How can we promote energy inclusion? What are the most powerful messages you would choose and how would you communicate them? And if you could turn them into an awareness campaign aimed at teenagers like you, how would you go about it?
This was the challenge thrown down to around 100 students, all between the 7th and 12th year of studies, from the Cascais, Carcavelos, Mucana and Real Colégio de Portugal School Groups. These students came together at the ‘Your Energy: show your power!’ bootcamp, an EDP Foundation initiative to promote sustainability issues in schools, which took place on 20 December at the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon.
The winning proposal, presented by a team of students from the Carcavelos School Group, involves creating an immersive exhibition that, by using virtual reality, allows the public to experience living conditions in a home experiencing energy poverty. This team will now be responsible for selecting a project by Just a Change, a non-profit organisation that rebuilds homes for people in need, which the EDP Foundation will be supporting with a donation of 5,000 euros.
The young people with the three most creative campaigns will also become part of the Your Energy Ambassadors Programme, receiving a year of mentoring and coaching from the Newmanity School, a creative thinking school that devises training solutions and content, and which is also a partner in this bootcamp.
Throughout the day, the young participants were organised into teams and invited to reflect on the topic of energy inclusion, as well as propose creative communication initiatives, all with the support of 10 mentors, namely marketing and communication professionals from companies such as Microsoft, Google and EDP, among others. It is estimated that between 1.8 and 3 million people in Portugal are experiencing energy poverty, of which between 609,000 and 660,000 are the most severely deprived, according to the Portuguese National Long-Term Strategy for Combating Energy Poverty 2022-2050, approved in November.
Your Energy is an online platform organised by the EDP Foundation, which offers interactive lessons on sustainability issues, promoting awareness and understanding in the field of renewable energy, human rights and the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The EDP Foundation promotes various initiatives aimed at younger generations, with the aim of increasing knowledge and creating tools to help young people think about sustainability and fair energy transition in the future.
