Up the ramp with climate protection!

_Having fun reducing _CO₂ together. Creating and taking advantage of opportunities to do so. That’s exactly what the CO₂Create2Skate project is all about. Professor Jakob Hildebrandt, Ph.D., explains this using the example of a skate park.

Butfirst things first. The professor of industrial environmental protection and sustainability at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences received the 2021 eku Future Prize from the Saxon State Ministry for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment, and Agriculture (SMEKUL). The goal of the project is to work with young people to put carbon sequestration in skatepark elements into practice.

With this project idea—which emerged in collaboration with the Office of Education and Social Affairs of the City of Zittau, the startup Carbon Instead UG, and the large-scale project “Lausitz Natural Fiber Composite Materials: Decentralized Energy, Raw Materials, Resources, Recycling (LaNDER³), Professor Dr.-Ing. Jakob Hildebrandt was able to convince the award jury. With the prize money of 20,000 euros, the cooperative implementation phase can now begin.

In the“CO₂Create2Skate”project, young people are participating in a co-creation process to develop prototypes of carbon-storing skatepark elements for the Zittau Skatepark. Through the further development of the skatepark, they can creatively combine their commitment to climate protection with their enthusiasm for sports and recreational activities.

The initial plan is to develop two to three prototypes for carbon-storing skate park elements. These are to become a permanent part of the Zittau skatepark, thus actively contributing to climate protection. Learning to recognize environmental and resource connections together, experiencing material innovations with one's own senses, developing designs and transforming them into prototypes - all of this promotes a sense of self-efficacy, joint creative power and practical effectiveness in the face of the challenges of climate change.

Based on a sponsoring concept, in a second step, building materials companies that want to become pioneers in carbon storing materials will be invited to develop their own usable skate park elements and build them for the skate park.

Ultimately, the skate park is also intended to be a technology show park that demonstrates how we can work together to protect the climate: Together we can tackle climate protection and have fun at the same time. Natural fiber-based materials and biochar-based concrete will be pioneering work here and will be followed by further innovations.