Becoming a Climate Ambassador

The 'SV-Bildungswerk' is an association for students, from students. Its main focuses are education, the environment, human rights, our future and how student volunteers can gain the insights and skills they need to bring these focuses to their own schools. They offer several workshops, in 2017, I participated in the Climate Ambassador one. Over one week, we were taught valuable lessons on climate change and our environment, workshop moderation, team-building tools, and how to develop sessions. After that one week, we were certified climate ambassadors of the 'SV-Bildungswerk', meaning that if schools all over Germany requested climate workshops for their classes, we would be sent there to do these. These workshops were very individual to the school requesting them: I spent two days in Cologne helping an inclusive school involve their students in the building of a new complex and develop sustainable concepts, and another time I was in Kiel for a day to help students develop the foundations to introduce a climate club at their school.

During my active time, I got to meet many other interesting people who were part of the 'SV-Bildungswerk' and participants with amazing ideas. The main skills I take from this experience are workshop moderation, preparation and presentation, and public speaking, motivating my audience and helping them find and reproduce their ideas in a structured and effective manner. The time of the climate ambassador workshop and the two years afterwards brought great insights and learning opportunities - and inevitably started my extra-curricular engagement outside my school and city. At the climate workshop, I met my friend, who ended up telling me about UWC, an acquaintance that would change the course of my life drastically for the better.