Hot Stuff Day in Basel Brings Together Climate-Aware Schoolchildren from Five Countries

Basel, 11 June. 45 teams of school pupils from Kenya, Uganda, Hungary and Switzerland presented potential solutions and projects to encourage conscious, climate friendly consumer behaviour.

Hot Stuff Day 2014 – teams from Hungary, Uganda and Kenya joined in with their Swiss counterparts live via Skype

This event, which is part of the Hot Stuff Climate Net project, <link www.facebook.com/hotstuffclimatenet - external-link>brought young people together online across continental borders</link>. All of the teams were looking forward to the prize-giving, where they had the chance to win some great prizes as well as a sustainable product with their individual team design. With support from their teachers and instructors, the students, aged between 15 and 25, were asked to develop solutions for climate friendly consumption and then realise a corresponding activity, between December 2013 and the beginning of May 2014.

The project culminated in Hot Stuff Day in the Red Room at the Museum for Music in Lohnhof, Basel. To kick off the day, all of the teams presented their projects via Skype. They discussed the various ideas, how they could be implemented, and their experiences working on the project. <link www.hotstuffclimatenet.org/contest/ - external-link>The winning teams were announced following the presentations and discussions.</link> European participants had the chance to win places at a summer camp in Hungary organised by the <link www.magosfa.hu - external-link>Magosfa Foundation</link>. The teams from Africa could win solar equipment. The best graphical representations of solutions were printed onto fabric bags on-site. Not only do these bags replace plastic bags, they also inspire people to be climate friendly consumers.

Each of the teams approached the topic of consumption in a different way. This resulted in climate friendly solutions for transport, food and cooking, separating rubbish and recycling, renewable energies, conscious consumption, electronic devices, clothing, careful use of resources, food production and purchasing, and saving electricity. Teams proposed concrete activities for each topic, ranging from play-based action days in schools and communities, through infrastructure improvements and a bike escort service for younger schoolchildren, to training programmes for teachers and students.

The approach, proposed solutions and international exchange were consistent with the Hot Stuff Climate Net motto, “Learn - Do – Share”. climate education project by myclimate. Students using social media perceive climate protection as a global challenge. Linking up climate education activities in various countries in this way enables students to experience different perspectives, identify actions they can take themselves, as well as explore global contexts. Hot Stuff Climate Net is an open network for classes of schoolchildren who want to work globally for the benefit of climate protection. Pupils and teachers can register by <link simone.pulfer@myclimate.org - mail>e-mail</link> at any time.

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