According to the latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), we only have 12 years to mitigate the effects of climate change. If we do not act now, temperatures will rise beyond the threshold of 1.5°C, which will result in increasing extreme weather events, with catastrophic consequences. Following the example of Greta Thunberg, young people across Europe are organising school strikes. Without wanting to prevent young people from demonstrating, we would like to give them the possibility to channel their engagement into positive actions, with a measurable impact on the environment. Our project, called 12 Years, aims at reducing the carbon footprint of our schools by all possible means and encourage and teach the maximum amount of people to do the same. It targets four key areas : consumption of electricity through light and heating, carbon footprint of the food we consume, impact of the journeys to and from school and consumption of consumables. Instead of walking the streets of Paris or Cottbus, students will be encouraged to engage their energy into tackling burning issues and finding solutions that can also be implemented elsewhere. They will have to find the means to enthuse their whole school community about the project, as well as their parents and the citizens of their towns. We want to reach people who cannot care (because they do not know how to tackle climate change) and people who do not care (because they do not know when and how climate change will affect them). Students will liaise with the other secondary schools in their region to share good practice. 60 French students aged between 16 and 18, who take the baccalauréat where sustainable development is a major theme of their curriculum, will work on the technical aspect of the project (measuring data, collecting ideas, designing the website and implementing ideas to reduce our carbon footprint). 15 students who specialise in literature will be in charge of the communication around the project. They will work together with their ... German counterparts. Six teachers and the two chefs of the canteens will help and assist students. All planned activities aim at reducing the carbon footprint of our schools, communicating and implementing our ideas among the wider community and sharing good practice with them. Students will find how much electricity is used in the schools, through light and heating. They will install electronic devices and redesign windows and doors to limit our consumption. They will calculate the environmental impact of the menus at the canteen and reduce it by changing the menus, minimising and recycling waste. They will compile a survey to find out how people travel to school and measure the impact and the cost of the chosen means of transport. They will find out what prevents people from walking, cycling or taking public transport to school. They will participate in clubs to learn how to fix bicycles and cycle safely. They will design a page on their website to facilitate car sharing among teachers. Students will work out how much paper and single-use plastic is consumed each year. They will test and find the most efficient solutions to reduce it. They will calculate the money that the project will have saved and spend it on herbs and trees to make our schools greener and more pleasant place to be. They will design and implement an automatic watering system to ensure the survival of the plants, particularly during school holidays. They will participate in a workshop to learn about eco-friendly actions. They will take part in the environmental week in Cottbus when German schools present their ideas to reduce their carbon footprint. They will analyse the results of the energy consumption of each school and share ideas about solutions. They will design and launch a communication campaign in English, French and German to reach and change the behaviours of a maximum amount of people, starting from their own school communities to then reach the least engaged people. Students will work in groups on parts of the project. By mixing different cultures and abilities, we hope to come up with innovative solutions. We will collect data then design solutions. They will be presented to the whole school community. Gaining the support of people is key to the success of the project. It is imperative that the 12 Years message is communicated and understood by as many people as possible, leading to tangible changes. We hope to achieve a significant reduction of the energy we consume. We also would like our project to reach people who cannot or will not care about climate change, persuading them that they can save money, as well as contributing to the preservation of our world as we know it. Participants in the project will become eco-ambassadors, particularly in their future workplace, where we spend 25% of our time.
12 Years, a project that aims to reduce the carbon footprint of our high school and that of our partner, in the context of global warming. It proposes actions for students to address in a concrete way the urgency of rising temperatures and the anxiety this generates. The objectives are to reduce our impact in four areas: electricity consumption, food consumed in the canteen, home-school travel and consumables (plastics, paper). The students analysed the heat losses of an office and made insulation using materials, mostly recycled. They installed a Regenbox, a piece of equipment that tells you if non-rechargeable batteries can be recharged. They calculated the energy consumed when computers remain unnecessarily idle. They estimated the carbon footprint of the bread thrown away in the canteen each day and took part in a meeting on setting up waste sorting tables in the canteen with the cleaning staff. They designed a survey on modes of transport and an awareness campaign on the use of bicycles and proposed several realistic projects for the pedestrianization of the street of our high school. They participated in setting up paper sorting bins and in a workshop that allows unused photocopies to be transformed into draft notebooks. They also contributed to the installation of three beehives, founded a gardening club and created stylised murals of flowers to decorate blank walls in the schools. The results have been an awareness of energy waste, better sorting of waste, an increasing use of bicycles as a mode of transport and an interest in bees and plants. The students developed co-operation and mutual aid strategies when carrying out their projects. Their absenteeism rate has dropped and their confidence in the educational team has increased. In general, the school climate has improved thanks to this project, which has enabled students to tackle in a very practical way a subject that interests them, but which can be a source of anxiety. In the long term, the gardening, beehives and recycling clubs will remain at the school. We will continue, in partnership with OSZ in Cottbus, to raise awareness among new cohorts of pupils, their parents and the inhabitants of our cities, of energy and food waste, the carbon footprint of their diet and the impact of their means of transportation.