"Eiger-Climate-Schools" – symbolic start
The most senior woman in Swiss politics launches national school project
"Eiger-Climate-Schools" – symbolic start
This evening, in the presence of schoolchildren from German- and French-speaking Switzerland, National Council President Pascale Bruderer Wyss will launch the national "Eiger-Climate-Schools" project at the foot of the world-famous Eiger North Face. The aim of the project, organised under the patronage of Swiss cantons, is to give future generations an indelible experience and an unforgettable opportunity to see and assess for themselves the visible and tangible consequences of climate change in Europe's unique "open-air laboratory" in the Jungfrau region. This summer and autumn, two thousand young people aged between 15 and 17 from all corners of the country can spend one and a half days enjoying an instructive course in climate change in the Jungfrau region, examining glaciers and rock falls in the safe hands of experts.
Due to the immense popularity of the "Climate Change Learning Experience", only half of the 5,000 applicants were lucky enough to find a place. On the first afternoon, they will be instructed by
climate research staff at the University of Berne and the Jungfrau Alpine Research on rock degradation on the Eiger and the glacier lake on the Lower Grindelwald Glacier. Early on the second day the
programme includes lessons on glaciers and ice and the problems of permafrost thaw on the Jungfraujoch, following which schoolchildren will study the fast-retreating Eiger glacier and be given an
opportunity to draw their own conclusions and findings.
The project launch, which will be attended by the energy, transport and food companies involved in the project, participating institutes of research and education and the University of the European
Union, will culminate in a symbolic balancing act. Together with schoolchildren from all over Switzerland, the President of the National Council will symbolise the bid to combat climate change and
restore balance to our world by means of the gigantic "Clima-Balance" installation created by artist Pierre Mettraux.
Information:
"Eiger-Climate-Schools" Project Consortium
c/o BKW FMB Energy Ltd
Media Communications
Tel. 031 330 51 07
Fax 031 330 57 90
