On Monday 15 May 2023 the University of Education Karlsruhe and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki held an international study day as part of the Sharing Worldviews Erasmus+ project. The topic was the “Environment” and the three subtopics were:
-
The origins of the environment according to the science and each theology
-
The sustainability of the environment according to each theology
-
The view and the role of the humans in the environment according to each theology
6 lecturers participated in the study day (3 from the University of Education Karlsruhe and 3 from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki):
University of Education Karlsruhe:
-
Dr. Ulvi Karagedik
-
Dr. Eva Jenny Korneck
-
Dr. Regina Speck
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki:
-
Ass. Prof. Charidimos Koutris
-
Prof. Vassiliki Mitropoulou
-
Ass. Prof. Evangelos Pepes
and 36 students (22 from University of Education Karlsruhe and 14 from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki):
-
14 students from Eastern Orthodox theology
-
9 students from Catholic theology
-
8 students from Protestant theology
-
5 students from Islamic theology
The students worked in pairs of the same worldview, and they were allocated to four large groups where they met with students of other worldviews. In these groups, they presented their main views on the origins of the environment, the sustainability, and the role of mankind in the environment. Then the students discussed their views with the students of other worldviews. Later the four groups merged into two larger groups and continued with their discussions. The students also had the opportunity for a group reflection. Additionally, they filled in a questionnaire as part of their individual reflection. In the end, they were asked to share some of their thoughts with the lecturers, and the students that spoke did so with positive remarks saying that they benefited from the whole experience of sharing their worldviews with others and learning from them, and that they would be happy to repeat it again with even more worldviews involved (philosophy, other religious worldviews like Hinduism and Buddhism etc.).