Monitoring of the project "Dein.Klima - Energiesparmodelle für Schulen im Rhein-Neckar-Kreis" (Your.Climate - Energy-saving models for schools in the Rhine-Neckar district)

The aim of "Dein.Klima" is resp. was to introduce and support climate protection projects in 25 participating schools in the Rhine-Neckar district. The schools are advised and supported by ifeu and KLiBA Heidelberg.
The ‘Dein.Klima’ project was successfully stabilised at the end of funding from the National Climate Initiative (January 2025). In future, the Rhine-Neckar district will support the project financially. The continuation of the project is planned for the next 3 years. The Climate Protection and Energy Consultancy Agency Heidelberg - Rhein-Neckar-Kreis gGmbH (KLiBA) will take over the continuation, and ifeu will also continue to provide technical and educational support for the project.
Background information
Climate protection projects in schools offer a concrete answer to the currently pressing question of how climate protection can be implemented in everyday life. Schools integrate the topic of climate protection into school life and lessons, implementing the content of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), which has been anchored as a guiding perspective in all school curricula in Baden-Württemberg since 2016. Through a broad awareness and positive approach to climate protection and sustainability in schools, CO2, energy and resources can be saved in everyday school life.
How do climate protection projects or energy saving models work in schools?
Depending on previous experience and organisational possibilities, schools of every school type put together a team, ideally consisting of pupils, teachers and caretakers. The energy team/sustainability team, supported by the school management, organises the implementation of the climate protection project throughout the year. All educational activities and topics relevant to everyday life are possible, such as traditional energy saving, food shopping, the choice of school materials, dealing with waste at school and the choice of transport to and from school.
At the end of each school year, the activities and actions are surveyed with a questionnaire. In recognition of the pedagogical work and commitment, the schools receive annual bonuses from the school authorities/municipalities. These are presented at the annual award ceremonies. A bonus system will remain a fixed component in the future, which rewards the climate protection activities of each school with a bonus at the end of the school year.
At the beginning of the project, initial meetings (kick-off visits) were held with all schools involved in the project in order to take stock of the activities already underway, identify possible savings measures and receive impulses for further climate protection activities. In the course of the project years, the schools were supported by ifeu and KLiBA with on-site appointments (e.g. action days, advices for caretakers, workshops for energy teams or within the framework of an overall teachers' conference).
Energy manager training courses, which are organised annually by the KLiBA and ifeu team and where pupils are trained to become ambassadors for climate protection in their classes or the whole school, are now an integral part of the schools.
The participating municipalities support the schools as school authorities. They finance the activity bonuses and can provide additional impetus for climate protection at schools, especially on technical and logistical issues (heating system, waste collection system, traffic planning).
The project was funded by the National Climate Initiative (NKI) as part of the Municipal Guidelines funding programme.
Runtime
November 2021 – January 2025
Client
Rhine-Neckar District, Climate Protection Office
Partner
KLiBA - Klimaschutz- und Energie-Beratungsagentur Heidelberg – Rhein-Neckar-Kreis gGmbH
Contact
Lisa Muckenfuß
lisa.muckenfuss@ifeu.de
+49 (0)6221 4767 55
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