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Description
There is a low public engagement in climate action in the Czech Republic. Even young people, who would love to protect Earth’s climate, do not know how to do it, and do not believe in their agency. We would like to change that. The main aim of the project is to deepen the knowledge of climate solutions, strengthen the motivation to take part and boost skills for civic participation in this area. We will prepare, communicate and deliver the Campaign for Ordinary Heroes, which will engage 18,000 people both in direct climate action and in communication of the absolute necessity of climate protection. Young people will take lead and will empower their parents, friends, neighbours and local school communities as a whole. We will train students and teachers not only to engage adults in the campaign, but also to create journalistic and media reports with the use of texts, photographs and videos which will further raise awareness about opportunities for meaningful climate action for everyone. The campaign and following activities will bring missing knowledge on climate solutions to its participants, but above all it will enhance their motivation to take active part. While it will enable individual pledges, it will be based on community action, mutual support and formative effect of positive public expectations. The campaign will follow into communication with local authorities and politicians, which will be complemented by students’ reports in local media. Students will gain first-hand experience with civic participation, climate action and public leadership.
Summary of project results
There is a low public engagement in climate action in the Czech Republic. Even young people, who would love to protect Earth’s climate, do not know how to do it, and do not believe in their agency. The main aim of the project was to deepen the knowledge of climate solutions, strengthen the motivation to take part and boost skills for civic participation in this area.
Project promoter (PP) did it through the Campaign for Ordinary Heroes, which should engage people both in direct climate action and in communication of the absolute necessity of climate protection. Young people took lead and empowered their parents, friends, neighbours and local school communities as a whole. PP trained students and teachers not only to engage adults in the campaign, but also to create journalistic and media reports with the use of texts, photographs and videos which will further raise awareness about opportunities for meaningful climate action for everyone.
The campaign and following activities should bring missing knowledge on climate solutions to its participants, but above all it should enhance their motivation to take active part. The campaign followed into communication with local authorities and politicians, which were complemented by students’ reports in local media. Students should gained first-hand experience with civic participation climate action and public leadership.
- Analysis of the organization''s carbon footprint (strengthening the capacity of the PP.)
- Ordinary Heroism Campaign
- Webinars for students and teachers
- Creation and dissemination of student media outputs
- Final meeting
- Evaluation
As part of the Ordinary Heroes – Everyone Can Contribute to Climate Protection project, PP managed to directly involve nearly ten thousand people across the Czech Republic in the Ordinary Heroes campaign. The project was a reaction to the problem of low engagement of young people in the issue of climate change and the search for appropriate solutions. The success of the project was not only the increased awareness (also thanks to the pupils’ media outputs) and motivation of the participants, but also the acquisition of practical skills in the field of climate engagement. The analysis of PP´s organization’s carbon footprint led to a greater understanding of their own climate impact and supported their internal measures to reduce it.
The Ordinary Heroes campaign itself provided individual coordinators (schools, organizations) and participants with specific guidance on how to mitigate their own impact on the environment and achieve positive change through community action, public awareness and leading by example. Various webinars, student presentations and final meetings have supported education, raised awareness of climate issues, led to sharing and networking and inspired the people involved. The number of people involved in the Ordinary Heroes campaign demonstrated the success in civic participation. Overall, the project had a positive impact on individuals and communities by strengthening their motivation for climate protection and active citizenship. The project also had a positive impact on the personal development of young people who became leaders in the organization of activities leading to climate protection.