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EnviroNetwork
“Youth for the Environment”: Online Contest for school and youth projects – Public Voting until January 22nd
Seven school and youth projects in the fields of environmental and nature protection from Germany, Brazil, Vietnam and Ghana will participate in the competition “Youth for the Environment” of the online platform "EnviroNetwork.eu". In a public voting on the Facebook page of the European Environment Foundation the winner will be selected until January 22nd, 2017 (fb.com/EuropeanEnvironmentFoundation). The project with the most “Likes” will win. The main prize will be the free participation in the four-day International Environmental Convention in Freiburg from March 9 to 12, 2017 during which the project will be presented.
The competition was open to young people between 16 and 28 years of age. The participants added their environmental protection project to the “EnviroNetwork.eu” online platform which was initiated by the FWTM in cooperation with the European Environment Foundation. The platform is sponsored by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) and enables digital networking for NGOs, environmental laureates and activists, students, businesses as well as the media and press. They can get information on the website or even create profiles and projects and present them to the public.
The contestants at a glance:
Project: Nachhaltigkeits-AG / Sustainability Club
School: Boarding School Schloss Hansenberg, Geisenheim-Johannisberg, Deutschland
The Sustainability Club works on several projects to raise awareness on environmental protection and to combat environmental pollution. For example, students develop energy conservation concepts for schools and housing and organize an annual Day of Sustainability. They have also established an “Öko-Shop” with fair and ecologically produced products.
Project: One-Child, One-Tree
Group: Centre for Environmental Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA), Accra, Ghana
CERPA is an environmental NGO in Ghana with the aim of promoting environmental protection and sustainability through research, education, participation and innovation. The target group of this project are primary school students who are given an understanding of the environment through awareness campaigns and tree planting activities. In order to operate on a large and extended scale, the organization cooperates with village communities and local organizations. The school selected for 2017: The Akim Manso A.M.E. Zion A and B Primary School in the Birim Central Municipal District of the Eastern Region of Ghana.
Project: Pictorius Wind Power
School: Pictorius Vocational College, Coesfeld, Germany
The aim of the project is to inspire young people to become involved with renewable energies, in this case wind energy. In fact, the students learn how they can shape their environment through technologies and design. The project combines technologies and art – an experimental kit was especially developed for this purpose. Schools can use these kits to test and compare the efficiency of different designs. In June 2016, the results of the students' work were presented in the land-art installation “Windkraftkunst im Kornfeld” (Wind power art in the cornfield).
Project: What is climate change and what do I have to do with it?
Group: Engajamundo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
The “Engajamundo” project aims to give young Brazilian people an understanding of the current climate change reality and to raise an awareness on their possibilities for participation and decision-making with regard to climate change issues. Workshops for young people are held in the 5 regions of Brazil. In addition to the theory, the participants are introduced to practical possibilities of action, for example vegan cooking.
Project: Full board for insects
School: Heimschule Lender, Sasbach, Germany
In the school year 2014/2015, the students of the Heimschule Lender occupied themselves with the topic “The Relevance of the Bee – Regional Impact and Global Position” within the framework of the media-pedagogical competition “Jugend recherchiert” of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In addition to a newspaper article and a book about honeybees, this resulted in the desire to do more for bees and to draw people's attention to them. The school's open day was perfect for this purpose. All children were able to build their own small insect hotels. But also insects need full board! For this reason, they prepared envelopes into which the children were able to fill a few perennial native flower seeds. About 100 children have benefited from our offer during this very successful event. Since the school's first open day, the event has been held every year.
Project: Green Pen
Group: Green Journalist Club, Ninhbinh, Vietnam
In this project, young students and communities in rural areas of Vietnam are to gain an awareness on the importance of environmental protection. During 7-day training courses, students from secondary schools learn about the environment and are provided an insight into basic journalism skills. In addition, they explore nature in national parks.
Project: Active prevention of water pollution through textile fibre filtration
Group: Hebelschule Schliengen, Germany
The end products of sewage treatment plants are released into rivers or spread out in the form of sludge for fertilization on fields. This sludge consists to a certain extent of plastic and cotton fibres. As soon as these fibres are on the fields and flowers, bees collect them and the fibres finally end up in the honey. Furthermore, if the fibres are released into the rivers, they can be taken up by fish that die consequently. The students of the Hebelschule Schliengen came to the hypothesis that the fibres are washed out of the clothing and released in the washing machine. These fibres can be filtered out only partially by the sewage treatment plants. The project's aim was to find out more about the degree to which the situation is a real issue, and if so, to find a technical solution to reduce or eliminate the problem.
For more information on the applicants and the individual projects, please click on the following link:
www.european-environment-foundation.eu/en-en/environetwork/online-contest/submitted-projects
An attractive prize awaits the winners:
Free participation in the “International Convention of Environmental Laureates” in Freiburg from 9 to 12 March 2017. Laureates of the world's most significant environmental awards participate in the Environmental Convention. The award winners will travel to Freiburg from more than 40 countries.
Large presentation of your own project on the “Young Talents Day” of the International Environmental Convention. The “Young Talents Day” offers young people the unique opportunity to meet and talk to the international laureates in person.
Participation in environmental classes at the UWC Robert Bosch College Freiburg, the only UWC College in Germany.
At a glance:
International Convention of Environmental Laureates and Young Talents Day
Since 2012, the International Convention of Environmental Laureates has been held in Freiburg under the patronage of Professor Klaus Töpfer. More than 100 environmental laureates from more than 40 nations participate each year. In addition to internal events and the Young Talents Day, there are also several public programme parts. The Young Talents Day is organized in cooperation with the University of Freiburg, the Regional Council Freiburg and the UWC Robert Bosch College Freiburg. The young participants receive a qualified preparation. On Young Talents Day, they actively apply the acquired knowledge in discussions with the laureates, learn how to integrate global climate and environmental challenges into everyday context and are motivated by their role models for their own environmental commitment.
EnviroNetwork.eu
The project is sponsored until the end of 2017 by the Deutsche Bundessiftung Umwelt DBU (German Federal Environmental Foundation) and provides digital networking to environmental laureates, companies, NGOs, environmental activists, students and to the media and press. Those interested can get information on the website or create profiles and projects themselves.
European Environment Foundation
Founded in 2011, the European Environment Foundation aims to promote dialogue between all disciplines of environmental policy at a global level. The focus is on laureates of prestigious international environmental prizes, the networking and support of which the foundation promotes with various projects. The main projects are the International Convention of Environmental Laureates, held annually in spring, and the new online platform “EnviroNetwork.eu”.
The foundation's Board of Trustees consists of 17 renowned personalities from the field of environmental and climate protection: Manuel Collares-Pereira, Amalio de Marichalar, Monika Griefahn, Rainer Griesshammer, Peter W. Heller, Sigrid Jannsen, Gerhard Knies, Jeremy Leggett, Antonio Luque, Giovanna Melandri, Marcello Palazzi, Dieter Salomon, Virginia Sonntag-O'Brien, Simon Trace, Maritta R. von Bieberstein Koch-Weser, Paul Walker and Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker. Prof. Dr. Eicke R. Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, is the chairman of the Board of Trustees. Founders and directors of the foundation are Dr. Bernd Dallmann and Dipl.-Ing. Rolf Hiller.
www.european-environment-foundation.eu
