- JUKIBIE 2023 - 1st Bielefeld Youth Environment and Climate Congress of the Andreas Mohn Foundation

"How do we want or how can we live in the future?"

89 pupils from Bielefeld and the surrounding area took part in the first Youth Environment and Climate Congress (JUKIBIE) of the Andreas Mohn Foundation, which took place on 19 and 20 June at the Oberstufenkolleg. In workshops, the KNOW-HOW gained in expert lectures could be put into practice. The young people also found a forum to present their own school environmental projects. The Andreas-Mohn-Stiftung and the Stadtwerke Bielefeld offered cash prizes for the most innovative projects.

The Martin-Niemöller-Gesamtschule from Bielefeld presented the "FahrRad" project, where the name says it all: the pupils cycle every day, save CO2 on the way to school, and en passant promote their health. They learn to repair bicycles and use the bike to go on holiday together.

The pupils of the Gymnasium am Waldhof drew attention to the plight of the amphibians with the "Fire Salamander Ark": dried-up springs rob the animals of their spawning grounds. In addition, an introduced fungus eats away at the animals' skin, causing them to die. They therefore breed fire salamanders in the light wells of the school windows.

The problems of fast fashion, from toxic mass production to the irresponsible throwing away of the fashion masses, prompted the vocational college in Halle (Westf.), training course "State-certified technical clothing assistants", to launch their project "from old make: FASHION". The budding fashion specialists refined second-hand clothes into wearable fashion again.

The dangers to water and health when chemically dyeing fabrics prompted young researcher Jule Hannah Tappe of the Ravensberger Erfinderwerkstatt (Halle) to conduct her series of experiments to dye cotton with "Carotenoids - an alternative with a future". The red dyes from carrots and peppers served as an environmentally friendly dye.

The pupils of the Bertolt-Brecht Comprehensive School in Löhne run a school apiary. They breed bees, promote their life-giving pollination activity, produce honey and, since this year, have been harvesting their own vegetables from the school garden, which has been converted into a field, in the "GemüseAckerdemie". The vegetables are to be cooked in the school's own canteen. A school group from the Carl Severing Vocational College for Economics and Administration took part in the congress without presenting their own project.

In practical workshops, all congress participants could actively plant trees with the upper school collegiate students at the Pflanzkamp and hear about the reforestation project "Galicia" from ranger Aaron Gellern, Landesbetrieb Wald und Holz, Regionalforstamt OWL der Stadt Bielefeld, to reforest burnt forest areas in Spain.

Mr Biedermann and Dr Yang of the Ravensberg Inventors' Workshop built solar car models with the pupils. The BOSolar-Car-Team of the Bochum University of Applied Sciences presented a fully-fledged solar energy car that drove around the world. Mr. Budumlu from " restlos e.V." prepared two desserts from "rescued food" for lunch with pupils and learned important things about sustainable and climate-friendly food preparation. With Pip Cozens, from the association "ART AT WORK", the pupils cycled to the Pauluscarrée, the first climate protection housing estate in Bielefeld, which combines the benefits of climate protection with the social interaction of the housing community.

Urban planner Marcel Cardinali from TH OWL Detmold informed about the advantages of the 15-minute city, a concept from Paris in which all important places in a city can be reached in 15 minutes on foot or by bike. Architect Michael Pappert from the Bielefeld architectural firm Pappert und Weichynik explained the advantages of the low-energy house implemented in the Pauluscarrée, which he designed.

Lina Keppler from Stadtwerke Bielefeld spoke about how we in Bielefeld are "On the way to a sustainable energy supply". Professor Dr. Walter Pfeiffer from the University of Bielefeld explained the "History of Climate Change" in a lively talk and, as a "Scientists for Future" member, presented the Bielefeld Climate Railway.

The audience rewarded the responsible, creative and sensitive way the pupils deal with their environment and voted for the most innovative school project by marble. The students of the Bertolt-Brecht-Gesamtschule from Löhne with their Bee and Vegetable Field Democracy project won the most marbles, the Bicycle Project of the Martin-Niemöller-Gesamtschule came in second, and third place went to the Fire Salamander Ark of the Gymnasium am Waldhof (prize money: € 1000.00, € 500.00 and € 300). The special prizes of € 250.00 each, awarded by the Stadtwerke Bielefeld and presented by Ms Yvonne Liebold (Stadtwerke Foundation), went to the Berufskolleg Halle with the "aus Alt mach: Fashion" project.

project and the young researcher from Halle with the "Carotenoids-an alternative with a future".