Urban Life & Ecological Literacy

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Dewey Center China; WildChina; Knot Cafe
Frank Cong (Knot Cafe), Aimee Du
Niki Wang (WildChina), Jerry Dong
July - August, 2021
UN SDG Camp Series, WildChina
48 hours (6 Days)
K12: 7 - 12 Years Old; 12 - 17 Years Old

Camps Overview

Urban Life and Ecological Literacy are two themed summer camps developed by Frank Cong (Director of Knot Cafe) for K12 students. These two camps are joint commissions by Dewey Center China and WildChina. Each themed summer camp is cross-disciplinary (STEAM) and cross-cultural with students being able to independently choose one or several sustainable development topics for in-depth study and practice. The summer camp integrates teaching methods such as experiential learning, project-based learning, localized education, and exploratory learning. The summer camp encourages students to start from real problems, participate in and reflect on more complex and diversified social life, learn to solve problems, and experience responsibility and growth in action and service. During the summer camp, students will explore the themes of urban development, natural ecology, society, and humanity sustainability. Students will understand, meet and face the development challenges behind these seemingly large issues and cultivate sustainable habits in everyday life.

H.E.Mr. Ban Ki-moon Welcome Remarks for SDGs-Themed Summer Camp

Urban Life: Tracing and Creating

At present, more than half of the world's population lives in cities. Cities reflect our history and humanity and our creations are the inspirations that shape the future of urban life. Urban Life-Tracing and Creating, carried out in Beijing, investigate the four life dimensions of "clothing, food, housing, and transportation" that run through ancient to modern times. Student will trace the past and present of urban life, and understand the cultural backgrounds and developmental policies that govern the city.

From national clothing to the production of ‘green wearables’, and from ecological farms to food industry speculations, the students will speculate on the future of urban life based on historical and contemporary research. In what direction could sustainable "clothing, food, housing, transportation" projects evolve in? Students will present their vision of urban life in the future through critical, speculative, and strategic design. Through the two main principles of "tracing" and "innovation", the summer camp cultivates students' awareness of global citizenship, and enhances students' research and innovation ability through project-based learning.

Ecological Literacy

The “Ecological Literacy" summer camp uses media art as the lens to perceive different ecosystems such as forests, oceans, and cities. It guides students to interact with multiple senses and diverse ecologies, examining themselves and others, other species, and their interactions, thus establishing an ecological concept of world citizenship.

At the same time, we encourage students to use a variety of media art techniques to systematically carry out artistic creation and curation, such as drawing natural soundscapes from the auditory senses, using fallen leaves and branches to reshape natural design aesthetics, or using augmented reality art to create the ocean world in your mind. The workshops cultivate critical thinking, leadership, and the confidence to intervene in social and ecological issues as artists and curators who stimulate the public to think about our place in nature.