Greens promote climate protection: competition started for schools in the district!

Greens promote climate protection: competition started for schools in the district!

A fresh breeze for climate protection is blowing through the Waldeck-Frankenberg district. On July 5, 2025, the Green Party parliamentary group in the district council presented a new competition to save energy in schools, which is not only aimed at urgent climate protection, but is also intended to motivate the schools themselves. The initiative was approved by all political groups, only the AfD expressed its rejection and described climate change as a fictitious problem. As WLZ Online reports, the Greens have the goal of actively holding schools responsible and using energy savings for their own purposes.

The idea behind the competition is that schools can not only save energy, but also benefit from the savings. According to the Greens, part of the saved energy costs goes into the district budget, so that the general public also benefits from the success. In addition, an award system for the three best schools is being considered to make the competition particularly attractive. Two models for implementing the competition were presented: On the one hand, the district could use its own human resources, and on the other hand, support could be obtained from a regional energy agency.

Motivation for schools

The current results of the 2025 Energy Saving Masters competition also show that schools can become climate protection pioneers. On June 3, 2025, the 16 state winners were announced, each of whom was awarded 2,500 euros for their commitment to climate protection. These schools actively promote renewable energies and organize various activities, such as poster exhibitions about the climate crisis or clothing swap parties. Such activities promote a holistic awareness of sustainable practices among students and teachers, as co2online reports.

By participating in such competitions, schools can not only significantly reduce their energy costs, but also act as role models and inspire others to actively participate in climate protection. Steffi Blau from co2online highlights the creativity and commitment of the students and teachers that are encouraged by this competition.

Education for sustainable development

Another aspect that came up in the discussion about the competition is the connection with existing projects in Hesse, in particular “Education for Sustainable Development”. Here it is emphasized how important it is to take the energetic conditions in schools into account. There is also support from the SPD, which appreciates the ecological and economic benefits of the initiative.

Teaching materials from the KEAN initiative are also available for teachers who want to raise their students' awareness of climate protection at an early stage. This extensive material is specially designed for science lessons in grades 3 to 5 and includes 16 teaching units as well as many exciting experiments. Such materials help to convey the concepts of climate change and resource conservation in a tangible way. Information about this is available from Klimaschutz Niedersachsen.

Overall, it is clear that the path to a more climate-friendly future leads through educational institutions. The energy saving competition could be an important step here, not only to raise awareness but also to achieve concrete results. How much potential there is in the initiative could be shown if all 60 schools in the district took part and could thus achieve annual savings of up to 130,000 euros, which would even amount to 442,000 euros over four years.