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Making school-based GHG-emissions tangible by student-led carbon footprint assessment program
(2021)
Schools play an important role in achieving climate protection goals, because they lay the foundation of knowledge for a responsible next generation. Therefore, schools as institutions have a special role model function. Enabling schools to become aware of their own carbon footprint (CF) is an important prerequisite for being able to tap the substantial CO2 reduction potential. Aiming at the direct involvement of students in the assessment process, a new assessment tool was developed within the Schools4Future project that gives students the opportunity to determine their own school's CF. With this instrument the CO2 emissions caused by mobility, heating and electricity consumption as well as for food in the school canteen and for consumables (paper) can be recorded. It also takes into account existing renewable energy sources. Through the development of the tool, not only a monitoring instrument was established but also a concrete starting point from which students could take actions to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents the tool and its methods used to calculate the CF and compares it with existing approaches. A comparative case study of four pilot schools in Germany demonstrates the practicability of the tool and reveals fundamental differences between the GHG emissions.
More and more cities are setting themselves ambitious climate protection targets, including CO2 neutrality. Schools are important institutions of cities and therefore they have to play a central role in achieving this goal.
With the investment backlog building up and pressure from the Friday for Future movement increasing, the Wuppertal Institute and Büro Ö-quadrat have initiated the project Schools4Future, aiming to support secondary schools to become climate-neutral. In cooperation with secondary school students and teachers, the project team evaluated the existing situation of the participating schools and developed GHG-balances and feasible climate protection concepts. For this purpose, an Excel-based carbon footprint (CF) assessment tool for schools has been developed which is freely available. The tool covers all important emission areas, including heating energy, electricity use, travel to and from schools, school trips, the school canteen and paper consumption. The students were found capable to conduct the CF assessment with the guidance of the teacher, information materials and support of the researchers. So far, six pilot schools have completed their CF assessment with emissions ranging between 335 and 944 kg CO2 per person.
In this paper we present the tool and compare the CF assessment of some schools. We further elaborate on how the tool and project has increased the climate awareness and self-efficacy of students and even stimulated measures by the school board.
The Whole School Approach (WSA) is a concept aimed at holistically shaping educational institutions in the context of education for sustainable development (ESD), encompassing all aspects of the school environment. The focus is not only on the curriculum and teaching methods but also on creating a conducive learning environment, involving all school activities and facilities. A central element is the inclusion of the entire school community, including teachers, students, parents, custodians, canteen staff, and external partners. The concept has been established for many years and serves as a guiding principle in a number of schools. However, there is a lack of a method to quantify the success of implementing the WSA. This paper provides a basis for discussion to operationalise the WSA. For this purpose, a new approach was developed that includes the involvement of different actors and the implementation of specific climate protection measures (in teaching, energy saving measures in schools, promotion of renewable energies). The index score we developed is based on the allocation of evaluation points, which are useful for operationalising the WSA. Points are assigned in a clearly structured approach to make the results comparable. This new approach was tested with 12 German schools participating in the Schools4Future project (www.schools4future.de), confirming that the more diverse groups of stakeholders are involved, the more effective climate protection measures are implemented. However, it was also observed that key actors (especially students, teachers) can be largely responsible for a successful implementation of climate action measures.
Dieses Buch bietet einen Leitfaden für mehr Klimaschutz an Schulen und holt Schulleitungen, Lehrkräfte und Schüler:innen gemeinschaftlich ins Boot - denn Klimaschutz ist eine Gemeinschaftsaufgabe. Mit dem "Whole School Approach" wird die ganzheitliche Umsetzung von Klimaschutzaktivitäten in der Schulentwicklung angestoßen und auf schulischer Ebene ermöglicht und erleichtert.
Ziel ist es, Lehrer:innen in ihrer Gestaltungskompetenz für mehr Klimaschutz zu stärken - dies geschieht durch konkrete Vorschläge für die Arbeit mit Schüler:innen im Unterricht. Partizipative Methoden der Beteiligung sollen die Schüler:innen empowern und den Lehrkräften Ideen geben, um die eigene Selbstwirksamkeit, aber auch die der Schüler:innen zu steigern.
Die zentrale Kernbotschaft lautet: ein Klimaschutzprojekt an der Schule ist wesentlich für die strukturelle Verankerung von Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung im Schulalltag. Der Leitfaden gibt Anregungen für die Unterrichtsgestaltung, Anregungen für die Entwicklung eines Klimaschutzleitbildes, Hinweise für das Gebäudemanagement und Ideen zur Einbindung des schulischen Umfelds.
Innovative Finanzierungskonzepte wie Solar und Spar-Bürgercontracting belegen, dass ein riesiges Einsparpotenzial an Schulen wirtschaftlich erschlossen werden könnte. Doch bislang passiert zu wenig, um dieses auch zu nutzen. Das Projekt Schools4Future zeigt, wie Schulen eigenständig eine CO2-Bilanz erstellen können, um nicht nur eigene Klimaschutzmaßnahmen umzusetzen, sondern auch, um der Politik zu zeigen, wo dringender Handlungsbedarf besteht.
Die Schul-CO2-Bilanz
(2024)
In Germany, there are over 32,000 schools, representing great potential for climate protection. On the one hand, this applies to educational work, as understanding the effects of climate change and measures to reduce GHG emissions is an important step to empower students with knowledge and skills. On the other hand, school buildings are often in bad condition, energy is wasted, and the possibilities for using renewable energies are hardly used. In our "Schools4Future" project, we enabled students and teachers to draw up their own CO2 balances, identify weaknesses in the building, detect wasted electricity, and determine the potential for using renewable energies. Emissions from the school cafeteria, school trips, and paper consumption could also be identified. The fact that the data can be collected by the students themselves provides increased awareness of the contribution made to the climate balance by the various school areas. The most climate-friendly school emits 297 kg whilst the school with the highest emissions emits over one ton CO2 per student and year. Our approach is suitable to qualify students in the sense of citizen science, carry out a scientific investigation, experience self-efficacy through one's own actions, and engage politically regarding their concerns.
