The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UAE have announced the winners of the Teaching for Net Zero Campaign award, launched in collaboration with members from the Energy Transition Education Network, a multi-stakeholder partnership established by IRENA with the support of the UAE at COP27.
The six winners came from Belgium, Benin, Nigeria, Colombia, Bhutan and Morocco. Each one demonstrated innovative teaching methods to help inspire students and educate them about how and why we need to accelerate the energy transition.
Under the Teaching for Net Zero Campaign, IRENA and the UAE invited primary and secondary teachers, higher as well as vocational educators and non-formal educators from around the world to submit their unique teaching practices. Each winner received a sponsored trip to COP28 to share their experiences and to be featured in the Teaching for Net Zero Campaign. The educators presented at the Greening Education Hub managed by the UAE Ministry of Education, who are also Campaign collaborators contributing to the development of curriculum guidance. Other Campaign activities at COP 28 and beyond include the launch of Teaching for Net Zero teaching resources, workshops for educators, and promotion of good practices.
The winners included:
Vinciane Scheuren (Belgium), Project Manager, Scienceinfuse UCLouvain, organised a “Generation Zero Watt” challenge with the aim of reducing energy consumption in primary schools in the Walloon region of Belgium. Students became energy detectives, carrying out energy audits of the school to identify where too much energy was being consumed and problem solving how to make their schools more energy efficient.
Zoulkifirou Sambo Mama (Benin), Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Engineer, Esmer Academy, organised a renewable energy focused science camp for children aged 8 to 13 with a twofold objective: to introduce children to science and present them with information and ideas for preserving the environment around them.
Jennifer Obiorah (Nigeria), Founder, Team UpCyclers, founded Team Upcyclers, a community-based project that addresses climate change and energy poverty in the education sector. This initiative promotes sustainable development goals (SDGs), climate, and energy education in schools and internally displaced persons camps. It donates solar devices to students to promote SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG 13 - Climate Action.
Cesar Barraza (Colombia), Professor of Engineering, Universidad de La Sabana, designed a course to introduce students to cutting edge technologies, barriers and opportunities to develop sustainable systems in the framework of a just energy transition. The course combines challenge and service-based learning methodologies to allow students to develop clean energy solutions to tackle an essential service issue affecting marginalised communities in Colombia.
Manoj Sharma (Bhutan), Lecturer, Royal University of Bhutan, developed major renewable energy infrastructure within the campus of the Royal University of Bhutan, including solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, solar thermal technologies, electric vehicle technologies, a kitchen waste to energy initiative and simulation facilities for the wind power technologies. All these improvements created a space for students to not only learn about the design of the solar PV, hydro power, wind power and biomass systems, but also to study the use of these technologies in achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Noureddine Hamri (Morocco), Founder & Renewable Energy Engineer, Turn Up the Light, set up energy education workshops in the Berber Nomadic Communities to enhance their resiliency against climate change and promote energy literacy.