Renewable energy challenge regional finalists announced

The South Africa Climate Change Champs Renewable Energy Challenge 2023 is proud to announce the regional finalists that will advance to the national round of the competition.

These climate change champions will be representing their school and province at the national judging round where they will present their projects at the Enlit Africa 2023 conference in Cape Town (16 – 18 May 2023) in hopes of being crowned the national winners.

After the regional judging rounds that took place between 18 – 21 April 2023 in the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape, the following regional finalists, in no particular order, are:

Eastern Cape

 

• Changemakers – Walmer Secondary School

Northern Cape

 

 

 

• Green Queens – St Anna Private Secondary Private School

Western Cape

 

 

• Green Divas – Diazville High School

The competition was officially launched on 23 January 2023 and welcomed online entries up until 31 March 2023 from Grade 9 – 11 learners at Climate Club host schools in the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape provinces. Learners were encouraged to imagine how renewable energy can be used to impact their communities and dream up what a sustainable future would look like for them as the future generation.

To do this, participants had to select a category for which their renewable energy solution had to address and a method of entry to demonstrate their solution. The categories spanned across food, crime and safety, health and wellness, transport and mobility, and home solutions. For the method of entry, participants showcased their artistic and technical abilities in the form of a graphic or comic novel, technical model, visual art piece or poster, and video story tale.

“The purpose of the competition is to provide an accessible platform for youth voices on renewable energy to be heard and by amplifying the voices of the youth, we hope to empower them to become active citizens in responding to climate change and to be aware of the opportunities that exist for their communities for a sustainable future,” says Lindiwe Johnson, Senior Skills Development Analyst at GreenCape.

As such, the main objective was to inspire the youth to think of problems affecting their homes, schools and broader community and develop a project that shows how renewable energy can solve and address these issues.

Since then, 20 submissions were put forward from the participating schools which saw the above-mentioned finalists emerge victorious and progress from the regional judging rounds. Participants, in their project teams, competed against each other regionally by presenting their projects on their respective regional judging day. This was followed by scoring and deliberation by an expert panel of judges from the respective regions who then selected the regional finalists.

The judging panel was made up of members from community groups, local government and municipalities, and various interest groups. In the Eastern Cape, judges hailed from Catwalk Youth Development Agency and Masifunde Learner Development.

The Northern Cape was represented by members from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & Environment, Namakwa District Municipality, Mainstream Renewable Power, and Surplus People Project.

In the Western Cape, the judging panel welcomed representatives from Contour Enviro Group, Ikamva Youth, Saldanha Bay Municipality, Umoya Energy, and West Coast Fossil Park.

For the next stage, regional finalists will embark on an exciting trip to Cape Town where they will attend educational workshops, go on site visits to renewable energy facilities and institutions, and exhibit and present their projects at Enlit Africa at the GreenHub on 18 May 2023 from 10:00 – 12:30. Those wanting to attend can register to attend the Enlit exhibition space for free here.

This climate change initiative is co-funded by the European Union, implemented in partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, presented by GreenCape and supported by skills development partner WESSA.