Wallonia-Brussels: Eco Heroes in the national curriculum

Les savoirs, savoir-faire et compétences disciplinaires contribuent à « appréhender le développement durable dans ses dimensions économique, sociale, environnementale et culturelle, leurs interactions et ses objectifs »

Subject knowledge, skills and competences help pupils understand sustainable development in its economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions, their interactions and its goals.

1–17All 17 goals

• Ages 6–10
• Ages 11–13
• Ages 14–17

All 17 goals have a lesson plan in each of these age bands. For example:

• SDG 17 · Ages 11–13 The goals hold hands

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain at least 3 links between different SDGs.
  • Build a connection web showing how progress on one goal helps others.

Attendu : « Décrire des exemples d’activités humaines qui participent au réchauffement climatique. »

Expected outcome: describe examples of human activities that contribute to global warming.

• SDG 13

• Ages 11–13

• SDG 13 · Ages 11–13 The greenhouse effect and our carbon footprint

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain the greenhouse effect and how burning fossil fuels strengthens it.
  • Identify the main sources of carbon in a typical day.

Attendu : « Citer des solutions pour atténuer les changements climatiques induits par le réchauffement. »

Expected outcome: name solutions that mitigate the climate change caused by warming.

• SDG 13

• Ages 6–10
• Ages 11–13

• SDG 13 · Ages 6–10 Weather and climate: Earth’s warm blanket

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Name 2 actions that help the climate (walking, switching off, planting).
• SDG 13 · Ages 11–13 The greenhouse effect and our carbon footprint

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Choose 3 changes, ranked by how much difference and how easy they are.

Attendu : « Décrire des phénomènes qui témoignent des changements du climat induits par le réchauffement. »

Expected outcome: describe phenomena that show the climate changes caused by warming.

• SDG 13

• Ages 14–17

• SDG 13 · Ages 14–17 From evidence to action: making a climate campaign

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Interpret climate data (CO₂ concentration and temperature) and explain the link.

Attendu : « Mettre en évidence des impacts positifs et négatifs de la mondialisation sur l’environnement, à travers la mobilité des biens et des personnes »

Expected outcome: show positive and negative impacts of globalisation on the environment through the movement of goods and people.

• SDG 11
• SDG 12

• Ages 14–17

• SDG 12 · Ages 14–17 Cradle to grave: the life cycle of a product

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Map the life cycle of a product from raw materials to disposal and identify its biggest impact point.
• SDG 11 · Ages 14–17 Who is the city for? Auditing how people move

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain how transport choices affect air quality, safety, cost and fairness.

Attendu : « Citer des alternatives légales à l’achat d’un bien neuf (ex. : les filières de seconde main, de réparation d’objets, etc.). »

Expected outcome: name legal alternatives to buying a new item (e.g. second-hand channels, repair).

• SDG 12

• Ages 6–10
• Ages 11–13

• SDG 12 · Ages 6–10 Bin detectives

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Name one thing they could reuse instead of throwing away.
• SDG 12 · Ages 11–13 Fix it, don’t bin it

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain why repairing and reusing products saves resources and money.
  • Plan a repair or repurpose and present its ‘second life’.

Attendu : « Parmi un ensemble d’exemples concrets fournis, identifier celui (ou ceux) qui relève(nt) des principes du commerce équitable »

Expected outcome: from a set of concrete examples, identify the one(s) that follow fair-trade principles.

• SDG 8

• Ages 6–10
• Ages 11–13

• SDG 8 · Ages 6–10 Who made my pencil?

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain that every job deserves fair pay and safe conditions.
• SDG 8 · Ages 11–13 What makes a job a good job?

  Pupils will be able to:

  • List the elements of decent work (fair pay, safety, reasonable hours, rights, respect).

Attendu : « Pour un acte de consommation et/ou de production donné et au départ de l’idée de développement durable, formuler des questions relatives aux tensions qui peuvent exister entre des intérêts individuels et des intérêts collectifs des générations actuelles et générations futures »

Expected outcome: for a given act of consumption or production, and starting from the idea of sustainable development, ask questions about tensions between individual and collective interests of present and future generations.

