Wrote by Yang Jiqing

On March 23, 2023, the second workshop of the Yunnan Low Carbon Schools Network under the EU-HPP Yunnan Low Carbon Schools Pilot Project was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province. The workshop was sponsored by the International Humana People to People Movement (Switzerland) Yunnan Representative Office, organized by the Kunming Metallurgical College and supported by the Yunnan Academy of Scientific & Technical Information.

About 140 people from the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education, Overseas Non-Governmental Organizations Management Office of Yunnan Provincial Public Security Department, Yunnan Academy of Scientific & Technical Information, Wuhua District and Panlong District ONGO management Offices, The International Humana People to People Movement (Switzerland) Yunnan Representative Office, training experts from inside and outside Yunnan province, representatives of project partners, representatives of project schools, and representatives of university student associations and groups attended the meeting. 

Speakers all agreed that the implementation of the Yunnan Low carbon school pilot project activities contributed positivey to the establishment of Kunming low-carbon schools and the practice of ecological civilization education. In the future, the schools should realize the transition to low-carbon and carbon-neutral schools, which is a long-term accumulation process. We call on more teenagers, teachers and students to start from themselves, practice low carbon and environmental protection, and help realize the "double carbon goals".

Over the last two years of project implementation and under the guidance of the project executive team, many excellent schools, groups and individuals have actively participated in the low-carbon schools pilot project and made significant contributions. Therefore Michael Hermann, Chief Representative of HPP, Siri Holmebakk, office manager, and Wang Xiaoli, former Director of the CDM Center of Yunnan Academy of Scientific & Technical Information awarded ‘Outstanding individuals and groups in the 2nd Zero Carbon Week Yunnan Campus Personal Carbon Footprint Research and Innovation Competition’,  ‘Outstanding Activity School Teams’ and ‘Outstanding Organizational Teachers of the Year 2022’. 

In addition, the project executive team introduced the project activities, and the scholars, experts and school representatives shared their experiences and suggestions on climate change and biodiversity, the construction of "zero waste campus", the transformation of the university's carbon reduction hardware, the school's low-carbon planning, the school's low-carbon demonstration activities, and the development of the carbon reduction curriculum. 

Since the start of the EU-HPP Yunnan Low-carbon School Pilot Project, the project has covered 10 districts and counties in Kunming, and 72 demonstration schools have participated in the project offline. So far, combined with the online form, a total of 846 schools from inside and outside Yunnan Province have participated in the project in different depth, with a cumulative audience of 2.2 million.

The project has developed a systematic decarbonization strategy for educational institutions in Yunnan Province. At the same time, the establishment of the ‘Low-carbon Schools Network in Yunnan Province’ has set up a platform for different types of schools and promoted the transition of schools to low-carbon schools.

Project introduction:

The Yunnan Low-carbon Schools Pilot Project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the People to People Foundation (Spanish member of HPP) in cooperation with FAIHPP (Switzerland) Yunnan Representative Office, Yunnan Academy for Science and Technical Information, Southwest Forestry University, Green Kunming (Kunming Environmental Popular Science Association) and  Kunming Good Deed Public Welfare Community Development Service Center with a project cycle from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2023. The project begins by increasing partners’ awareness and advocacy on climate change mitigation and environmental protection, and then raises climate change awareness among 600 schools, 70,000 students and teachers, determines the emission baseline through emission source calculations, and then implements emission reduction work in 50 Carbon Compliant Pioneer Schools. The project uses science, technology, innovation and other means to respond to “climate action” to accelerate environmental sustainability and promote the transition from green campuses to low-carbon and carbon-neutral campuses.

The project is funded by the European Union

This project is supported jointly by the European Union and the Humana People to People Foundation (Humana People to People Spanish members).

The opinions expressed here are those of the author and have nothing to do with the position of the funder.