Pupils develop concepts for the Indeland in the JugendIndeLab

The second year of the digital zdi school laboratory JugendIndeLab has celebrated its graduation. The Parliamentary State Secretary in the NRW Ministry of Science, Klaus Kaiser, was enthusiastic about the projects and talked to the young people about their experiences. An exemplary project.

“The JugendIndeLab was designed as a virtual school laboratory from the start. We would not have thought at the time that it would be so virtual.” With these words, Prof. Dr. Josef Rosenkranz, Prorector for Studies and Teaching at the FH Aachen, what is special about the second edition of the YouthIndeLab to the point. At the final presentation, it became clear that the idea of ​​the project can be excellently implemented in the digital world: At a video conference, around 50 students from five schools in the region showed how they imagine their future in Indeland.

Award ceremony after project presentation

The students of the Europaschule Langerwehe presented a concept for the conversion of the Weisweiler power plant, which currently not only produces electricity and district heating, but is also an employer for 1300 people. With the end of lignite mining in the Rhenish Revier, the complex is no longer needed - for the students from Langerwehe this was the impetus to develop a concept for a hydrogen center at this location. You want to use a photovoltaic system and a wind farm to generate renewable energy. These in turn are to be used to produce hydrogen through electrolysis, which could be stored in tanks on the site. "We not only want to create a climate-neutral power plant, but also to preserve as many jobs as possible," emphasized the students. The fact that they have taken an interesting path with their concept is not only proven by the first place they won at the final event of the JugendIndeLab, but also the invitation to present their ideas in the political committees of their home town.

In addition to the Europaschule Langerwehe, the groups from the Waldschule Eschweiler, the Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium Aachen, the Episcopal Liebfrauenschule Eschweiler and the Haus Overbach Jülich grammar school also presented the results of their project work. These ranged from hydrogen mobility in combination with car sharing to leisure concepts on Lake Inde and biogas production through algae plantations to a futuristic city on floating islands. A jury finally made the decision about the award - a "difficult decision", as Prof. Eva Vitting and Prof. Dr. Markus Grömping for the jury emphasized that all groups had worked creatively but also in a result-oriented manner. Second place went to the Episcopal Liebfrauenschule, and the Aachen high school students of the Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium came in third.

"Put MINT in social and economic contexts"

Klaus Kaiser, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Science NRW, was impressed by the projects after the discussion with the participants: “For me, the JugendIndeLab is a good example of how young people can get involved in shaping our world. The student groups have integrated current scientific findings and STEM knowledge from the region into their project work. In this way, they were able to place STEM in a social and economic context. The Indeland project is a wonderful example of how zdi works.”