New Manuals for Climate-Neutral Schools and Cities

Can schools become drivers of climate neutrality and inspire entire cities in the process? The daily operation of schools causes considerable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the high consumption of resources, e.g. through the heating of buildings and the generation of large quantities of waste. One of the main factors for successful savings is the promotion of cooperation between local authorities and schools. In order to achieve concrete measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the municipality, it is important that both the school and the municipality pull together. Due to their large numbers, schools are one of the main sources of GHG emissions in municipalities, but they themselves have little power to simply implement structural measures, for example.

At the same time, schools have enormous potential as actors to drive forward the transformation to climate neutrality in their own municipality. After all, schools are places, where future generations learn. They are therefore a good basis for creating and implementing visions for a fair and livable future for all. The project Visions2045 – Schools as Drivers for Climate Neutrality in Cities addresses exactly that and has now published practical manuals that enable both schools and local authorities to actively tackle the change.

Added value for the city: Why should public buildings become climate neutral?

Climate neutrality describes a state of equilibrium between the greenhouse gases emitted and those absorbed by the atmosphere. In order to achieve this goal, we need to carefully analyze emissions in various areas of society – with the clear aim of avoiding and reducing them as much as possible. This has the following advantages for cities:

• Strengthening civil society: Cooperation and collaboration between different interest groups promotes mutual understanding and respect.
• Strengthening the economy: Cooperation with local companies that are on the path to climate neutrality strengthens the economy in the region.
• Reducing costs: Energy savings and the use of renewable energies lead to considerable cost savings in the long-term. In addition, the consequential costs of the climate crisis are considerable and can be reduced through timely climate protection.
• Promoting energy independence: The expansion of decentralized energy supply leads to independence from fossil fuel imports and makes the EU more resilient.
• Being a role model: Taking on a pioneering role as a modern and sustainable city that sets a positive example for its citizens and other cities.
• Limit damage: Man-made climate change has already caused major economic and social damage in recent years. This damage can be limited through climate protection.
• Slow down climate change: The use of fossil fuels in particular is exacerbating climate change. Climate-neutral lifestyles and economic practices help to slow down the progression of climate change.

Schools as one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in municipalities

In order to better understand the role of schools in the transformation towards climate neutrality, it is worth taking a look at the greenhouse gas footprint of schools, which was determined as part of the Visions2045 project, which is presented in more detail in the following section. Figure 1 shows the GHG footprint of a fictitious example school in Berlin in the calendar year 2022. The data collected in the project was evaluated using the “Schools for Earth” CO₂ calculator from the ifeu Institute and Greenpeace e.V. It can be seen what proportion the recorded fields of action account for and how many tons of CO₂ equivalents are released into the atmosphere for each calendar year.

This example school has emitted about 694 tons of CO₂ equivalent in one year, a number that is difficult to visualize. To better understand this amount, let’s take a look at figures 2 and 3. The cube in Figure 2 represents one ton of CO₂ and measures 8x8x8 meters. For size comparison, a human, an elephant and a container can be seen next to it. Applied to our example school, this means that around 694 of these cubes are emitted into the atmosphere in one year. This would correspond to a volume of around 2.5 average container ships, as shown in Figure 3. If we now consider the number of schools in cities, the scale of emissions and their impact on our environment and society becomes more tangible.

Vision2045 develops manuals for the transformation to climate-neutral schools

In the Visions2045 project, 12 school communities in Bulgaria, Poland and Slovenia developed their own action plans to gradually move closer to climate-neutral schools. The plans contain numerous options and actions that can be implemented in collaboration with the respective municipality and other stakeholders in order to get a little closer to the goal. The measures take a holistic approach. This means that students, teachers, school management, parents, administration and local organizations are all involved.

The project is based on the Berlin pilot project KlimaVisionen – Ways to climate-neutral schools, in which the school community develops and implements roadmaps for climate-neutral schools by creating greenhouse gas footprints and conducting vision workshops. In cooperation with partners from the respective federal states and with funding from the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, this project is thus making an important contribution to shaping a just and livable future for everyone.

The measures aimed at by the schools for climate protection and adaptation to climate change are primarily intended to avoid and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Various pilot projects have been implemented in different fields of action, such as energy consumption and nutrition. The key results and experiences of this process have been clearly presented in practice-oriented manuals. They offer schools and local authorities concrete approaches and tools for the transition to climate neutrality.

This project shows that schools are not just places of learning, but also important players in municipal climate protection. As major energy consumers with correspondingly high CO₂ emissions, they have enormous potential to save energy and act as role models.

Now available for Download: Manuals for schools and local authorities that contain concrete, practical recommendations for action – from the initial vision to the implementation of targeted measures. The materials are available free of charge in German, English, Bulgarian, Polish and Slovenian.