Introduction of energy-saving models in eight daycare centers
The towns of Bad Homburg, Friedrichsdorf and Oberursel have been active in environmental and climate protection for many years. As part of the three-year inter-municipal ÖKOPROFIT-Kitas project, the towns want to work together and with competent external support to extend these efforts to municipal daycare centers in a practical way and also contribute to exemplary sustainable environmental education from kindergarten age.
... is unique in Germany as an ECOPROFIT for daycare centers and is financially supported by the federal government via the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; it began on 01.01.2013 and ended on 31.12.2015. This project opens up the possibility of initiating measures in building maintenance that go beyond what has already been achieved. On the other hand, it also opens up new opportunities to bring climate protection and all other relevant environmental issues closer to users, i.e. employees, children and parents, in a clear and practical way and to have a lasting positive influence on behavior.
On the one hand, the individual buildings must be examined in detail and, if necessary, modernization and other measures must be initiated, but the focus of the project is on the children and employees as users of the daycare centers. For this reason, extensive knowledge of environmental issues will be imparted during the course of the project and pedagogical methods will be developed to pass this on in a child-friendly way. The local authorities hope that the project will provide exemplary suggestions for other daycare centers in the pedagogical field and, in the long term, a sustainable use of resources as well as a reduction in energy consumption and thus also cost savings.
A total of eight joint workshops and six on-site appointments per institution are offered. In addition to a regular exchange of experiences, the workshops present information and working materials on topics relevant to environmental and climate protection as well as examples of best practice. In terms of content, the focus is on energy efficiency. However, many other environmental and climate protection topics are also addressed and, in addition, educational implementation is discussed and practical suggestions are developed.
The six on-site consultation appointments in the individual participating facilities are carried out by the external consultants with the project teams of the individual facilities and measures to improve energy efficiency are developed. A program of measures is drawn up that includes not only technical and educational measures, but also other approaches such as climate and environmentally friendly procurement or the involvement of parents. The daycare centers participate in the project's savings successes via the so-called activity bonus model, i.e. the individual facilities receive bonuses as additional funds for the further implementation of their environmental goals. The measures taken over the three years can save a total of 23 tons of CO2 per year.
A total of around 850 children and more than 100 employees are taking part in the project. Successful participation in the ÖKOPROFIT Kitas project was honored with an award at an official event at the end of the project at the end of 2015.
Environmental protection in everyday life - an exciting topic for "young and old"
"How did you get to the daycare center today?" The Dornholzhausen daycare center in Bad Homburg v.d. Höhe started the project day on the topic of mobility with this question. The Dornholzhausen daycare center has been participating in the "ÖKOPROFIT Vordertaunus Kita" project for two years.
As part of this, the Dornholzhausen daycare center held an action day on the topic of mobility last Wednesday. The parents showed great interest. In a relaxed atmosphere, there were many discussions between children, parents and staff on this topic.
Over a period of one year, children of all ages from the crèche, kindergarten, forest group and after-school care center deal with various aspects of mobility. In addition to the mobility of their own bodies, the mobility of animals and much more, the focus is on learning about means of transportation and the associated environmental impact, such as CO2 emissions. Beforehand, the children documented how they got to the daycare center over several days/weeks. Sticky dots were used to illustrate whether the children were brought to the daycare center on foot, by bike/scooter, car or bus.
This "overall picture of sticky dots" gives children and parents an overview of the forms of mobility used. Whether this short period of stocktaking corresponds to everyday life and where the possible reasons for the choice of mobility form lie was recorded on the project day by means of a parent survey. The task now is to use the results of the survey to define potential for improvement and identify practicable alternatives.
City of Bad Homburg (project management)
Mr. Holger Fröhlich
Telephone 06172-1006142
holger.froehlich@bad-homburg.de
City of Friedrichsdorf
Mr. Jörg Naumann
Phone: 06172-7311300
joerg.naumann@friedrichsdorf.de
City of Oberursel (Taunus)
Ms. Sandra Portella
Tel. 06171-502337
sandra.portella@oberursel.de
Arqum in Munich (Managing Director)
Mr. Jörn Peter
Phone 089/12109940
peter@arqum.de
Arqum in Frankfurt (project management)
Ms. Ellen Braun
Phone: 069-95932050
ellen.braun@arqum.de
