1. Innovative Tools and Methods for
Consumer Education in the GLAS-Project
— English Summary —
Paper by Klaus Müller, Agentur Kultur e.V.
Looking at the well established methods and tools in adult education in the context of the
GLAS-Project Agentur Kultur e.V. considers the storytelling–approach to be especially
suitable and powerful in consumer education with the focus to reach sustainability goals.
In the paper the reasons for this approach are presented in detail.
Some key points are briefly summarized.
Since the early days of human history storytelling plays an important role in the formation of the
human brain as well as in the the development of rules for ethical and social behaviour.
Good practice examples for the key elements of a culture of sustainability are often related to
individuals that have become „icons“ up to today like Franz von Assisi and Hildegard von Bingen.
This is reflected in their lives and their testimonies but also in the stories told about them.
In the context of the GLAS-Project the storytelling-approach is embedded into the holistic
workshop design developed by Agentur Kultur and accepted by project partners as a
common basis.
Storytelling also allows to deal adequately with complex issues that have great importance for
individuals and societies. Using storytelling as a method it is also easier to bridge the gaps
between the shortcomings of todays realities and better solutions in the future. Storytelling
might also help to stimulate a climate for creative strategies in problem-solving-processes.
To implement the storytelling-approach successfully it is essential to select the chosen stories
carefully, to make sure that the key messages of the stories are focussed and that they are
supplemented by the appropriate mix of didactical tools.
Only then storytelling will be a successful tool in the process to support change and development
of consumer´s behaviour.
In the paper it is demonstrated how stories fit well into the didactic concept for GLAS-workshops.
For this purpose two examples are chosen for the focus areas „nutrition“ and „mobility“ of the
GLAS-Project. These stories are „The apple sniffer lady“ and „Brompton – my folding bike“.
Both stories are contributions of Agentur Kultur to the GLAS – Project.
The stories are fulfilling the following main criteria:
Focus on at least one key aspect of sustainability.
Being suitable for different target groups and people with different learning-backgrounds.
Allowing to generate learning-progress on various levels and to include learning aspects like
cognitive, emotional, social and behavioural competences.
To be useful in various phases of the learning process like „getting in“, „developing“, „integration“.
To be helpful in the process of „socially integrated“ learning.
To support different settings in the learning process like individual learning, group learning,
learning in plenary sessions.
The paper also gives important impulses to combine the word-based storytelling-approach with
other methods relating to audio-, visual- and interactive- dimensions of the learning process.
In this context it is suggested to also consider to include in various workshops simple
techniques of illustration and/or photography.
2. Essentials for the story telling approach in the context to the GLAS project
• Storytelling means: Using stories in a specific way focussed on a special topic. In the context of our
GLAS project it is the topic “sustainability”.
• Storytelling can be a starting point for changes in the field of consumer attitudes and the development
of new consumers’ behavior.
• Storytelling is not only a method, it is an attitude as well.
• In telling stories we also share experiences. This supports communication and personal involvement.
• Storytelling is a counterweight to one-way communication.