Children and young people shape their future

The winners of this year's Environmental Award have been announced. Unfortunately, the award ceremony had to be cancelled due to the current coronavirus situation. In total, almost 400 children and young people were involved in 20 projects to actively protect the environment and have acquired a great deal of knowledge about environmentally friendly behaviour. A very pleasing trend is emerging in the city's day care centres. Early childhood education is increasingly going hand in hand with environmental protection. This includes easy-to-understand topics such as waste avoidance/separation and the protection of endangered species.

The fact that certain topics are focussed on in different age groups is shown, for example, by the commitment to bees. The Schönherrstraße daycare centre has dealt with this topic in great detail. From the importance of bees to nutrition, the necessity of early bloomers and the extraction of honey, extensive knowledge was conveyed and documented in a child-friendly way. The Dr Wilhelm André Grammar School has purchased its own beehives and included "European honeybees" in the curriculum for year 10. Both participants won first prize in their age group with their performance and thus prize money of 300 euros.

In the Kleinolbersdorf after-school centre , the "NATUR=erLEBEN" project looks at the progressive alienation from nature. The centre says: "For us, nature education is fundamentally part of elementary education, so that environmentally conscious behaviour is encouraged." The children visit the forest for at least 90 minutes every week, researching, discovering and learning about the local flora and fauna and their importance for life. With this comprehensive concept, the after-school care centre won first prize in the primary school age group.

Last year, pupils Niklas Schönherr and Toni Weber focussed on the topic of water purification and specifically how a sewage treatment plant works. This year, as a continuation of this, they submitted an investigation into sewage sludge. This was awarded 1st prize in grades 5 to 8.

In 2nd place with prize money of 200 euros were

• the "Lupinio" day care centre with "Tracking down beetles, insects and small animals, because they are important for our nature", a very topical, significant subject.
• Raffael and Theodor Schüßler as well as Marek and Mika Zielke, who repeatedly worked on "Cleaning up the Ebersdorf village stream and species protection for bats".
• theworking group of the B-Plan children's and youth club with "Rubbish for our birds" by linking waste avoidance with species protection.

Third place, together with 150 euros in prize money, was awarded to

• the Seahorse Group of the First Chemnitz Kindergarten Model for their project "Learning about and protecting native bird species".
• Sonnenberg primary school with "The garden gnome working group introduces itself".
• the solaris Förderzentrum für Jugend und Umwelt gGmbH Sachsen with their study "Which fertiliser works best?".
  

The organisers are particularly pleased that so many participants have repeatedly taken part, showing that protecting the environment is part of their everyday lives. Due to the large number of projects submitted, it was once again difficult for the jury to make a decision. All the projects were created with a great deal of commitment and hard work. All participants and award winners deserve recognition for their outstanding achievements. The city's environmental department would like to thank everyone for their commitment and achievements and hopes that next year's competition will once again attract a large number of entries.

Every year, the City of Chemnitz, with the support of its partners eins energie in sachsen GmbH and Südsachsen Wasser GmbH, honours the best ideas and projects by children and young people for active and sustainable environmental protection and successful environmental education with the Chemnitz Environmental Award. The award recognises projects that require an intensive examination of environmental protection and active action and are designed to be sustainable.

Information on the 2021 Environmental Award: www.chemnitz.de/umweltpreis