Chemnitz Environmental Award for Children and Young People: Shaping the future - preserving the planet
Environmental Award 2025
The winners have been announced
This year, more than 400 children and young people took part in the environmental education campaign organised by the City of Chemnitz's environmental department. The jury selected the top three places from 35 submitted projects in the categories day care centre, primary school, class 5 to 8, class 9 to 12 and young people up to the age of 20.
To mark the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, children and young people from the Capital of Culture region were also able to take part this year. The participants will be honoured for their commitment in the last two weeks before the summer holidays.
The following submissions won one of the top three places this year:
Category | Submitter | Project | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day care centre | Caritas Kindergarten Schatzkiste | A garden for children | 1. |
| Integrative kindergarten Goethehaus | Our butterfly meadow - created and grown like us | 2. | |
| Rabennest daycare centre | Environmental protection, sustainability and waste | 3. | |
| Primary school | Erich Kästner Aue support centre | We do good for insects | 1. |
| Sonnenberg Primary School | The worm box - little helpers in the classroom for a greener world | 2. | |
| gruuna Schule gGmbH | Kids & plants | 3. | |
| Class 5 to 8 | Burgstädt grammar school | "On the way" - project series for the ecological upgrading of the school route | 1. |
| Lower Luisen School | Environmental protection and democracy | 2. | |
| Terra Nova Campus - The discovery school | The development of a project in the school action area - the elective course "Pupils get active" | 3. | |
| Grades 9 to 12 and young people up to 20 years | Nick Peukert | The influence of different roof coverings on the thermal behaviour of buildings | 1. |
| Bethanien training centre for healthcare professions | Building nesting boxes to preserve biodiversity | 2. | |
| Saxon Social Academy Chemnitz | The somewhat different cookbook - as colourful as the world as we like it | 3. |
What is the Environmental Award?
The Chemnitz Environmental Prize for children and young people up to the age of 20 has been awarded annually since 1991. Individual or joint projects can be submitted.
All participants have the opportunity to use their knowledge, skills and interest in the scientific field or in practical environmental protection and to work on creative and interesting topics to protect our environment with commitment. A jury assesses the projects according to the criteria set out in the competition and decides on the awarding of attractive prizes. Impressions of projects that have already been completed can be found in the online exhibition for the environmental prize.
Parents, teachers, educators and leaders of working groups make a significant contribution to teaching children and young people about the necessity and possibilities of active action to preserve and shape our environment. Without their commitment, the Environmental Award would not exist in this form!
Conditions of participation and information on consent
Further environmental education
FAQ
The Environmental Award jury consists of representatives from various organisations and sponsor representatives. In 2025, the jury consists of the following members
- Mrs Schreiter (eins energie sachsen GmbH & Co. KG)
- Mrs Kastell (Volksbank Chemnitz eG)
- Mrs Findeisen (Südsachsen Wasser GmbH)
- Mrs Bodnár (Waste and municipal cleaning company of the City of Chemnitz)
- Mr Vieweg (City Councillor)
- Mrs Norberger (Children and Youth Representative)
- Mr Meyer (Head of the Education Authority)
- Ms Kasiske (Environmental Centre)
- Mr Jehmlich (Environmental Agency)
All participants will receive non-cash prizes. The first three places in each category will receive cash prizes of:
- 1st prize: €400
- 2nd prize: €300
- 3rd prize: 200 €
All children and young people up to the age of 20 from Chemnitz can take part in the Environmental Award. Children and young people who do not live in Chemnitz but go to school can also take part.
In the Capital of Culture year 2025, all children and young people from the Capital of Culture region are also eligible to take part.
There are four categories in total:
- Day care centre
- Primary school
- Grade 5 to 8
- Grade 9 to 12 and young people up to 20 years
Any environmental projects can be submitted to the Environment Agency. Everything is possible, from waste collection campaigns to the development of machines. As we are also planning to organise an exhibition in 2025, we would ask you to provide images and similar in digital form, provided you agree to their use.
The submission should include a project description and illustrations. Below you will find good examples from the year 2023.
