The Climate Campus is the platform for Viennese climate education offerings. www.wien.gv.at/klima-campus Guided tours, workshops and information materials on climate and the environment can be found here. Because the climate crisis brings with it many hot days, the website presents cool destinations and other cool ideas where you can recover from the heat.
Between 1961 and 1990, Vienna had an average of 9.2 hot days per year – days with maximum temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius. From 1991 to 2020, there were an average of 20.1 hot days. In 2023, temperatures in Vienna rose above 30 degrees on 32 days. “These figures alone make it clear how important education on climate is. With the Climate Campus, we are making information more easily accessible. The site also links to places that make summer temperatures more bearable,” explains Climate Councilor Jürgen Czernohorszky. The website offers inspiration for summer destinations, both indoors and outdoors.
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The Climate Campus is aimed at citizens and multipliers interested in climate. For teachers and leisure educators, it offers special tips on how to structure lessons or ideas for excursions for groups. The monthly Climate Campus newsletter provides information about current events and campaigns in Vienna. There is a special treat for new newsletter subscribers up to and including September 15, 2024: With a little luck, they can win an annual pass for the City of Vienna Libraries and immerse themselves in the world of books. The Vienna libraries have extensive reading material on climate and environmental topics, from children’s books and non-fiction books to cookbooks with climate-friendly recipes.
Cool zones
The climate crisis makes places to cool down particularly important, and there are many opportunities for this in Vienna. Some of the libraries are cool zones – these are pleasantly tempered rooms where you can simply sit down, enjoy a quiet atmosphere and a cool glass of water or play a round of cards. The city of Vienna came up with the idea of cool zones in Vienna Heat Action Plan This plan shows ways to better deal with the heat on the one hand and how to reduce the heat in the city on the other.
Cool down while playing
Places to cool down are especially important for children – after all, they are one of the most vulnerable groups in hot weather. Children dehydrate more quickly, sweat less than adults and therefore give off less heat. In addition, their bodies generate more metabolic heat when they move than adults. Children are guaranteed to cool down and have fun on the forest playgrounds. There they can experience first-hand how soothing the coolness of the forest is and how important forests are in the fight against the climate crisis. Children can experiment with water and splash around to their heart’s content on the water playgrounds. The Climate Campus links to the addresses.
Fill the water bottle
Drinking a lot in summer is important for health – especially for risk groups such as babies, small children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Tap water is wonderfully refreshing and inexpensive at the same time, and is of excellent quality in Vienna. If you keep refilling your own drinking bottle, you save a lot of waste compared to disposable bottles and thus protect the climate. At around 1,500 drinking fountains in Vienna, you can fill your bottle with cool tap water while you are on the go. The Climate Campus website provides links to the locations of the drinking fountains.
Information materials for holidays and school time
Anyone who would like to delve deeper into the topic of “correct handling in hot weather” will find www.wien.gv.at/klima-campus Compact information: In hot weather, the information sheet “Cool through the summer” from DIE UMWELTBERATUNG is a good support. The tips on how to heat up your home less in the summer heat are illustrated with pictures in this information sheet and are therefore easy to understand and put into practice.
There are also valuable information materials on the subject of climate protection available for leisure education facilities, kindergartens and schools in Vienna to borrow, and excursions and workshops can be booked.
THE campus where all the information comes together
The Climate Campus makes it easy to find information and events on climate: www.wien.gv.at/klima-campus – it’s best to browse the Climate Campus website now and sign up for the newsletter!
