The goal of the Energy and Climate Laboratory is to accumulate knowledge on the environment and the efficient use of energy and to combine commitment with technological skill, innovative spirit and design expertise. The task set the apprentices is to develop products and projects that reduce CO2, promote energy efficiency or raise awareness among the general public about everyday actions to stop climate change. The myclimate Energy and Climate Laboratory is a national project competition for all trainees and apprentices. Thus far, more than 10,000 apprentices have been involved and 1,459 projects developed.
The two award ceremonies were the grand finale of the Foundation myclimate’s Energy and Climate Laboratory 2021/2022, as part of which apprentices were able to develop or optimise products and processes in their companies, drive CO2 reduction, promote energy efficiency or encourage employees to take measures against climate change in their everyday lives. Two selected expert juries evaluated the projects submitted and chose the winning teams. Both events also saw the presentation of audience prizes.
Swiss Award Ceremony Under the Motto “Full Steam Ahead”
The first prize of the day was awarded in the category of “Planning”. Levin Heid, Severino Casile, Joel Schwarzer and Sheyan Ahmad Shoaib, apprentices in their first year of training at TBZ Zürich, were the team that most impressed the jury with their project entitled “Changing School – The Energy of the Sun”. Meanwhile, the team made up of Scott Billaud, Kristijan Atanasov, Mathis Carrel and Florent Allet (second year of training at Centre Professionnel du Nord Vaudois) were delighted to win the main prize in the category “Raising Awareness”. Their project, “The Danger of our Dishes”, aimed to draw attention to the pollution of the world’s oceans. In the “Energy” category, Elijah Klug, Fiona Minikus and Sara Kielholz from IGP Pulvertechnik AG triumphed with their project “Machine on a Break”, which highlights easy-to-implement energy-saving measures in a playful way. “Migi Check” was the project title of the jury’s favourite in the “Innovation” category and was the brainchild of Justin Ceronio and Timo Maibach from GIBB Bern. The aim of this project is to make it easier for consumers to compare different food products in terms of their sustainability.
A public vote had already taken place in advance for the audience award. This was then presented to Samuel Pasquarelli, Luis Fasano, Ronja Ragettli, Gabriel Urdaneta, Aalysha Ygot and Anaïs Grieder from FREITAG for their project “Bits and Pieces”. The 2022 project year and award ceremony were made possible by funding from partners EnergieSchweiz and Griesser as well as the host OST (Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences).
“Pioneers for a Sustainable Liechtenstein”
At the award ceremony in Liechtenstein, first prize went to Hilti apprentices Tina Hilti and Rafael Blumenthal for their project entitled “Saving Water for Sustainability”. The trainees installed an additional flush button on the company’s toilets, with which they will be able to save more than 300,000 litres of drinking water a year in future.
Meanwhile, Jenin Telser, Rebecca Licci and Nikita Batliner of LGT were delighted to achieve second place. Their project, “Awareness Trail”, was aimed at raising awareness about climate change among LGT employees and other visitors.
Third place went to Davide Rizzo, Moreno Antonelli, Livio Hanselmann and Gill Martin from LGT, who successfully implemented their project “Small Plant – Big Impact on the Climate”. The idea was that LGT employees could purchase a plant for the office, and the proceeds would go towards planting trees via TreeNation to help bind CO2 from the atmosphere.