Cold showers for the climate: students invite you to follow suit

The Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) are competing in a climate duel. The students and staff are using various activities to demonstrate how to get through everyday life in a more climate-friendly way and save CO2 emissions in a straightforward manner. The campaign runs from 23 March to 19 May 2021 as a virtual format that can already be followed on social media under the hashtag #klimaduell21.

Anyone can do climate action and it's even fun. In the first climate duel between the two partner universities, HNEE and ZHAW, students and staff will compete in a university-wide competition. Who will succeed in saving more CO2 emissions and changing their own behaviour in the long term? "The whole thing follows a game mechanism designed to spur on the ambition of each individual. Various practical challenges are chosen, which all participants then have to complete over a certain period of time, such as taking a cold shower for a week," says Julian Koepke, explaining the principle of the duel. He is part of the multi-person organising team, which consists of students and staff from HNEE and ZHAW. The Swiss university came up with the concept for the climate duel, which is also intended to appeal to citizens. "The idea is that you can follow the progress of the duel online and take part in or imitate the challenges in everyday life," he invites. The team hopes to show many people practical recommendations for action that they can easily integrate into their own everyday lives and thus make a contribution to climate protection. The concrete savings from the challenges are determined by the ZHAW on the basis of so-called life cycle analyses, or LCAs for short, for the various areas of behaviour. Only the savings achieved by participating members of the university are counted.
In addition, students, employees of the two universities and members of the public can follow an informative supporting programme. For example, climate researcher Stefan Rahmstorf, Head of the Earth System Analysis Department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, will give a keynote speech and there will be various workshops.
The virtual event will begin on 23 March 2021, 4 pm to 6 pm, with a kick-off event. The various everyday tasks (challenges) will then follow up to and including 19 May 2021. Until then, interested parties can already follow the preparations online. You can follow the countdown on the social media channels of both universities under the hashtag #klimaduelll21. "We are sharing information, photos and videos about the climate duel on Instagram and Facebook. The first posts can already be seen there," says Tanja Rakočević, who is also part of the HNEE student team.

The following channels are used for this:
Instagram ZHAW
Facebook ZHAW
Instagram HNEE
Facebook HNEE

Background to the campaign
Anthropogenic (= human-induced) emissions of greenhouse gases in particular - especially CO2 - intensify the earth's natural greenhouse effect and cause climate change. In order to prevent this, the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement were formulated by the international community. As climate protection affects everyone, the cooperation between HNEE and ZHAW addresses this topic in order to actively and jointly contribute to possible solutions.

Cooperation between HNEE and ZHAW
HNEE has been cooperating with the ZHAW since 2016, enabling students from both institutions to spend a semester abroad, for example. To promote this international exchange and make both universities more familiar with each other, a team of students and staff is currently organising a climate duel.

About the ZHAW
The ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences is one of Switzerland's leading universities. It is active in teaching, research, continuing education and services - practice-orientated and scientifically sound. In research and development, it focuses on key societal challenges - with an emphasis on energy and social integration. With its expertise in sustainable development and digital transformation, it imparts future-oriented knowledge and plays an active role in shaping digital and ecological change. With locations in Winterthur, Zurich and Wädenswil, it has regional roots and cooperates with a large number of international partners.