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This paper presents the results of a study whose primary goal was to determine the level of future teachers’ knowledge of historical content taught in primary school, the ways they self-assess their abilities to organize the learning and teaching of historical content, and their beliefs about the possibilities of teaching history in primary education. The research was conducted using a survey of 157 fourth- and fifth-year students in teacher education programs. The results indicate that students demonstrate a satisfactory level of knowledge about historical content taught in primary education. They self-assess their skills for teaching of historical content as mostly developed and have positive beliefs about the possibilities of teaching and learning history at the primary education level.

Changes in energy consumption patterns after becoming a prosumer household are rarely associated with negative environmental effects, as prosuming is intuitively assumed to be emission-reducing. This paper demonstrates the importance of sufficiency-oriented energy prosumer behavior for climate neutrality goals by quantifying GHG emissions for photovoltaic (PV) prosumers at the German household and energy system level. Based on the results, recommendations are derived for promoting energy sufficiency in prosumer households.

Purpose: Teaching social science might benefit from using students’ metaphorical understanding. Metaphors help people to better understand abstract concepts by breaking them down into more familiar ones. This essay attempts to approximate students’ metaphors of politics to improve social science education’s efforts in shaping politically mature citizens. Method: Taking three single interviews with students attending senior classes in high schools in Hamburg, Germany, this paper analyses metaphors they use to describe politics. It categorizes them and puts them into a larger context in the form of systematic metaphors providing an approximation to the students’ metaphorical understanding. Findings: The findings suggest that students understand politics as shaping society, participation as passing upwards people’s interests, governance as guidance, and human life as the foundation for society. However, more research is necessary, such as analysing more students’ metaphors or using issue-related drawings. Practical implications: Teachers can use these findings to initialize a conceptual reconstruction. They could ask students to draw a Grafiz using the terms suggested above and having a better access to students’ metaphorical understanding of a topic. That helps the teacher to select appropriate material for their teaching units.

O objetivo do presente estudo é, à luzdos desafios enfrentados pelo processo deintegração regional da União Européia, avaliar oquadro geral de reformas proposto pelo Tratadode Lisboa. Mais especificamente, analisar os efeitosdas dimensões institucional, econômica e políticasobre a dinâmica de reformas do processode integração. Os resultados do estudo apontampara três principais lacunas no funcionamentoda União: déficit democrático, a disputa acirradaquanto à separação de competências entre a UEe seus Estados-membros e, por último, os desafiosda eficiência da tomada de decisão e suaimplementação. O Tratado de Lisboa procurousolucionar tais questões, ao mesmo tempo emque mantinha o delicado equilíbrio entre tendênciasfederais e intergovernamentais. No entanto,o não irlandês renovou a discussão sobre a concepçãodo projeto de integração européia: espaçode coordenação econômica e comercial ou uniãopolítica.Abstract: The aim of the present study is, in the lightof the challenges faced by the EU regional integration,to evaluate the general framework of reforms proposedby the Lisbon Treaty. More specifically, to analyzethe effects of the institutional, economic and politicaldimensions on the dynamic of the reform process ofintegration. The results of the study show that interm of the configuration of the European regionalintegration process, three main omissions can beobserved: democracy deficit, competencesdistributions between the EU and the member states,and, finally, the challenges of efficiency in term ofdecision making and implementation. The LisbonTreaty represents a general framework to overcomeall those limitations and to keep also a balance betweenfederal and intergovernamental tendencies.Nevertheless the Irish No to the treaty and the skepticamong many other member-states reviewed thediscussion about the concept and strategy ofintegration framework: just a coordination of aneconomic space or a political union.

Die Regionalplanung und die Initiative „Südostniedersachsen 2020” zur Erstellung eines Regionalen Entwicklungskonzepts beschreiten neue Wege der Regionalpolitik im Großraum Braunschweig. Sie veranschaulichen damit exemplarisch, wie Elemente des neuen Anforderungsprofils eines Regionalmanagements in der Praxis eingesetzt werden. Gleichzeitig deuten sie an, welchen Herausforderungen sich die regionalen Akteure stellen müssen, wenn dieses planungsmethodische Konzept regional realisiert werden soll.