World Heritage Sites and the SDGs


Exploring UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the SDGs with Secondary School Students


Students will explore important heritage sites in Spanish speaking countries, identify and tell of their value, interpret which of the Sustainable Development Goals apply to the preservation of the site, identify and appraise risks to the site’s preservation, and assemble and justify a plan of action to preserve the site considering at least two of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Rationale

Connecting students to the world via their passions and interests facilitates greater learning and deeper understanding while promoting empathy and highlighting our interdependence. This lesson will help students develop a curiosity about their world as they explore specific sites of global importance while giving them an opportunity to show off the values and ideals about which they are passionate.

When using this lesson, students may work alone or in groups.  Limit the number of options they have when choosing a heritage site to five or ten to make selection easier and/or categorize the heritage sites (art and architecture, the natural world, ancient peoples, etc.) and only present the sites from that one category so that there can be one class focus or more peer-to-peer support when considering the SDGs.  A single country could also be selected by a class to explore.

Planning Considerations

This lesson could take anywhere from a week to two weeks depending on how deeply you wish the students to delve into their work and exploration. It could also work well as an ongoing project extending over the course of a semester or year of study that the students work on periodically refining, editing and reshaping until a final presentation or culminating event.

While many Native Speakers and Heritage Language Learners will be excited to share the beauty and culture of the countries to which they are historically connected, it is important to remember that there may also be some students with trauma who may not wish to explore the past. Certain SDGs such as numbers 1, 2, 6, 8 and 16 involving poverty, hunger, sanitation and peace could be triggering for these students.  Refining the selection of sites or countries by the instructor based on knowledge of their students and allowing for student choice will be important especially if the instructor is planning to use the Ideas for Expansion, Enrichment and Deeper Dives.

Students will need access to a computer with internet but may choose from a variety of presentation methods depending on the resources of the classroom. This could be completed using tri-fold boards, digital slide presentations, pamphlet productions on paper, or videos.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites and SDGs

ACTFL Standards

Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics

Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied.

Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language. 

Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.

Standard 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming lifelong learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.