The #climatechallenge project is based on a workshop format that was launched at the HTWG Konstanz – University of Applied Sciences in 2014 and has been used successfully in various contexts. It motivates and empowers participants to develop their own self-determined contributions to climate protection and transformation. Now it is being rolled out throughout Germany by the Karlsruhe Transformation Center (KAT), based at ITAS, and the network partners Germanwatch e. V. and netzwerk n e. V. as part of the #climatechallenge project of the same name.

At its core, the transformative educational offer consists of two experiments (also called challenges) for more climate protection. The Footprint Challenge focuses on individual CO₂ savings that participants achieve in their private lives in order to reduce their own footprint. Based on the experiences made there, the participants in the Handprint Challenge develop and implement practical approaches to making an impact beyond the private sphere and changing inhibiting, non-sustainable structures in society, for example, through social or civic engagement. The #climatechallenge project thus systematically brings together effective climate protection in everyday life and structural transformation approaches.

The project addresses four different target groups: schools, universities, extracurricular learning venues, and municipalities or districts.

The KAT focuses on the target group of municipalities, including cities, communities, neighborhoods, associations, etc. Here, a “train the trainer” approach is used to qualify multipliers through training and supervision, who then use the format independently in their own contexts and thus disseminate it more widely.

In addition, the KAT is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the overall project (e.g., quantifying the GHG emissions saved, recording the acquired skills).

The aims of the joint project are therefore: to reduce CO₂ emissions through active climate protection action, to convey practical knowledge and at the same time increase the willingness to act, to increase climate protection acceptance and willingness and thus to anchor climate protection action with hands and feet in society.

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