Kulturen der Lebendigkeit in Kitas

According to relevant diagnoses, the upbringing of young children is increasingly subject to the social–ecological effects of the climate crisis. The study of transformational efforts in the field of early childhood has so far focused on the effectiveness of measures aimed at implementing sustainability goals based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For a theoretical examination of these social, cultural, ethical, and ecological challenges posed by the climate crisis in childhood, international research in the context of Posthumanism or New Materialism and Critical Phenomenology provides initial indications. Based on selected ethnographic research findings, the article addresses the question of what perceptions, knowledge, and value horizons emerge through multispecies relationships in early childhood education settings. Using an example of stories about encounters between children and chickens, it examines how cultures of vitality are formed through experiences of death and mourning as well as joy, pleasure, and connectedness, opening up possibilities for learning to live together in multispecies relationships.