Green Classes as an Element of Natural Science Education in Consumer Society ?

The article discusses the establishment of green classes and their development in school campuses and botanical gardens with respect to sustainable consumer society development. It generalises the experience of Lithuanian and European (Polish and German) pedagogues and scientists of creating environment-friendly lifestyles, public understanding of the development and importance of ecological agriculture and development of respect for farmers’ work. The activities that are undertaken in green classes and the nature of their infrastructure development are also analysed; the significance of cooperation among scientists, pedagogues, schoolchildren and society in dealing with environmental problems is highlighted. The results of scientific literature analysis and the experience of schools and botanical gardens in relation to establishing green classes and arranging educational activities there are generalised. Observations took place at Traupis School Botanical Garden, Kaunas Botanical Garden of VMU (Lithuania), the botanical gardens of the universities of Wroclaw, Poznan, Lodz (Poland), Dresden University of Technology and Freie University Berlin-Dahlem (Germany) and plantations in Tenerife (Spain).