SDG 4 - Quality Education
- 2022-12-06
- Janna Degener-Storr
Reading to save the world
The ‘books4future’ community shares literature recommendations to get young people excited about books. After all, reading helps us to understand our present-day problems.
‘Fridays for Future’ is the motto under which students protest for climate protection on Fridays. This movement is a role model for other groups such as ‘Scientists for Future’ which speaks about climate protection from a scientific point of view. The movement also seeks to promote education for sustainable development by inspiring young people to read books.
‘Books4future’ shares literature recommendations for people aged between 14 and 23 on and in a . The suggested books include non-fiction, novels, thrillers, graphic novels and memoirs. Books are also recommended by internet stars known as influencers and by teachers, for example in their own blogs and podcasts, on Instagram or YouTube. The recommended literature deals with issues such as social justice, gender equality, climate justice and species protection.
‘Books4future’ also organises readers’ meetings in which books are discussed. In addition, ‘books4future’ selects the youth jury for the literature competition that focusses on life in the year 2050.
The campaign was initiated due to the fact that many young people no longer read much and prefer to use digital media. While many climate activists go on strike to promote biodiversity, ‘books4future’ is committed to ‘book diversity’. Books help us to understand complex connections and reading opens up new perspectives, after all. Literature also helps us to understand better, what education for sustainable development is all about. Books4future is endorsed by the Federal Government and the literature association ‘Deutscher Literaturfonds’.