Community Energy Debate
Learning Objectives
1. Explore and understand the importance of energy in our everyday lives.
2. Recognise the environemntal impacts of energy use on our planet.
3. Learn energy conservation and sustainable practices one can adopt to promote energy efficiency and a cleaner planet.
Activity Development
1. To reduce our global carbon footprint, different people in your community need to work together.
2. Divide into 2 or 3 equal teams, with each team representing a different community group such as business people, governenment, civil society orgnisations etc.
3. Choose a specific issue in the community, such as subsidies for renewable energy or construction of a solar energy plant isntead of revamping the community's normal power company.
4. Each team will brainstorm and discuss the groups values and perspectives on the particular issues, and think about the ways that the group you represent can contribute to a solution that reduces the environemntal impact.
5. Hold a community debate where the teams make a presentation of their perspectives, and give room for different lines of thought from the different groups, weighing in on how practical the solutions are.
6. How hard was it to come up with solutions with the different groups presenting varying views? Remember that the end goal is to come up with solutions that would favorobly reduce carbon footprint and promote clean and renewable energy as sustainable options.
7. When done with this activity, keep exploring the other activities in the Energy Challenge Badge kit and work on them as per the requirements, in order to to earn yourself the badge!
Relevant information if you are facilitating
1. To earn the Ocean Badge, the participant must complete one of the 2 compulsory acticities presented at the beginning of each section, and also do at least one additional activity in each of the sections.
2. As the coding scheme that suggests the age-approriateness of the activities is only indicative, use your experience and judgement to select the most appropriate activities for your group.
3. You can incorporate additional activities that are not listed in the booklet, but which allow you still achieve the educational requirements.
Materials needed
- Manilla or Flip charts
- Marker pens