We have recently mentioned how movies can have tremendous roles in shaping the discourse and affect public understanding of climate change.
Researchers found that after having seen popular climate-focused films, people became more concerned, more motivated and more aware of climate change. Not only big Hollywood’s productions, but also independent movies and short films as shown by the fact that more than 200 documentary films have been submitted to the 47th edition of the International Film Festival about the Environment EKOFILM.
And who is watching movies more than younger generations? The European Commission has therefore found a new tool to engage the youth: on 1 October it will launch the Film4Energy Challenge, a video competition that invites schools across the European Union to create a short film about the importance of saving energy.
Open to 12-15-year-old schoolchildren across the EU, the competition is not only aimed at stimulating creativity, but also a deeper consideration of the importance of saving energy in the fight against climate change.
Indeed, a report published by UNESCO concluded that we are not doing enough to ensure that what we learn helps us to address the environmental challenges that we face: education is not giving students sufficient knowledge to adapt, act and respond to climate change and environmental crises.
Increasing our energy efficiency is essential. The more we can reduce energy consumption, the more we lower our greenhouse gas emissions – and save on our energy bills. In July the Commission published a proposal to revise EU energy efficiency rules, seeking amongst other things to set a headline target of reducing primary energy consumption by 39 per cent by 2030 (and by 36 per cent for final energy consumption, relative to a baseline scenario). But there are many different ways in which savings can be made.
Through the Commission’s initiative students can produce a video up to 1 minute long about how they can save energy in their daily lives, highlighting the benefits of energy efficiency and encouraging the use of energy-efficient alternatives.
The winning videos will be disseminated on the social media channels of the Directorate-General for Energy and other official social media channels of the Commission and the best entry will also be awarded an energy day, organised at the winning school.
