Conversations with scientists, practitioners, students, theoretical considerations and suggestions for exercises that can be used in Polish as a foreign language lessons. The book Polish for Sustainability? Polish Culture and Global Challenges by Irena Chawrilska, Michał Pruszak and Justyna Sawicka is the aftermath of the project “Narratives of Sustainable Development – a Polish Perspective,” carried out by the Academic Center for Polish Language and Culture for Foreigners at the University of Gdańsk in cooperation with Trinity College in Dublin thanks to funding from the National Academic Exchange Agency under the “Promotion of the Polish Language” program.
The publication consists of two parts. The first is devoted to project activities and includes interviews with the creators and participants of the workshops attended by Irish university students. The second scientific and didactic part, includes articles on sustainability in glottodidactics and suggestions for exercises that can be used in work with foreigners learning Polish.
The book opens with an interview with Sylwia Mrozowska, PhD, DSc, Prof of the UG, Vice-Rector for Cooperation and Development of the University of Gdansk, coordinator of the Research and Projects program of the Center for Sustainable Development, Director of CSDUG (CZRUG) in 2021-2022:
“There is no doubt in my mind that culture is beginning to be the most effective tool for raising awareness and genuinely involving people both young and old in action – raising awareness of the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals. I hope that culture will become such an area, and thus we will go beyond the walls of universities or research institutes to a common, public space, where we can discuss together how we should transform our daily lives to be more attentive; reflect on our sensitivity to issues that may not affect us directly, but those living in other parts of the world and future generations” says Sylwia Mrozowska, PhD, DSc, Prof of the UG in an interview, which we can read in full in the book.
The Center for Sustainable Development, as a partner in the project “Narratives of Sustainable Development – a Polish Perspective,” prepared webinars to give participants a better understanding of sustainability issues from the perspective of activities undertaken by Polish universities and the socio-economic environment.
Irena Chawrilska, PhD, coordinator of the project and co-author of the book “Polish for Sustainability? Polish Culture and Global Challenges” explains that the main goal of the project and the publication was to show Polish culture as participating in globally relevant discourses:
“We wanted to invite project participants to creative activities, encourage the development of intercultural sensitivity to interpret cultural activities, and together learn about the different faces of the crisis in the world today. We made the Sustainable Development Goals as the current world development strategy a theoretical and practical framework when planning project activities in response to global challenges” says Irena Chawrilska, PhD.
What else will we learn from the publication?
“In part one of our publication, we invite the reader on a journey to Dublin with the prose of Olga Tokarczuk and the project team. The transcript of the memories of the workshop leaders and participants in the form of interviews, as well as visual material, give the reader the opportunity to delve into our experience of Polish-Irish cooperation. The second part of the publication attempts to provide scientific and didactic justification for our project activities. In it, we address the issues of culture for sustainable development and language and cultural education from a Polish perspective. The individual chapters constitute a theoretical reflection and a didactic proposal for those who want to creatively introduce issues of sustainable development in Polish language classes, primarily through cultural texts” continues Irena Chawrilska, PhD.
CSDUG (CZRUG) is implementing the “Culture for Sustainable Development” program, which aims to think critically about the role of culture in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. The coordinator of the program is Irena Chawrilska, PhD.
The book can be downloaded here (in Polish only): Polish for Sustainability? Polish Culture and Global Challenges