A Sustainable Start to the New School Year—Jena Distributes "Möhrchen" Workbooks

In the 2026–2027 school year, elementary school students in Jena will once again receive the sustainable “Möhrchen” homework notebook. A total of 2,001 notebooks were distributed to participating schools in the city.

This year, the Möhrchen workbook focuses on the theme of “Fair” and highlights, in particular, the areas of fair trade, global justice, and sustainable consumption. In addition to plenty of space for homework, it offers children age-appropriate information on fair-trade products, insights into global supply chains, and practical tips for making conscious choices in everyday life. Of particular note are the removable harvest calendar and the “Globalization” theme poster. In this way, the project also makes a concrete contribution to the City of Jena’s commitment as a Fairtrade City.

Dirk Lange, Director of Urban Development and the Environment, emphasizes: “With this year’s Möhrchen booklet, we want to show children in an understandable way how their everyday lives are connected to global responsibility. Fair trade is a key building block for greater justice worldwide—and education plays a crucial role in this. As a Fairtrade City, it is particularly important to us to convey these topics at an early age and make them a tangible part of everyday life.

The ‘Möhrchen’ booklets have been developed since 2014 on the initiative of the cities of Erfurt, Jena, and Weimar and are actively incorporated into lessons at many schools.”