How does the Mozdulj a klímáért campaign work in Hungary  ?

Nowadays, the campaign is well-known all over Hungary – in 2022, we celebrated our 10^th anniversary! Every year, we count around 500 groups participating and we are proud to announce that overall, nearly two million footprints have been collected! The vast majority are pupils from elementary school, which here includes grades one to eight, so students are aged between six and fourteen.

For several years now, we have offered a five-week period in autumn and the schools are free to choose how long they would like to collect green footprints. Whereas some schools collect footprints for one week, others make use of all five weeks – what a commitment! Also, many schools participate regularly, and the campaign has become an integral part of the schools’ calendars so that every student will learn about climate change and what we can do about it.

What is your role as as the campaign's coordinator?

Since so many children and schools collect Green Footprints every year, we design additional tasks that pupils can do collectively or on their own. This allows us to introduce a new topic every year, such as earth, energy saving or biodiversity. Of course, I will also gather the Green Footprints that have been collected by Hungarian pupils and send them over to Climate Alliance’s European Secretariat. Like this, they can travel to the next COP and remind politicians to take climate action – just as the children do.

One aspect that I am always looking forward to is sharing the photos with all participants and thus honouring all the creative ideas and extraordinary projects! For example, one teacher sewed a skirt out of old ties – what a fantastic upcycling idea! Some time ago, a girl was awarded three years in a row for her engagement. Seeing children and teachers with such high motivation gives me a lot of energy and I really enjoy working for the green footprint campaign!

What is special about the Green Footprint campaign in Hungary?

Each year, students and teachers surprise us with fantastic ideas on how they can contribute to making our planet a better place. We receive amazing drawings and photos of incredibly and complex collages, wonderful nesting shelters or insect hotel constructions, freshly planted trees or vegetable gardens. Also, children are enthusiastic about what we call ‘living pictures’ – this means they collectively arrange themselves in a way to build certain words or simple motives like flowers and so on. It looks impressive and is so much fun!

And finally, we have found a sustainable alternative to the Green Footprint stickers – stamps! Since many schools participate on a regular basis, the stamps pay off over time, both economically and environmentally.

What I also like about the campaign in Hungary is the openness of teachers towards environmental and climate questions. Environmental NGOs and teachers are well connected in Hungary and it is this cooperation that contributes to the success of the green footprints campaign.

Here are some impressions of the Green Footprint campaign in Hungary:

• photo albums: https://issuu.com/csabalajtmann/docs/mozdulj_eredmenyek_2020

• project website: http://eghajlatvedelmiszovetseg.hu/index.php/mozdulj-a-klimaert