Pupils’ Conference Elefsina: Transition to a Climate Neutral Future

In May 2023 near Athens, EUKI project Pupils’ Conference Elefsina gathered 350 pupils from Greece, Germany, and Western Balkan countries to visualize the “Transition to a Climate Neutral Future”. For three days they pursued a common mission: To build a collective vision with their ideas for the city they dream of and would like to live in. Elefsina (Eleusis) is 2023’s European Capital of Culture, the gathering was one of the ‘Mysteries of Transition’ that take place all around the Greek city.

In preparation of the conference, the pupils from each participating school created roadmaps to climate neutrality in 2030. In Elefsina they presented their ideas to the other schools and took guided thematic walks through the city to be familiarized with the city’s history and modern social and environmental challenges. They worked out proposals for climate neutrality in the areas of energy and industry, buildings, mobility, sea, coast and public space, nutrition and agriculture as well as cultural heritage. At the end of the conference, the pupils handed over their resolution with aspirations and suggestions for a climate neutral Elefsina to the mayor of the city.

This video gives you an insight into this experience. To dive deeper into the whole process of establishing and realising the conference, we recommend to watch this full 16 minutes video here. It includes lively pictures as well as interviews with the organisers and makes the outcomes visible. It aims to inspire and empower schools, cities, cultural institutions, and the broader public across Europe to take climate action here and now.

To find out more about the methodology and results of the Pupils’ Conference Elefsina visit the projects’ website.