1 Introduction

Preventing serious climate change requires a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. Every year, about 50 billion tons of CO2e emissions are generated worldwide, an increase of more than 40% compared to 1990. By comparing sectors in terms of emissions, it is evident that the transport sector is one of the largest polluters and contributes to approximately one quarter of all energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Ritchie et al. 2020). Since road freight transport still has the highest share in the modal split and is significantly responsible for the high emission growth, a modal shift towards environmentally friendly transport modes such as inland navigation is necessary to reduce the environmental impact of the transport sector (European Commission 2019). Our present transportation system is a manifest of the decisions made by transportation professionals in our somewhat recent past. These decisions were influenced by the education that transport professionals received and by their experiences, set forth by a culture, that has shaped them throughout their professional lives. Being aware now of the negative environmental impacts our current transportation system has, it is increasingly important to explore new approaches to create awareness of sustainable transportation in education (Farris et al. 1969).

Inland navigation has by far the lowest GHG emissions, precisely because of its high mass efficiency, thus being one of the most eco-friendly modes of transport (Greene and Lewis 2019). Putz et al. (2018) demonstrated that knowledge about green freight transport is currently limited and that active learning can trigger knowledge retention. Therefore, there is a clear need to create a well-founded knowledge transfer and awareness-raising among young people about inland navigation. Since an effective positive anchoring of a topic takes place preferably in the early years of life, the target group of seven- to fourteen-year-old students was set in the present paper. (Dieleman and Huisingh 2006). Creating awareness at an early age leads to an initial understanding of the topic so that the waterway is anchored in the minds of young people as an environmentally friendly transport alternative.

Therefore, the goal of this paper is to analyze currently available teaching formats and didactics-methodical approaches guided by the following research question: “Which formats and contents are suitable for imparting knowledge on the topic ‘The Danube waterway as an environmentally friendly mode of transport’ for the target group of seven- to fourteen-year-old students?

2 Methodology

Teaching formats and didactics-methodical approaches for awareness raising of inland waterway transport were explored through a literature review. The literature review included research in the fields of sustainable inland navigation as well as pedagogical-didactic literature. The found formats were examined in terms of their degree of use and popularity. The output of the literature review built the basis for the execution of interviews with 20 people to obtain information regarding the integration of sustainable logistics and inland waterway transport into their work. The interview format was semi-structured and conducted with participants from various fields. In total 39 contacts requests were made: 22 contacts with teachers, schools and school administrations, 6 students, and 11 from the field of art and culture. Finally, 20 participants (n = 20) were successfully interviewed, which means that the self-imposed goal of obtaining information by means of interviews with different target groups was fulfilled beyond measure.

3 Result Analysis and Discussion

3.1 Literature Review on Existing Formats

The literature review was carried out on possible teaching formats and didactic-methodical, in particular also gamified, approaches for raising awareness focusing on the target group of seven- to fourteen-year-old students. The results of the literature research were divided into two sections: (1) Subject content regarding the Danube, inland navigation, climate and education, (2) Pedagogical-didactical literature (esp. with consideration of current findings from teaching/learning research and neuroscience). A strong focus was put on general possibilities for raising awareness methods. The review of the sources led to the first didactic preliminary considerations regarding the suitability of contents and methods and the design of formats for the young target group. Finally, an overview of common methodological approaches and didactic basic principles as well as contents, to be conveyed for awareness raising for sustainable freight transports on the Danube, was created.

3.2 Semi-structured Interviews

The aim of the interviews was to analyze the current status of teaching formats in the area of sustainable transportation. Furthermore, the methods and formats found within the literature review were evaluated together with the participants to identify suitable formats for the target group.

Regarding the current status of teaching formats and the role of climate protection in schools is described by both teachers and students as very large and extremely important. Likewise, the representatives of art and culture emphasize the absolute importance of this topic in the educational environment. However, the topic of sustainable freight transport is hardly dealt with at the schools of the respondents, although interest in the topic is expressed. About 70% of the teachers and 100% of the student’s state that the topic was not dealt with, but interest is expressed by all. Consistently, all respondents stated that inland waterway transport as a sustainable way of transporting goods is not addressed in school, but interest in a future treatment is basically stated by all respondents in school. A large part of the survey also dealt with the evaluation of the identified teaching formats as well as further design of possible teaching formats and approaches. The results of the interviews combined with the output of the literature review built the basis for the creation of a spectrum matrix regarding awareness raising teaching formats in the field of sustainable inland navigation.

3.3 Matrix of Teaching Formats

The spectrum matrix represents an overview of the results and the findings from of the literature review and the 20 interviews conducted. Basically, the created offer matrix is a collection of results of possible teaching formats, materials, methods, and tools. It is designed as a table using MS Excel, i.e. with search and filter functions, and comprises 75 entries. As a result of the interviews conducted, it emerged that all of the methodological approaches and tools researched and discussed can be meaningfully assigned to one of the following main categories in terms of usability:

  1. i.

    Offers for workshops (conducted by external persons at schools etc.),

  2. ii.

    Teaching-learning materials for teachers (for their independent use),

  3. iii.

    Online offers/-platforms

  4. iv.

    Offers for events outside the school such as excursions and exhibitions

  5. v.

    Offerings that primarily serve the purpose of dissemination/PR

  6. vi.

    Offerings that appear to be suitable for all of the above areas, and

  7. vii.

    Other (no meaningful assignment to one of the previously mentioned areas possible)

These seven categories are handled in the matrix with a filter function, and all entries are assigned to the corresponding category. Each entry contains information regarding usability (area, context), description (short explanation of the method), target group (estimated age range), added value (subjective-spontaneous expert indication) and information of the feasible applicability.

4 Conclusions

Through an extensive literature review and the execution of 20 interviews an overview of common methodological approaches, didactics basic principles and content for awareness raising for inland waterway transport on the Danube was found. As a result, a matrix of existing and desired materials was created including the formats and methods which were assessed and examined about its degree of use and popularity. Currently, a limited amount of up to date, diversified, playful materials and methods which is targeted for seven- to fourteen-year-old students about sustainable freight transport on the waterway are available. The matrix serves as a basis for further development of formats and materials suitable for the primary and secondary schoolers.

Due to a small amount of teaching materials further development of formats is necessary to enable a well-founded knowledge transfer. The research was focused on the Danube and thus, more research is needed to generalize the findings to other waterways. The findings underline, that there is an urge need to extend the existing materials and methods on inland waterway transport on the Danube for teachers and students.