The EU LIFE DICCA project - Climate Days for school groups

Four Climate Days each were held in autumn 2020 and autumn 2021 for groups of schoolchildren from lower secondary schools in Vienna. The participating youngsters had the opportunity to learn about the importance of measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. The Danube Island and its meadows and woodlands require intensive maintenance, and this need will intensify still further as a result of climate change.

The Climate Days met with a great deal of interest, with around 150 schoolchildren and their teachers participating in the activities at the Inselinfo service centre (German) on the Danube Island in 2020 and 2021. These half-day programmes for school groups were developed and run in collaboration with the climate action organisation Klimabündnis Österreich (German).

Talks and guided tours of the Danube Island

An introductory talk taught the young visitors about the basics and explained the concrete impacts of climate change in Austria, as well as presenting a number of climate change adaptation measures, such as greening of facades. A series of fun workshop stations then explored the subject matter in greater depth.

Afterwards the groups were taken on a guided tour of some project measures implemented under the EU LIFE DICCA project. Experts from Municipal Department 45 - Water Management (MA 45) explained the importance of tree planting and the creation of new green spaces in the city, and the youngsters visited the new climate garden at Kaisermühlen Bridge.

Visible measures taken to preserve and enhance biodiversity on the Danube Island were presented, including the new orchard of wild fruit trees, the beehives and the pond biotope for Triops crustaceans. Another topic covered on the guided tour were the newly-installed weather stations and how they record climate data. The tour concluded with a visit to the weather station in the field next to the Inselinfo centre.