• SDG 12

• Ages 11–13

• SDG 12 · Ages 11–13 Fix it, don’t bin it

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain why repairing and reusing products saves resources and money.

Attendu : « Identifier des formes de travail invisibilisées et non rémunérées (ex. : tâches ménagères, éducation des enfants…) et ses déterminants de genre. »

Expected outcome: identify invisible, unpaid forms of work (e.g. housework, bringing up children) and their gender determinants.

• SDG 5

• Ages 11–13
• Ages 14–17

• SDG 5 · Ages 11–13 Fair shares: unpaid work at home and in the world

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain what unpaid care and domestic work is and why it matters for equality.
  • Use data to compare how unpaid work is shared between women and men worldwide.
• SDG 5 · Ages 14–17 Counting the voices: who makes the decisions?

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain at least 3 causes of the gender pay gap.

Attendu : « Identifier une situation de répartition inégalitaire (économique, entre genres…) et formuler des propositions argumentées permettant d’atténuer cette inégalité »

Expected outcome: identify an unequal distribution (economic, between genders…) and make reasoned proposals to reduce it.

• SDG 5
• SDG 10

• Ages 14–17

• SDG 10 · Ages 14–17 Different starts: understanding inequality

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Use data to describe one inequality in at least 3 places.
  • Evaluate who benefits when an inequality stays hidden and how data can make it visible.
• SDG 5 · Ages 14–17 Counting the voices: who makes the decisions?

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Evaluate which cause a school or young people could realistically influence.

Compétence, attendu : « Proposer et justifier des choix alimentaires en lien avec l’environnement et la santé »

Competence, expected outcome: propose and justify food choices in relation to the environment and health.

• SDG 2
• SDG 3

• Ages 6–10

• SDG 3 · Ages 6–10 Germ busters

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Name 3 habits that help us stay healthy (washing hands, moving our bodies, sleeping well).
• SDG 2 · Ages 6–10 From seed to plate

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain why farmers matter for feeding everyone.

Attendu : « Préciser que les piles/batteries sont nocives pour l’environnement et qu’elles doivent être recyclées »

Expected outcome: state that batteries are harmful to the environment and must be recycled.

• SDG 12

• Ages 6–10

• SDG 12 · Ages 6–10 Bin detectives

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Sort clean classroom rubbish into reuse, recycle, compost and landfill.

Attendus : « Énoncer la nécessité de traitement des eaux usées avant le rejet dans l’environnement » ; « Proposer quelques gestes pour économiser l’eau »

Expected outcomes: state why waste water must be treated before it is released into the environment; suggest a few ways to save water.

• SDG 6
• SDG 14

• Ages 6–10
• Ages 11–13

• SDG 6 · Ages 6–10 Every drop counts

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Name 3 ways we use water every day.
  • Explain one way to save water, such as fixing a dripping tap.
• SDG 14 · Ages 6–10 Ocean in a bottle

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Show with a model how pollution spreads through water.
• SDG 6 · Ages 11–13 The water diary: how much do we really use?

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Choose one habit to change and calculate the water it could save.

Attendu : « Citer différentes ressources d’énergie pour se chauffer et les qualifier de renouvelables ou non. »

Expected outcome: name different energy sources for heating and classify them as renewable or not.

• SDG 7

• Ages 11–13

• SDG 7 · Ages 11–13 Energy hunters: renewable and non-renewable

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Classify energy sources as renewable or non-renewable and explain the difference.

Attendus : « Décrire la biodiversité comme la diversité des espèces vivant sur la Terre » ; compétence : « Pratiquer une démarche d’investigation pour décrire et expliquer les relations au sein d’un écosystème »

Expected outcomes: describe biodiversity as the diversity of species living on Earth; competence: carry out an investigation to describe and explain relationships within an ecosystem.

• SDG 15

• Ages 14–17

• SDG 15 · Ages 14–17 Pull one thread: food webs and extinction

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Model a food web and predict the effects of removing one species.

