For the third time this year, the K3 Prize for Climate Communication was awarded. Across three categories, the jury selected a total of eight projects that show: the gap between knowledge and action on climate protection can be bridged.
Since 2021, the K3 Prize has recognised projects and initiatives that manage to motivate people to take action on climate protection through innovative communication formats. More than 140 applications from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were submitted this year. 22 of them made it onto the shortlist. Eight of those were selected by a ten-member jury from the fields of science, culture, media, politics and society: they are not only exemplary cases of successful climate communication; they also show that the gap between knowledge and action, between awareness of the problem and solving it, can be bridged with the right ideas.
The projects received their awards on 13 July at the Museum für Kommunikation in Frankfurt/Main. The exhibition "Klima_X" runs there until 27 August. It too raises the question of how we can overcome our inaction on climate. From Frankfurt, "Klima_X" travels to Berlin at the end of August, to the Museum für Kommunikation there.
The K3 Prize is awarded in three categories and carries a total prize fund of 15,000 euros: per category, there is 4,000 euros for first place and 1,000 euros for second place. The award is supported by seven institutions from the fields of science and climate communication, including klimafakten.de, the Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA), the Deutsches Klimakonsortium (DKK), klimaaktiv, the Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz/Pro Clim and the National Center für Climate Services Schweiz (NCCS).
K3 Prize for Climate Journalism (donated by klimaaktiv)
journalistic or editorial projects and (implemented) concepts, reporting formats, article series, broadcast series, etc.
1st Prize: Activities of the Netzwerk Klimajournalismus Österreich
The Netzwerk Klimajournalismus Österreich aims to advance climate reporting in the country and has been supporting journalists since October 2020 in covering climate topics in their respective media. The newsletter, in which the network provides monthly updates on successful (and less successful) climate reporting in the German-speaking world, already has several hundred subscribers. The offering also includes monthly meetups featuring scientific and journalistic input, press briefings on climate policy events such as the annual UN climate summits, and workshops for up-and-coming journalists.
In May 2023, the network also published the Klima-Kodex — a "guideline for appropriate, clear and constructive climate reporting" aimed at editorial teams. Signatories so far include the Austria Press Agentur (APA), Heute, the Wiener Zeitung and DATUM, among others. By signing, they commit to giving climate journalism adequate space and sufficient resources, reporting on the basis of scientific facts using accurate words and images, not downplaying the climate crisis, and treating it as a dimension that cuts across topics and departments. Network spokesperson Verena Mischitz sees the Klima-Kodex as "a prompt to give the climate crisis more space in reporting".
In addition, a "Klimacharta" was developed together with the German Netzwerk Klimajournalismus, which can be signed by individual journalists — in Austria, more than 150 have already done so, and 450 across countries. Another collaboration with the German network kicks off in August: in the "5vor12 Klima-Briefing", experts offer insights into their climate research every Wednesday from 11:55 to 13:00 — covering everything from tipping points in the climate system to lobbying in the transport sector and degrowth. The aim is to inspire media professionals to pursue new investigations and to clear up misconceptions.
2nd Prize: CORRECTIV.Klima – lokal
Together with over 1,500 local journalists from across Germany, the climate desk of the foundation-funded, non-profit journalism platform CORRECTIV has been investigating pressing questions around the climate crisis since November 2021, hosting events, sharing knowledge and building networks. To this end, a team of climate and data journalists produces so-called "recipes" designed to make it easier for their colleagues in local journalism to report on relevant climate topics. "Many local newspapers don't have the capacity to carry out long-term, time-intensive investigations," explains Gesa Steeger, climate reporter at CORRECTIV. "That's exactly where we come in."
In addition to the relevant data — which typically goes down to district level — guidance on how to interpret it, and ideas for visualisation, the "recipes" also include quotable statements from experts, prompts for further investigation, and suggestions for events that can accompany publication. All the information provided by CORRECTIV.Klima may be used and published free of charge by local journalists under a cooperation agreement.
More than 300 articles in local and regional media have been produced this way over the past two years. They are based on nine "recipes" so far — covering water scarcity, climate change adaptation, agricultural subsidies, the heat transition, and the connections between municipal utilities and lobbying organisations for natural gas. Local journalists aren't simply handed a topic — they also request data themselves and contribute ideas for further "recipes".
Citizens' Prize of the KLIMA ARENA (Klimastiftung für Bürger)
in the category Talking, Storytelling, Participating — for communication formats from everyday life and the workplace, municipalities, communities and neighbourhoods
1st Prize: "packsdrauf" Solar Parties
The concept is a little reminiscent of a Tupperware party: people who run a solar installation invite interested neighbours round, show off their kit, share tips from their own experience — and hopefully, by the end, the guests decide to buy one themselves. Since August 2022, the neighbourhood initiative "packsdrauf" has been organising so-called solar parties. The necessary technical expertise comes from volunteer solar ambassadors. Anyone who, after the party, is considering installing a system themselves can get further advice from the Solarenergieförderverein Deutschland (SFV), which coordinates the information campaign.
The founders of "packsdrauf" are hoping for a multiplier effect. Scientific studies suggest that the likelihood of installing a solar system on your own roof increases the more such installations you see in your immediate surroundings. However, "many people don't realise how straightforward it is to install a solar system," laments Peter Klafka, who co-founded the project. "packsdrauf" aims to close that gap.
