A group of sixteen young people who care about climate change joined the established Challenge Europe Climate Advocates to work on the second year of projects in the Czech Republic in 2009/10.

This colourful group includes a lawyer, a student of Economics, an eco-counsellor, a risk analyst in a bank and a furniture designer. The two weekend meetings which took place in an ecological hotel in Prague and at an environmentally friendly educational centre in Oucmanice in May and June turned out to be very useful in building a solid base for getting into climate related topics. The advocates met with climate experts Kateřina Kociánová and Ondřej Pašek, with whom they discussed ‘hot issues’ related to international climate negotiations and the upcoming COP 15 conference. Also, they kicked off some creative ideas on how to reduce CO2 emissions which they want to develop further during this summer.

Will ordinary Czech citizens soon be reading about climate change while drinking beer? What can we do about the low energy efficiency of student dormitories? Can I make a positive difference to climate change simply by choosing the food I eat carefully? What can be done for the wooden houses in the country? What is 350.org and how do I join in?

These are the questions to be discussed by experts and partners during the next meeting in September.