Tanz Gruppe education trail boards: an outdoor classroom at Iseni Primary

What is possible through passion and motivation, even after lectures are over, was demonstrated by the Tanz Gruppe (standing for Tanzania and the German term for dancing group), an international student group of dance and German students from the first COIL cohort that started in October 2024.

Their initiative won our 1,000 Euro grant to create an educational board trail, an outdoor classroom designed to engage students in a fun way to learn about nature in nature and with nature. In total, four boards have been designed, each with a different theme: green energy & renewables, water management, nature conservation & tree planting, and waste management.

Each board includes an English and a German side, explaining the topic along with an interactive task to foster learning in a fun way. For example, navigating a glass of water through a parcours without spilling a drop.

Intercultural AND interdisciplinary

Along the way, two design students joined refining the boards’ design, as well as a master online communication student supporting our social media campaign. Amani helped the on-site students execute the project effectively, while our member David, a teacher himself, supported the text refinement process to ensure the content was appropriate for primary students.

The highlight of the project was undoubtedly the inauguration of the boards during a festive ceremony as the highlight of our on-site Climate Week, for which our German students came all the way to Mwanza. Teachers, students, and professors from SAUT attended, along with 200 Iseni primary students. In the end, students planted trees together as a symbol of a growing partnership.