Our Handprint Challenge
Climate protection is a task for society as a whole, but not every person in our society has the same opportunities as others. The ecological footprint gives us an easy way to make our consumption more sustainable, but this often comes up against structural limits.
As long as organic food, climate-friendly services and meat substitutes are more expensive than conventional products, it is more difficult for financially disadvantaged people to be sustainable, which is anyway complicated by higher time intensity and lack of social acceptance.Maybe you can now spontaneously think of such financial or social limits that have restricted you in your endeavours to live more climate-friendly?
Join our Handprint Challenge
To still contribute to the social change towards more climate protection, there is the option to become socially and politically active. For this purpose, we have put together the Handprint Challenge in collaboration with #climatechallenge. This challenge is about shaping the social and political debate in favor of strong climate action in order to create the framework conditions for a more sustainable society.
As a result, climate action must become easier, cheaper and more self-evident. After our past challenges like the Zero Waste or the Minimalism Challenge with which we have changed our individual actions, it is now time to extend our engagement to the broader society to fight the climate crisis as a society. But what can I do about it?
Find your Handprint Action
To start your Handprint Challenge, it is important to choose a level of action. As an example Germanwatch e.V. mentions your own workplace, your neighborhood or community, associations you are active in, a political party or in your city, municipality and also on state and national level. Once you have found this level, you can use different forms of action to get closer to your goal. We've put together some of our favorite Handprint Challenge ideas for you.
Write a letter or an email to your representatives, decision makers or companies - sounds easy? It is!
Join an organization - whether Fridays for Future, climate lobby groups, political parties or environmental protection associations, find out on the web how you can participate. In the German Bundestag election year of 2021, it is more important than ever, because important decisions are about to be made, which is why this year is a wonderful window of opportunity to get involved and reshape the framework conditions.
Alternatively, you can also write to media representatives, for example with an email in which you ask for more climate topics in the reporting.
Take part in a protest or a political action for climate protection, against climate-damaging organizations and institutions.
Participate in a public information booth to campaign for your issues.
There is also the possibility to anchor climate protection in school or university teaching, for example in a working group, in studies or as a lecture or seminar.
You can also organize mobility in your environment by setting up car pools or arranging to commute by bike.
Just bake vegan cakes and distribute them at manifestations.
Find allies
You can't do climate action alone, so it's important that you find allies to help you in your efforts as you complete the challenge. Look around you, are there friends or family members who can help you? Do you know of organizations that would support you?
It is not important how, but that you become active! Climate change cannot be stopped by itself, only with your help we can transform society and make the world a better place - find a form of action and allies and start your Handprint-Challenge to make our society more sustainable, let's go!
It's would be a great start if you already convince 2 more friends to join the Climate Bet, because if you win 2 friends, who in turn win 2 friends, who in turn...then we win a political climate action in 20 rounds ;)
Dominika & Andrea
The Handprint Challenge was written together with #climatechallenge. The initiative is a transformative learning and teaching format that has been continuously developed at the Department of Sustainable Economics at Konstanz University of Applied Sciences since 2016. It leads people from strategic climate action in their own lifestyle (footprint) to social and political engagement for more climate protection (handprint). Further information at www.climatechallenge.cc.