Attendus : « Préciser que l’utilisation responsable des objets est un moyen de réduire la consommation des ressources naturelles, de l’énergie, et de diminuer le volume de déchets » ; « Déterminer quelques impacts (positifs et négatifs) du cycle de transformation d’un objet sur l’environnement »

Expected outcomes: state that using objects responsibly reduces the use of natural resources and energy and the amount of waste; identify some positive and negative environmental impacts of an object's transformation cycle.

• SDG 12

• Ages 11–13
• Ages 14–17

• SDG 12 · Ages 11–13 Fix it, don’t bin it

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain why repairing and reusing products saves resources and money.
  • Investigate how an everyday object is made and why it breaks.
• SDG 12 · Ages 14–17 Cradle to grave: the life cycle of a product

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Map the life cycle of a product from raw materials to disposal and identify its biggest impact point.
  • Explain the principles of a circular economy (reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, redesign).

Attendu : « Expliquer en quoi un réchauffement climatique peut impacter le niveau des océans »

Expected outcome: explain how global warming can affect sea level.

• SDG 13

• Ages 11–13
• Ages 14–17

• SDG 13 · Ages 11–13 The greenhouse effect and our carbon footprint

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain the greenhouse effect and how burning fossil fuels strengthens it.
• SDG 13 · Ages 14–17 From evidence to action: making a climate campaign

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Interpret climate data (CO₂ concentration and temperature) and explain the link.

Attendu : « Citer des activités humaines ayant un impact positif et des activités humaines ayant un impact négatif sur un écosystème (dont au moins, l’aménagement du territoire, la création de réserves naturelles, la pollution et l’exploitation excessive d’une ressource naturelle). »

Expected outcome: name human activities with a positive and with a negative impact on an ecosystem (at least land-use planning, nature reserves, pollution and over-exploitation of a natural resource).

• SDG 14
• SDG 15

• Ages 14–17

• SDG 15 · Ages 14–17 Pull one thread: food webs and extinction

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain the main drivers of biodiversity loss identified by IPBES.
• SDG 14 · Ages 14–17 Fish for the future: overfishing and the commons

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain how overfishing can cause fish stocks to collapse, using a simulation.

Compétence, attendu : « Analyser une problématique en lien avec la biodiversité et envisager un plan d’action »

Competence, expected outcome: analyse a biodiversity issue and plan action.

• SDG 15

• Ages 11–13
• Ages 14–17

• SDG 15 · Ages 11–13 Pollinator power

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Plan a bee-friendly space and explain how it helps.
• SDG 15 · Ages 14–17 Pull one thread: food webs and extinction

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Analyse a threatened species’ role in its ecosystem and the root cause of its decline.

Parmi les objectifs rappelés, aux côtés de pratiques démocratiques en milieu scolaire : « comprendre les dimensions multiculturelles de notre société ; appréhender les problématiques environnementales »

Among the aims it restates, alongside democratic practice at school: understand the multicultural dimensions of society; understand environmental issues.

• SDG 13
• SDG 16

• Ages 11–13
• Ages 14–17

• SDG 16 · Ages 11–13 Fair rules for everyone

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Write and test class rules against the needs of the quietest person.
• SDG 16 · Ages 14–17 Trust and accountability: how fair decisions are made

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Analyse how decisions are made in a real system (school council, sports club, local council).
• SDG 13 · Ages 14–17 From evidence to action: making a climate campaign

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain why systemic change needs collective action as well as individual choices.

Savoir : « Liberté-égalité de droits (Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme-Convention internationale des droits de l’enfant). » – attendu « Identifier-exemplifier », puis, plus tard dans le tronc commun, « Conceptualiser-problématiser »

Knowledge item: freedom and equal rights (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), first to be identified and illustrated, later conceptualised and problematised.

• SDG 16

• Ages 11–13
• Ages 14–17

• SDG 16 · Ages 11–13 Fair rules for everyone

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain why communities need rules and what makes a rule fair.
• SDG 16 · Ages 14–17 Trust and accountability: how fair decisions are made

  Pupils will be able to:

  • Explain why transparency, accountability and participation build trust in institutions.