Young people everywhere are playing an active role in climate protection and experiencing first-hand how their ideas can make an impact. The year-long myclimate education programme enables pupils and apprentices in Switzerland to develop their own climate projects, from initial idea to concrete reality. Each group focuses in depth on topics like second-hand products, urban greening, food waste, recycling and sustainable commuting. At the end of the programme, a jury decides on the best projects according to criteria including effectiveness, innovation and reach. By developing their own projects, the young participants learn how to make their ideas a reality and bring about impactful change.
Future Workshop: sustainable ideas from Zurich secondary schools
This year, eight classes at six secondary schools in Zurich took part in the Future Workshop for school pupils. 144 pupils developed ideas for how to make their city more sustainable with 29 different projects. The winning projects show just how driven and creative young people are when it comes to tackling the challenges of climate change.
One of the top projects was a petition by pupils at Kantonsschule Wiedikon to cover the city rooftops in greenery. Their aim? To make the city more environmentally friendly and improve the urban climate by greening more of its surface area. Another innovative project came from pupils at Realgymnasium Rämibühl who calculated the CO2 emissions of groceries so that consumers can compare products more easily. The many innovative projects showed just how easily motivated young people are when given the chance to help prepare their city for the challenges of tomorrow. The winning project teams were invited to a prizegiving ceremony on 24 September 2024 at Gymnasium Rämibühl.
This academic year, the Future Workshop will also take place in Basel, and Lucerne will be added in 2025. Aside from coordinating additional groups in these new locations, myclimate also works with the schools involved to embed the idea of future-oriented project development in everyday learning. myclimate also develops educational materials and training opportunities for teachers to facilitate this.
Skills for Future: climate-friendly apprenticeship projects
The Skills for Future programme aims to motivate apprentices to develop climate-friendly projects at the companies where they work. With over 1500 participants and 130 projects submitted in the 2023/24 academic year; Skills for Future actively fosters the next generation of talent. The teachers at the vocational schools were first given an opportunity to integrate the projects into the regular curriculum as extension work.
The excellent projects included a mobility concept developed by apprentices at Griesser: this involved introducing a mobility budget that would make CO₂ savings visible. A similar initiative came from S. Müller Holzbau, where apprentices suggested a sustainability reward system for commuters to encourage environmentally friendly work travel. Apprentices at the Centre professionnel du nord vaudois also created videos to raise awareness about climate issues. These were aimed at correcting misinformation among climate sceptics.
Skills for Future (previously known as the Energy and Climate Laboratory) will also motivate apprentices to tackle climate-related issues and support vocational schools and professional associations in providing opportunities for further training, advice and development.