Children and young people shape their future

Today, the 2019 Environmental Prize for Children and Young People was awarded at a festive event in the conference centre of eins energie, Straße der Nationen 140, and the winners of the 2019 spring clean-up "For a clean Chemnitz" were honoured with the "Golden Broom" at the same time.

Every year, the City of Chemnitz - with the support of its partners eins energie, Südsachsen Wasser GmbH and the waste disposal and municipal cleaning company of the City of Chemnitz - 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.

Award winners

Leonardo Children 's House: In the daycare centre age category, the children from the Leonardo Children's House in Erfenschlag were awarded certificates and 300 euros for their work "The Herb Flower". Herbs were planted, tended and eaten, and a herb book with dried plants was created. The children learnt very early on that healthy nutrition can also be found in nature.

BIP Kreativschule: In the primary school age group, the theatre project "Das ist kein Mee(ä)rchen" ("This is not a fairy tale") from the BIP Kreativitätsschule took first place with a prize of 300 euros. The pupils from Year 4 performed their play, which dealt with the pollution of the world's oceans, as part of the school theatre week at the Fritz Theater and Schauspielhaus Chemnitz. Topics such as oil spills, overfishing, ocean warming, plastic waste and piracy were critically examined.

Two families from Ebersdorf: Two families from Ebersdorf with their 4 and 7-year-old children cleared the Ebersdorf village stream and the neighbouring nature reserve of waste, especially plastic waste. The children learnt how important a clean environment is. The children themselves produced a short documentary. For this commitment with their project "Three rubbish bags, two families, one action", the four children were awarded 2nd prize and 200 euros in their age group.

Children from the Terra Nova Campus - the discovery school: The participants from the Terra Nova Campus took part in the environmental award once again this year. They worked on their extensive project "Only Nature". In this complex topic, they learnt about the natural components of our environment. They built nesting boxes and installed them around their school. The pupils created a habitat for insects with a flower meadow. They made "seed bombs" for this purpose. With their outlook on future tasks, they showed that nature conservation will continue to be a long-term project in the future. The discovery school also received a 2nd prize and 200 euros.

Three pupils: In their project "What happens in the sewage treatment plant?", pupils Niklas Schönherr, Amidala Rost and Lenny Brehme learnt how a sewage treatment plant works and what tests are carried out on drinking water. They recreated various stages of water treatment at home and tested how they work. For this work, they were awarded 3rd prize in their age group and 150 euros.

Nick Haubold: In the age group 5 to 8, Nick Haubold looked at a variety of different ways to "preserve and promote biodiversity in allotment gardens". He implemented measures to protect hedgehogs in his grandparents' garden. He has created shelters for insects and birds and has paid particular attention to bees. The garden was planted with plants that specifically provide food for insects. His commitment to publicising biodiversity through effective publicity measures was particularly significant. He was awarded 1st prize and 300 euros for his project.

Marewa Berner: Marewa Berner also focussed on the damage caused to our environment by plastic waste in her project "Plastic waste in our environment". She carried out extensive research, including a visit to the Federal Environment Agency in Dessau. In her work, she was able to provide a far-reaching picture of the challenge facing humanity. From the increasing amount of plastic waste and the contamination of the world's oceans to the practical effects on marine wildlife and its dramatic damage, she presented the global impact very vividly. Finally, Marewa tried to live "plastic-free" for a fortnight. She succeeded unexpectedly well. The so-called "unpackaged shops" in particular were essential for this. This achievement was honoured with the 2nd prize of 200 euros.

"Leuchtturm" of the Caritasverband für Chemnitz und Umgebung e. V. and Nachhall e. V. Chemnitz: The "Leuchtturm" day group of the Caritasverband für Chemnitz und Umgebung e. V. submitted the ESF-funded project "Nature in children's hands" in cooperation with Nachhall e. V. Chemnitz. The participants worked in the seed garden and learnt skills and abilities for their future lives. They took part in the Nachhall e. V. topics and worked throughout the year on near-natural cultivation of the inner-city garden. They received 3rd prize and 150 euros for their efforts. In addition, the "Leuchtturm" day group did exemplary work in introducing children to environmental protection issues. For this, the jury decided to award an additional special prize of 150 euros.

Two 6th classes at Dr Wilhelm André Grammar School: Classes 6/4 and 6/5 at Dr Wilhelm André Grammar School tackled the very topical issue of insect mortality with the theme "Take matters into your own hands - active action against insect mortality". They learnt about various insects and their tasks in our environment. Insect hotels were designed to provide a home for a wide variety of insects. For this work, they won another 3rd place and 150 euros.

Three prizes were awarded in the 9th grade age group up to the age of 20:

Falco Eigner: He focussed on insects and living creatures in meadows and naturally also dealt with insect mortality in this context. He took the approach that precise knowledge of the species was necessary for the conservation of species and the protection of their habitats. To this end, he developed a method to reliably identify the species based on their unique sounds. He took part in the national final of Jugend forscht with his topic "Decoding the songs of the meadow". In Chemnitz, he was awarded 1st prize in his age group and 300 euros.

Members of the Georgius Agricola Grammar School's Solar-AG: they have been involved in the construction of solar-powered vehicles for many years, following the trend towards electromobility that is being driven by energy policy. Since 2013, the pupils of the Solar-AG have been taking part in competitions and winning prizes time and again. This topic always offers new challenges for research into new materials, constructive solutions and design variants. For example, solutions with attached landscapes have been developed and built. Technical variants, such as reversing the direction of travel, have also been tested. For continuing on this successful path, they were awarded 2nd prize and 200 euros for "Solar-powered model vehicles - from the idea to successful realisation".

Pupils from Oberschule am Flughafen: Three pupils from Oberschule am Flughafen investigated an interesting topic. With their project "What is nano?", they first determined what dimensions are involved. They discovered the many possibilities that nanotechnology offers in practical applications, such as the lotus effect. But they also looked at the risks to our environment, for example, and found out what effects nanoparticles have when discharged from fertilisers and sprays or in exhaust emissions from waste incineration plants. They were awarded 3rd prize and 150 euros for their work.

All prize winners received certificates, the prize money and small gifts.

All participants and prize winners deserve recognition for their outstanding achievements in the interest of our future in a clean environment. The Environment Department of the City of Chemnitz would like to thank everyone for their commitment and achievements and hopes that the competition for the Chemnitz Environmental Award 2020 will once again be lively.

Information on the 2020 Environmental Award online: www.chemnitz.de/umweltpreis