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This page was translated automatically using artificial intelligence (DeepL). The German version is binding. More information about automatic translation
A lecture series organised by university students and school pupils; book readings at the new municipal library and on 99drei Radio Mittweida, town talks, art and media education projects, urban gardening – these and more are the formats through which, over the coming months, young and old, university staff and members of the public alike aim to come together to explore climate protection in its various forms. The literary guide for this is the book *Paula’s Journey – or How a Chicken Turned Us into Climate Activists* by Jana Steingässer.
With this concept, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences was successful in the ‘One University – One Book’ competition organised by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft and the Klaus Tschira Foundation – the only university in Saxony and the only University of Applied Sciences (UoAS) in the new federal states. With the prize money of 10,000 euros, the team of staff and students at the university can now make concrete preparations for the individual projects and bring them to fruition.
“By choosing to produce a children’s book, we are opening a door that often remains closed to the youngest members of our society, and engaging with children on their own level,” says Sandra Kuhn, advisor to the university’s acting chancellor and co-initiator of the project. “We also want to specifically involve children in the participatory negotiation process surrounding the topic of climate protection. Not only to give them – as well as everyone else – the opportunity to build up knowledge and understanding, but even more so to actively incorporate and take up their perspectives and suggestions.”
The university had entered the competition with both its concept and a video.
At the forefront of climate action
At Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, with its 6,000 students and 600 staff, issues such as climate protection, sustainability and biodiversity are not merely the subject of teaching and research, but an integral part of everyday life. For example, it was the first of Saxony’s universities and higher education institutions to launch its own climate protection strategy, supports student climate protection projects and their media coverage, and organises its sustainability efforts via the university’s own engagement portal. In June 2023, the university, together with its partners – the African climate competence centres WASCAL and SASSCAL – will host a climate forum in Mittweida University of Applied Sciences featuring international experts.
A few weeks ago, a group of researchers from the university introduced wild bees to a flowering meadow behind the Centre for Media and Social Work, which was created last year. They play an important role for nature in Mittweida and also symbolise Mittweida University of Applied Sciences’ mission to convey vital issues such as climate protection and sustainability from the world of science to society.
About the book: ‘Paula’s Journey – or How a Chicken Turned Us into Climate Activists’
Jana Steingässer’s book (published by Oetinger in 2019) tells the true story of her family as they set off on a journey around the world in the wake of climate change. Paula’s journey approaches the topic of climate protection in a personal way, shaped by observation and experience. Mittweida University of Applied Sciences takes up this fundamental idea and creates spaces and opportunities within the university town for people of different ages and from different social groups to engage with the issue of climate change.