- Kita Krabbelkäfer (3rd place)
- Obere Luisenschule (1st place)
- Waldorf School (1st place)
- Dr-Wilhelm-André-Gymnasium (1st place)
Some images and names have been blacked out in the examples.
The projects can be submitted until 25 April 2025
- online by e-mail,
- by post to the City of Chemnitz, Environmental Office, 09106 Chemnitz,
- postage paid by posting in the city's letterboxes or
- in person at the Environmental Office, Friedensplatz 1, 09111 Chemnitz
can be submitted.
Project registration
Use this form to register a project, regardless of whether you are an individual, family or organisation wishing to submit a project. The form is mandatory for participation in the Environmental Award. Please note the information on consenting to the processing of personal data.List of participants
Please use this list to indicate the participants in the project. Please complete the list in full and ensure that the information is correct. The list forms the basis for the certificates that are issued to the participants.
Declaration of consent to data processing for the public relations work of the Environmental Agency
If you agree to the publication of images and similar material for the public relations work of the Environmental Agency, you can complete and attach this form. You will not suffer any disadvantages if you do not complete the consent form. Please note the information on consenting to the processing of personal data.
The projects are assessed by the jury on the basis of the following criteria:
- Active action to improve the environment
- Sustainability of the idea
- Dealing with the topic
- Preparation of the project
Each jury member may award up to 10 points per evaluation criterion. This results in the overall score at the end.
The evaluation criteria are weighted differently for each category:
Day care centre
| Criterion | Active action to improve the environment | Sustainability of the ideas | Dealing with the topic | Preparation of the project |
| Weighting | 0,4 | 0,2 | 0,3 | 0,1 |
Primary school
| Criterion | Active action to improve the environment | Sustainability of the ideas | Dealing with the topic | Preparation of the project |
| Weighting | 0,4 | 0,25 | 0,25 | 0,1 |
Class 5 to 8
| Criterion | Active action to improve the environment | Sustainability of the ideas | Dealing with the topic | Preparation of the project |
| Weighting | 0,35 | 0,25 | 0,3 | 0,1 |
Grades 9 to 12 and young people up to 20 years
| Criterion | Active action to improve the environment | Sustainability of the ideas | Dealing with the topic | Preparation of the project |
| Weighting | 0,3 | 0,3 | 0,3 | 0,1 |
On 21 June 1991, the implementation of the environmental education campaign was decided by city council resolution 096/91. It serves to sensitise children and young people to environmental issues, such as the protection of species. Especially in times of climate change, it is particularly important to treat the environment with care as the basis of human life.
Review of the 2024 Environmental Award
A total of 395 children and young people took part in the 2024 Environmental Award with 31 projects. The following number of people took part in each category
- 155 in the day care centre category,
- 112 in the primary school category,
- 77 in the grade 5 to 8 category and
- 51 in the category grades 9 to 12 and young people up to the age of 20.
"Even though the number of participants has fallen compared to the previous year, I am delighted about the increase in the number of environmental protection projects from our young Chemnitz residents. The mostly practical projects show that the overall social task of environmental protection is also present in the minds of our youngest citizens. I would particularly like to thank the initiators, teachers, educators and parents who accompanied their children in the creation of the projects," said the head of the City of Chemnitz's environmental department, Ms Carina Kühnel.
The Environmental Award jury selected the following winners. There are two first places in the day-care centre category due to a tie.
Category | Placement | Submitter | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
Day care centre | 1 | Sunshine Day Care Centre | My environment and I - how do we learn to deal with it better? |
Primary school | 1 | Parzival School Chemnitz | Rescue for the rubbish |
Class 5 to 8 | 1 | Parzival School Chemnitz | Renaturalisation - bee pasture |
Classes 9 to 12 and young people up to 20 years | 1 | BSZ Health and Social Services Chemnitz | Chemnitz in bloom - a blooming future |
Exhibition on the Environmental Award
The projects from recent years are published in the online exhibition for the environmental award. Be inspired and see what the children and young people of Chemnitz have done for our environment.
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