Young people are hacking the climate crisis

The media has been buzzing about it for months now: committed kids and teens who have rekindled the discussion about the climate crisis. And on Friday, September 20, the time has come once more. On this occasion, hundreds of thousands of people will take part in a global climate strike to demonstrate for better environmental policy – and Jugend hacktwill be there too. The program has gladly embraced the young people's enthusiasm. To define this year’s focus, one of the words in the Jugend hackt "Improve the World with Code" slogan has been changed. "Improve the Environment with Code" has been the motto since the opening hackathon in Cologne last May.

Ten Jugend hackt events will be held this year – four of these events have already taken place. Jugend hackt encourages participants to develop their own visions and solutions to address the challenges of the climate crisis. The young people quickly went to work and developed some amazing solutions:

For example, the Klima-Alarm. The climate alarm is a portable sensor that warns the wearer when the air becomes unhealthy. Corinna, Gero and Johannis developed the hardware, which continually measures the air quality and sends the data directly to your smartphone. To quote developer Corinna: "When the light flashes, your environment stinks!"

Is there trouble in the air? The portable climate alarm sensor measures the air quality and sends the data to your smartphone. Custom hardware, developed by teenagers. : CC-BY 4.0 Jugend hackt, Picture: Sebastian Schröder

Marlon, Moritz E. and Trung focus on gamification. Together, they developed the Save Your City computer game. Two players can play this game while learning how to run their own city in an environmentally friendly way. In this game, coal-fired power plants will not be built, but closed down!

Speaking of fossil fuels: why drive alone in your car on the way to the supermarket and waste CO2? That's exactly what Quim, Alexander and Friedrich's group were thinking. So, they developed Buy2gether, a social network that connects people who want to link up their purchases and thus save on travel. The network offers people the opportunity to contact one another to make logistical arrangements and to enter their upcoming shopping trips.

In case clothes are also on the shopping list, people can use the Clothes Nearby project, which was developed by Jana, Jan-Hendrik, Benny, Mathilda, Jian and Agnes. The aim is to promote sustainability in the purchase of clothing. The website shows potential buyers which sellers in the surrounding area are offering like-new unworn clothing for sale.

These examples are only a small selection of the wonderful projects and prototypes that the young people at Jugend hackt have been developing. And the Jugend hackt-year really starts in the fall. There are six more events still to come. One of these is the biggest event in Berlin: from October 4 to 6, more than 120 young people will meet together in the Silent Green Cultural Quarter in Berlin-Wedding. We will be supporting this event once again this year.

We’re already looking forward to the exciting and new creative project ideas that the young hackers will be developing there!