So far, around 400 people have trained as solar ambassadors through an online seminar. They have been in contact with over 3,600 guests at a minimum of 160 parties. The actual number is likely even higher, according to Susanne Jung from the SFV, as hosts are not required to register their event on the project's website. How many installations have come about as a result of the solar parties is hard to estimate. The hosts' experiences certainly sound promising: Peter Klafka, for example, invited six people round, five of whom later had a system installed.
Next, the SFV wants to bring municipalities on board. In Aachen, where "packsdrauf" started out, it's already possible to apply for funding grants for the solar parties.
2nd Prize (shared): "3-2-1 heiss!"
At the end of June and beginning of July, they were out and about again: the citizen scientists of "3-2-1- heiss!". For the third time this year, school classes and interested members of the public fanned out across the municipalities of the canton of Aargau to find out where it gets particularly hot in summer — and where you can cool down. Morning and evening, the volunteer researchers recorded temperature and humidity at frequently visited locations in their municipality, which they had previously identified together. After the project, the data is made visible to everyone on an online map.
In 2022, over 60 volunteers and seven school classes contributed around three million data points for a total of five municipalities. With the project, the start-up "catta" and the canton of Aargau aim to raise awareness of heatwaves, which are becoming increasingly frequent with advancing climate change. In densely built-up areas, they are particularly burdensome for the population: the difference between urban and surrounding rural areas can be as much as ten degrees on hot days.
In a workshop following the measurements, participants look at the results together with representatives from the relevant municipal administration and discuss possible solutions: where are heat adaptation measures most urgently needed, because certain spots feel particularly uncomfortable in the heat? Which surfaces should be unsealed first, which facades greened, which squares provided with water features as quickly as possible? Finally, the citizen scientists in each municipality vote for the most pleasant spot. In 2022, these included parks, riverbanks and, generally, areas with lots of trees.
Asphaltknackerinnen
They want to break up more than just concrete surfaces — they also want to break down the prejudices in people's minds: the Asphaltknackerinnen, who are campaigning in Zurich for greater biodiversity, climate protection and climate change adaptation. Behind the project are three women who support private individuals and companies in unsealing car parks, backyards, pathways and other surfaces, and replacing them with natural planting.
"Sealed surfaces have three major drawbacks," explains Isabella Sedivy, who leads the project on the technical side. "They heat up significantly in summer, water can't penetrate the ground, and they're dead." Together with her two colleagues, she advises people who want to unseal a surface, organises the necessary permits, connects surface owners with landscaping companies, and ensures that the removed construction rubble is disposed of properly. Surfaces particularly well-suited to unsealing, according to Sedivy, are those over which no heavy vehicles travel, where cars move only slowly — or simply sit parked.
Since the project launched in autumn 2022, the Asphaltknackerinnen have already unsealed 370 square metres — with a further 1,600 currently in planning. Depending on how the surface is to be used afterwards, they replace concrete and asphalt with gravel lawn, planted driveway gravel, grass pavers, or simply with wildflower meadows and trees. Commissions come from private individuals and companies, the city of Zurich, foundations and the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB).
Eunice Foote Prize for Climate Communication
in the category Knowledge, Context, Debate — for climate communication formats from science and research
1st Prize: Project "Klimaausreden"
There's no shortage of excuses for behaving in climate-damaging ways: I already eat vegetarian. Taking the train is such a hassle. What's the point of anything if China keeps building coal-fired power plants? And so on. In their project "Klimaausreden", Thomas Brudermann and Annechien Hoeben take on these and similar statements — and explain, with solid expertise and a touch of humour, what lies behind them from a psychological perspective.
Take the phenomenon of "moral licensing": because I recycle my rubbish, surely I'm entitled to treat myself to a short-haul flight, right? In reality, such relatively small climate-friendly everyday actions don't come anywhere near offsetting the climate damage caused by a flight. "Emotionally, though, it feels like it balances out," says Thomas Brudermann, professor of psychology at the University of Graz — an effect that has been well-documented in research.
On social media, at klimapsychologie.com and in his non-fiction book "Die Kunst der Ausrede", Brudermann unpacks the common mechanisms we so often use to wriggle out of doing more for climate protection. Central to this are the illustrations created by his colleague Annechien Hoeben, which bring the excuses to life. There's "Aber-Hans", for instance, who's always pointing the finger at others. Or "Traditions-Hanna", who absolutely refuses to be seen as an eco-hippie.
The often amusing illustrations, which can be used free of charge under a Creative Commons licence, play a key role in ensuring that the "Klimaausreden" project comes across without any moral finger-wagging. In any case, Brudermann and Hoeben believe that the fight against the climate crisis can also be fun: "Despite — or perhaps because of — the seriousness of the topic, humour is a central element for us in opening people's ears and hearts."
2nd Prize: Plant a SEEED
An estimated 1,003 tonnes of CO2 — that's how much was caused by the five concerts the band Seeed played at the Parkbühne Wuhlheide in Berlin in August 2022. On average, a single concert released as many greenhouse gases as 19 people in Germany produce in an entire year. This was calculated by the Berlin agency "The Changency" in their project "Plant a SEEED".
Based on the five concerts and in collaboration with the Berliner Hochschule für Technik, the agency published what it claims is the first study in Germany on the CO2 footprint of large-scale events. "Plant a SEEED" was, however, not only a scientific study but also a communications campaign: on each of the five concert days, an accompanying programme made various sustainability topics tangible — for the fans, the band and the organiser alike. There was, for example, a supervised bicycle parking area, vegetarian and vegan catering
