The 1st prize of the Rotary Climate Action Award 2024 goes to the “Climate Change in Mountain Areas” project group of the Jakob Fugger Gymnasium Augsburg. The participants of this Erasmus+ project have been studying the effects of climate change in the mountains since September. The data analyses showed how much the mountain and protective forest in Balderschwang is changing and needs to be adapted, how the glaciers around Chamonix are melting and what consequences this has for the valley villages, and how fauna and flora in the different altitudes of the High Tatras are migrating further and further upwards or dying out. In his laudatory speech, the chairman of the jury, Prof. Dr. Rommel, particularly emphasized “the transdisciplinary orientation of the project with an astonishing level of expertise for this grade”. As the Rotary clubs are particularly committed to international understanding, the project was able to score points in the selection process with its “international orientation and the associated contribution to raising awareness of Europe, including making new friendships across national borders”.
