Hamburg pupils explore urban forests through outdoor learning and TREEPOLY
A Hamburg school project is linking time outdoors with a board game about greener cities. Mein Stadtwald, run by SDW Hamburg, offers 20 secondary school classes an individual day in nature and a later classroom session. The programme uses the forest visit as the basis for discussing urban trees, environmental change and decisions made in daily life. Its design brings an abstract subject into settings pupils can observe and discuss.
The approach reflects a broader question for environmental education: how can lessons about climate and biodiversity be connected to the places young people know? Urban forests are a local example. Trees and other vegetation can provide shade, moderate heat, support wildlife and help reduce some forms of pollution. Those benefits vary by site and depend on how green space is planned, maintained and made accessible. The European Environment Agency has also documented inequalities in access to urban green and blue spaces across Europe.
For Mein Stadtwald, SDW Hamburg says it selects games and teaching methods according to the age of each group and the principles of Education for Sustainable Development. A relay race can illustrate photosynthesis; another activity has pupils make a forest perfume. These exercises invite close attention to processes and sensory details before the class turns to wider questions. The organisation describes the offer as an individual nature day for classes in secondary levels I or II, rather than a fixed sequence of identical activities.
The forest visit is followed by a separate meeting in the classroom. There, pupils reflect on what they encountered and use TREEPOLY, a board game in which players act as “Green Heroes”. The game asks them to transform a fictional city into a greener “Green City”. Its central task is to build an urban forest by planting trees and to consider how a city might respond to heat, air pollution and species loss. The board links this task to consumption, transport and energy use.
A climate quiz forms the main learning component. According to the game’s own description, it covers forests, climate adaptation, urban greenery and sustainable lifestyles. Players answer accessible questions about connections that can otherwise be difficult to visualise, including trees’ cooling effects and their role as habitats. Quiz questions, chance and strategy are combined, with unexpected weather events also shaping play. TREEPOLY lists two to four players, or teams of up to eight, and a typical duration of about 30 to 60 minutes.
The board game can make a city’s environmental choices visible as a sequence of moves. That is a teaching device, not a measurement of what a particular policy or individual action would achieve in Hamburg. The European Environment Agency describes urban green spaces as places that can moderate temperatures during hot periods and enhance biodiversity, but it also points to uneven access. How much any specific tree planting scheme changes exposure to heat or pollution depends on location, species, canopy, surrounding surfaces and long-term care.
SDW Hamburg identifies Birgit Siemssen as TREEPOLY’s voluntary developer and says the game has been available since late 2025. The organisation describes it as intended especially for educators and environmental initiatives working with young people aged 12 and above. It states that sales proceeds flow exclusively to charitable purposes. The game’s own website gives more detail, saying that surpluses from sales support nature conservation projects. These are descriptions of the game and its funding from the organisations involved.
On 20 July 2026, TREEPOLY was among 31 initiatives recognised in Stuttgart with the National Distinction for Education for Sustainable Development. The German UNESCO Commission lists “TREEPOLY – Baumgold” among the recipients. This distinction is separate from the National Prize for Education for Sustainable Development, which the Commission says is awarded every two years.
Education for Sustainable Development aims to help learners examine the effects of decisions on society, the environment and future generations. The German UNESCO Commission describes it as a way to build the ability to assess the consequences of individual and collective action. In Mein Stadtwald, the sequence from outdoor activity to classroom reflection gives pupils a common experience to refer to when discussing those questions. The project’s stated ambition is to connect knowledge about nearby nature with ideas for action.
The programme’s public description sets out its methods and the number of classes offered a place, but does not present an independent evaluation of changes in pupils’ knowledge or behaviour. Its educational effects therefore cannot be inferred from the game’s distinction alone. What is documented is the structure: a tailored outdoor day, a later discussion, and a board game that turns urban environmental pressures into questions and choices. Together, those elements place the urban forest within pupils’ own city rather than treating it only as a distant conservation topic.
The project has a direct connection to SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), whose scope includes urban environmental conditions and access to green public spaces. Mein Stadtwald addresses those themes through education rather than through a measured change in tree cover. Its focus is on how young people understand a city’s green spaces, why those spaces matter, and the decisions that influence their future.
Written by a human author, edited with AI assistance.
Further information:
• SDW Hamburg, Mein Stadtwald project page. It documents the programme, its 20-class offer, teaching activities, TREEPOLY use and the game’s development.
• TREEPOLY, The Game. It describes the quiz, gameplay, age range, play time and use of sales surpluses.
• German UNESCO Commission, 20 July 2026 announcement. Its recipient list confirms TREEPOLY’s National Distinction in Stuttgart.
https://www.unesco.de/aktuelles/nachhaltige-entwicklung-31-bildungsinitiativen-werden-ausgezeichnet/
• German UNESCO Commission, Education for Sustainable Development FAQ. It explains the distinction between the National Distinction and the separate National Prize.
• European Environment Agency, Who benefits from nature in cities? It provides context on urban greenery’s benefits and unequal access.
