will provide suggestions for the curriculum of the humanities studies in terms of the awareness of the climate crisis – outlining an interdisciplinary subject lectured across faculties. We will create a set of forms and methods of teaching, including online education, which has become so significant in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the research and practical solutions will be published in the form of books, articles and multimedia texts, which will also be placed on the Internet platform dedicated to climate education.