Secondary school students to spend their autumn holiday on green mission

The press and those who are interested are invited to attend or take part in the discussion. Where: DTU Lyngby, Mødecenteret, room S01 When: Thursday 15 October from 19.00 to 20.30 (see detailed program for the evening - in Danish) Who: 45 elite secondary school students, Minister for Education Bertel Haarder and representatives from Novozymes, Statoil, Vestas Wind Systems and DONG Energy Organiser: Green Vision Camps are sponsored by Novozymes, Statoil, Vestas Wind Systems and DONG Energy Contact: Julie Mahler Nilsson: jun@bio.dtu.dk, tel.: 2324 2824 Julie can be contacted all week regarding interviews with the participants in the three three Camps. See the programmes for all three camps at www.grønvision.dk

In the autumn holiday the student organisation Green Vision from Risø DTU will focus on sustainable energy that can reduce climate change. The idea is to attract young clever people to scientific educations, such as the Master’s degree programme in sustainable energy at Risø DTU. This education aims to provide labour for the energy sector, which is so important when it comes to reducing the impacts of climate change.

”We say that we invest in the future by inspiring the present. If Denmark is to remain in front in terms of the development and use of sustainable energy technologies, it is essential that we inspire and inform the next generation of young people – and this must happen before they choose a higher education,” says Julie Mahler Nilsson, who is one of the driving forces behind Green Vision.

The basic idea of Green Vision is to let dedicated university students teach secondary school students about the latest research.

”We want to put theory into a practical context from the beginning. We believe it is important in order to get the young people’s attention,” Julie Mahler Nilsson explains.

Therefore the Green Vision Camps focus on how the future sustainable energy technologies can contribute to a continued growth in the community without destroying the environment for future generations.

Practical exercises
All three camps include practical exercises in which the students gain a broad understanding of the opportunities of each technology. The students are going to produce their own bioethanol; build and estimate the efficiency of fuel cells; work with programs to determine a wind turbine position and they are also going to climb a wind turbine.

Besides these practical exercises the students are going to visit Risø DTU, hear lectures and take part in workshops.

The students’ work culminates Thursday evening 15 October in a panel discussion, where they are joined by Minister for Education Bertel Haarder and several representatives from Danish companies within the energy sector .

The main discussion topic will be ”Future research in energy technologies”, focusing on where research should be located in the future and on how educational institutions can be involved.