Concept for the City Guide for Children
This concept for a children's travel guide shows the development and implementation of an ambassador project with the school of a city. It shows that it is easy for teachers to include such projects in their lessons and to implement them with the class.
Furthermore, this product shows that it is a good idea to maintain communication between the tourism authority and the schools. Through this measure, the school is given the opportunity to get more support from the municipality. On the other hand, the authorities receive the support of the students.
All costs incurred are kept at a lower level. In this context local partners were identified and approached to participate in this project. All in all, on the basis of this book, a concept was developed that serves other cities as an example that highlights the topic and the importance of education in the field of world heritage and sustainability.
The Problem/Challenge
The EU project DUNC has already offered a lot of international exchange. The product development of a World Heritage Trail is also running as planned. In order to now involve students and citizens in this project, a small-scale project will help.
The aim is that a large part of the inhabitants of our World Heritage site will be able to tell why Wismar is a World Heritage site. In addition, the students should be informed about the World Heritage site so that they are also interested in knowledge outside of school and are proud of the city in which they go to school or live. They will also learn about the connection between World Heritage and sustainability.
The project was successful if as many pupils as possible spread their acquired knowledge. Another possible feeling of success is that the school will include the project in its teaching program for the longer term and will work more closely with the World Heritage, Tourism and Culture Department in the future.
Development Process
In order to continue to conscientiously fulfill the tasks of the EU project DUNC and to include the topic of World Heritage in the everyday life of Wismar, it is important that as many groups of people as possible know what UNESCO World Heritage is all about. They should learn how we work, how Europe deals with the topic World Heritage and finally spread this knowledge.
The participants are made up of school groups of different ages, called Mini-Guides. First of all, it is important that our World Heritage Officer, Mr. Norbert Huschner, as one of the main ambassadors, receives the Mini-Guides in a child-friendly and motivating way.
Next, the project representative Mrs. Dommning, as well as the accompanying teacher Mrs. Schinck and the head of the archive Dr. Jörn present their interest in the topic.
In the beginning the children will learn a lot about UNESCO and the World Heritage in a creative way. To motivate the Mini-Guides in a creative way, painting courses can be used in which they can learn all about the painters of the Hanseatic era. We can also use role plays about the old trading methods to bring the story closer to the Mini-Guides.
Together with the pupils of the Protestant Primary School, a city guide for children will be developed. Where can I go swimming? Where can I borrow books? Where can I get the best ice cream in Wismar? These are questions children ask themselves when they receive visitors from outside. When the new knowledge is produced, they are ready to pass on their knowledge to Wismar and its inhabitants.
In a small competition between the boys and the girls it is decided whether it will be a city guide for "cool boys" and on the other hand for "even cooler girls" or just the other way round.
If the project meets with great approval, the city guide will be published as a book and then sold. The participating students can receive a copy as a gift as a result of their work.
Together with pupils of the Protestant elementary school, the topic could be consolidated in a creative school project. In consultation with teachers (e.g. Mrs. Schincke) it is possible to organize a project which will run until 2021.
Again and again exhibitions or presentations can take place. For this purpose the principal and the responsible teachers must be consulted. Together a concept of knowledge transfer can be worked out and later also implemented.
Stakeholders
- Tourism Centre "Tourismuszentrale" Wismar
- Graphic designer Magret Benz
- Head of Achive Nils Jörn
The Product
The product will result from a self-chosen competition between boys and girls. Divided into two parts, the book with pictures, drawings and maps shows the best places for children in Wismar. The book is printed in A5 format so that it fits comfortably in every pocket and never disturbs. The book will also have a hardcover and many colorful pages that make it attractive for children to flip through the book.
We will choose an FSC certified printing house that can offer us sustainable materials for printing. The content of the book will be sorted by letter, for example B for beach or C for churches. It should be noted that the book will be published exclusively in German.
Sustainability
The book will strengthen the class cohesion of the participating class through collaboration. The children will come together in groups to work together on the product. There will be discussions, but also jointly developed solutions during the editing process. This will ensure the social sustainability of the book.
Furthermore, the book itself will also be sustainable. Only local partners will be involved. Meetings can be held within walking distance, no long journeys are necessary. The material of the book is also sustainable. The print shop has been awarded the FSC certificate.
Piloting
The book is tested by users. Here we get ratings from the class, from visitors of the city, but also from colleagues.
Before the book is printed, there are comments from colleagues at the tourism center in Wismar.
Evaluation
Through surveys we could reach the users of the book. The basic conclusion was that the users are satisfied with the product. They would use it again and would also like to visit the Hanseatic City of Wismar again and use the book to search for special places.
The competition between the Juings and the class masters was noted negatively. In addition, a new version of the book could still improve the design.
Costs
The main costs were not there for the concept but for the printing. So the concept designing was about 3.500 €. The prinitng costs were abou 4.800 €.
Lessons Learned
We have learned that it is important to work closely with local partners. And we have done so. We have also learned that it is good to involve children in projects. This gives us the opportunity to get to know the World Heritage sites from a completely new perspective. Also a good structure and the management of the small local projects is very important to get a satisfying result.
We have also decided that in the future we will select titles in a more gender-neutral way. Even though it was no problem for the class and the people involved to divide the class into boys and girls, this approach also offers discussion material.
Relevance to Other Sites
Educating children, residents and visitors about the heritage of the eiegenStadt is an important and beautiful task. Through this educational work, those responsible have the opportunity for a close exchange of contacts as well as the chance to create new products, processes and projects for the World Heritage site.
In each of the World Heritage sites it is important to educate and involve the different groups of people. By working with ambassadors, people are made aware of what is behind the history of their own city and can
develop pride in being a part of this relevant community.
The City Guide for Children and the Global Goals
The City Guide for Children has contributed to the Global Goals target 11.4 Protect the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage.
