The focus of the bilateral research projects funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) was the development of modules in the field of sustainable environmental education designed for use in Chinese primary schools, as well as the training of multipliers to support the school development processes accordingly.

During the project period from 2015 to 2017, experts from the teacher training centres of the city of Shanghai and Zhejiang province, scholars from the East China Normal University and the Zhejiang International Studies University (ZISU), as well as teachers from 20 selected pilot schools in both provinces were involved in the development. A steering committee from the University of Passau ensured the scientific monitoring and evaluation of the process, which was supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSS).

This first development phase is followed by a follow-up phase in which preparations are currently being made for a transfer to Yunnan Province.