New school building in Wittenburg: sustainability for 800 students!

New school building in Wittenburg: sustainability for 800 students!

A groundbreaking step for education in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district: the foundation stone for a modern school building was laid today at the Wittenburg high school center. The new building replaces a dilapidated old building that had to be demolished due to structural defects. The ceremony, in which all students took part, marks the beginning of an ambitious project that is intended to optimize not only the learning conditions but also the school's environmental footprint. Nordkurier reports that the new building will be constructed as a CO2-neutral structure made of natural building materials in order to enable around 800 students to learn in a contemporary way.

At the ceremony, school principal Bärbel Liebscher emphasized the school's commitment to sustainability. The new building will not only be sustainable and energy efficient, but will also contain numerous innovative elements. The plans include a wooden frame construction with durable wooden outer cladding and a photovoltaic system to be installed on the green roof. Accessibility also plays a major role: the new building will be accessible, even to the listed old building.

A future-oriented concept

It all started in 2011, when the high school center was created through the merger of the Christian-Ludwig-Liskow-Gymnasium and the Hans-Franck-Schule. Today it is the largest school in the district, dedicated not only to imparting knowledge but also to promoting sustainability skills. As part of initiatives such as the “Climate Neutral School”, students work together with teachers to record and reduce the school’s energy consumption and emissions. The initiative aims to systematically reduce climate-damaging emissions in order to make a real contribution to environmental and climate protection.

During the construction phase, the students have to adapt to temporary restrictions as they have less space in the schoolyard and lessons temporarily take place in containers. But the anticipation of the new building prevails. There has already been positive feedback from teachers after teaching containers had been used since the 1990s. The implementation of the new building, with a total volume of around 17.5 million euros, of which nine million euros comes from the state school construction program, will soon offer students and teachers better learning conditions.

Step by step towards sustainability

Sustainability in everyday school life is a topic that is close to everyone’s heart. The latest impulses from education for sustainable development, supported by UNESCO, offer the school valuable suggestions. The UNESCO project schools show, for example, how awareness of ecological issues can be created through initiatives such as climate parliaments and regionally oriented menus in the school canteen. Such approaches could also be used at the school in Wittenburg and further sharpen the educational profile.

Finally, it should be noted that the laying of the foundation stone for the new school building at the Wittenburg high school center represents progress in several respects. Not only is the school being modernized, it is also setting a strong example for environmental awareness and sustainable education, in line with the global sustainability goals.