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Living climate protection in theory and in practice

Two examples from southern and northern Germany impressively demonstrate the importance of education and environment-related foundation work

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A suitcase full of experiments donated: The climate suitcase enables physics teachers to impart knowledge about climate change in a completely new way.

Example from southern Germany: Climate suitcase
Climate change is one of today’s greatest challenges and has a decisive impact on the future of all children and young people. But in order to be able to react, we need to understand its causes and effects. This is exactly what the climate case developed by the physics faculty at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich does.

The easy-to-use wooden case full of instructions and tools for various experiments on climate change is a successful example of practical educational work by foundations. Tailored precisely to secondary schools in Bavaria, young people can use it to carry out climate experiments whilst working on effective solutions. In this respect, the climate suitcase fits perfectly with the approach of Bayerische Sparkassenstiftung: “It helps pupils to better understand climate change and also shows them that they can help to tackle it. This is precisely the sort of project we are happy to support,” explains Matthias Dießl, Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and President of the Bavarian Savings Banks Association. The foundation and the Bavarian Savings Banks have also subsidised the climate suitcase with around EUR 900,000.

Almost every Bavarian secondary school has now received two climate cases and an infrared camera from the foundation to accompany their lessons. The schools had previously trained two physics teachers in how to use the cases. At the beginning of 2024, teachers from almost 300 secondary schools also received this training and are now also using the cases. The examples here show how this works:

Jardelunder Moor
Jardelunder Moor: Intact moors are indispensable for climate protection. The Climate Protection North Foundation therefore also explicitly supports moorland rewetting for targeted renaturalisation with its funds.

Example from northern Germany: bog rewetting
This dark mud is valuable – and completely underestimated by the public: intact moors store more carbon dioxide than any other ecosystem in the world. In Germany, around four per cent of the country’s surface area consists of moorland. Almost 80 percent of them are located in the northern German lowlands. It is there, in Schleswig-Holstein to be precise, that the work of the Climate Protection North Foundation of Kieler Förde Sparkasse begins.

According to experts, one third of the global climate policy target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius can be achieved through biological climate protection alone. Moorland rewetting is one of the main starting points and “wet” is the key word. Peatlands need water to become climate savers. They are gigantic carbon reservoirs, as they draw CO2 from the atmosphere and grow and store it in the peat. Conversely, they become real climate killers when they dry out. If the peat in the bog soil is no longer in the water, the carbon combines with oxygen again and millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. This is exactly what is happening in Schleswig-Holstein, where the moorland has been drained increasingly over the centuries for peat extraction. And the foundation wants to change this with projects and partners, for example by supporting foundations such as the Schleswig-Holstein Nature Conservation Foundation.

Peatland restoration is very much a long-term task: the peat layer only grows by one metre in a thousand years. One of the main concerns of the Climate Protection North Foundation therefore remains: water for the moor!

Reforestation is another important instrument of biological climate protection for the Schleswig-Holstein State Forests. More forest not only means a gain for our environment, but is also a guarantee for securing the basis of life for all people as well as the animal and plant world.

Brief profile of Bayerische Sparkassenstiftung (Bavarian Savings Banks Foundation)
Since its foundation in 1994, Bayerische Sparkassenstiftung has promoted progress in Bavaria and strengthened old and new values. Innovative projects are a particular focus. The funding partners’ aim is to enrich the lives of people in the Bavarian regions with their forward-looking project ideas.

A brief profile of the Climate Protection North Foundation
The Climate Protection North Foundation was established in 2022 on the initiative of the Förde Sparkasse donors’ association. The purpose of the foundation is biological climate protection in the three fields of moorland rewetting, reforestation and educational support. The foundation’s objectives are financed by proceeds from the foundation’s assets and third-party donations.