“Sustainability in ELT” Full-Day Workshop Held in Denizli (June 18, 2025)
On June 18, 2025, the EcoLingua project team delivered a full-day workshop titled “Sustainability in ELT – Yabancı Dil Eğitiminde Sürdürülebilirlik” at the Nihat Zeybekci Congress and Culture Center in Denizli, hosted by the Denizli Provincial Directorate of National Education. Led by Asst. Prof. Mehmet Saraç and Asst. Prof. Serhat Güzel as part of the Directorate’s in-service training program, brought together English teachers who share a commitment to integrating ecological awareness into foreign language teaching.
The day opened with a warm welcome and an introduction to the goals of the EcoLingua project. Participants explored the workshop’s core themes—sustainability, eco-pedagogy, and the integration of digital tools and gamification into language teaching. Through interactive presentations and group discussions, teachers examined how these elements can work together to foster environmentally conscious learning environments.
A highlight of the program was a textbook review activity, where participants critically analyzed ecological content in English language materials using a customized SDG-aligned eco-pedagogy checklist. This was followed by collaborative lesson-planning sessions in which participants designed eco-focused lessons tailored to their own teaching contexts. Working in thematic groups—each named after an ecological concept—teachers shared ideas and discussed practical ways to embed sustainability principles into their lessons.
In the afternoon, the group engaged in a high-energy Quizizz game that both reinforced and assessed key workshop content. Participants earned tokens based on engagement and redeemed them in a symbolic eco-store activity. This playful yet purposeful approach illustrated how gamification can support both classroom motivation and ecological literacy.
Throughout the day, UN Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education served as a guiding framework, underscoring how inclusive, equitable, and future-oriented education can empower both learners and teachers to act for sustainability.
The workshop concluded with a reflection and evaluation session, where participants expressed satisfaction with the hands-on design and pledged to implement new ideas in their classrooms. The EcoLingua team is proud to have hosted such a vibrant exchange and looks forward to organizing similar events in the near future.
