"Klimameilen" in Austria

Interview with Elena Schimanek and Anna Dolzer,
Climate Alliance Austria

In Austria, Green Footprints have been collected every year since 2003 and the campaign is known there under the name Klimameilen.

How does the Klimameilen campaign work in Austria?

Every year, about 300 educational institutions collect Green Footprints. Most participants are aged six to ten and attend an elementary school. Transport and mobility education is part of the Austrian elementary school curriculum, so many teachers include their campaign into their classes and make healthy, climate-friendly mobility a tangible experience. Kindergartens can find the campaign in Climate Alliance Austria’s “klimaaktiv mobil” mobility box.

The institutions can collect Klimameilen from one up to four weeks, we usually see high participation in spring as well as during the European Mobility Week in September. Then we can collect the collected Footprints just in time to send them to the UN Climate Conference.

Every year before the summer vacations, a Klimameilen summer winner is selected from all the responses and an overall winner is chosen at the end of the year. The winners each receive a certificate, a trophy and a further prize such as admission to Schönbrunn Zoo or a climate clown show. 

What is your role as the campaign's coordinator ?

On the one hand, we are in direct contact with the institutions via a large school mailing list and inform the municipalities and mayors about how they can support the campaign. This includes sending out an electronic thank-you note as well as a certificate of participation to every institution that informs us about their collected Footprints.

On the other hand, as coordinators we are in contact with the Austrian Climate Ministry, which has supported the campaign since its beginning. One year, all elementary schools were made aware of the campaign by a ministerial letter, what a great initiative!

We are supported by the regional associations of Climate Alliance Austria, some of which also award prices in cooperation with the federal states and organise extra events for the schools.

What is special about the Green Footprint campaign in Austria?

A special feature of our materials is that we not only offer a sticker booklet for the children, but also a Klimameilen poster for collective collection, which can be hung up in the classroom to give the group an extra incentive. Furthermore, pedagogues can use the Klimameilen song “Small acts become big” because singing together is fun and motivating.

We are also really proud that the campaign has been running for so long and continues to inspire children - we have been involved every year since 2003! A young teacher once found our stand at an education fair and said: “Look, the Klimameilen - I took part when I was a pupil!” It's really great to see that children and adults remember the campaign fondly and have learned how sustainable mobility works through it!

What else do you do in the area of mobility?

The Green Footprints show us time and again how many children in Austria get to school sustainably anyway. Most pupils live close to their schools, but around 20% are still brought to school by car. As a result, there are regular traffic jams outside schools. A few antisocial drivers also repeatedly create dangerous situations for all pupils - this should change!

Climate Alliance Austria also offers additional workshops and materials on mobility and is part of the mobility management for schools and kindergartens in Austria. Of course, this mobility management also includes the Klimameilen, which we regularly revise for all age groups. In some institutions, the campaign is combined with a “Pedibus”, which means walking together just like carpooling.

Further impressions of the Klimameilen campaign in Austria at https://www.klimabuendnis.at/oesterreich/projekte/klimameilen/ .