Outdoor School

The Outdoor School promotes extracurricular learning formats for primary schools in Hamburg and enables a fixed weekly day of instruction outdoors. Teachers, in cooperation with external environmental educators, accompany their class to nature and cultural spaces within walking distance, such as parks, meadows, or forest areas. The interdisciplinary knowledge transfer is aligned with the current curriculum, with a special focus on general science. The goal is to create everyday relevance through situational and exploratory learning, to strengthen competencies in inquiry-based learning, and to directly support both cognitive and social developmental processes in students. Additional learning locations from the children’s living environment—such as museums, town halls, or weekly markets—can be added depending on the concept to further sharpen the school’s profile as a place of education for sustainable development (ESD).

As a grant, the DraußenschulFONDS supports interested educational institutions and reimburses material and personnel costs starting at 1,500 euros per class. Applications can be submitted at any time; there is no fixed deadline. The funding program primarily targets primary schools with 2nd and 3rd grades but can be extended to other grade levels according to individual concepts. Through long-term financing, continuous implementation is ensured, and teachers receive professional support, relief, and enrichment in their teaching practice. The Outdoor School contributes to anchoring education for sustainable development in everyday school life and sustainably supports schools in the Hamburg area.