for your events IDEAS

www.solargeneration.org

IDEAS FORYOUR EVENTS

1. WHAT ACTIVITIES, ANDTO ACHIEVE WHAT?

Firstly, for your project to succeed it is important that thecampus players know you and support your cause.

The aim is to raise public awareness, and inorder to do this it is also necessary to have the

funds to finance events for your projects.Sharing your success will help you to rein-force your contacts with the various play-ers, to involve them in your initiatives andabove all to make them aware of the factthat you are making steady progress.Learn how to celebrate your achieve-ments! It is essential that your team be

tight-knit in order to work effectively.Finally, it is always interesting to combine an

information point with your activities in order tomake them really visible.

When looking to organise an interesting event that canreach out to the maximum number of people, many teams find themselvesbereft of ideas and fall back on the usual standard pairing of “conference &stand”. It would better to try to imagine an event with some originality, adaptedto your aims and requirements.

2. ACTIVITIES TO RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS

Mostly, you will wish to organise events in order to raise awareness amongstyour fellow students about global warming and more specifically, aboutenergy issues, for example, clamping down on wasting energy. Variety isessential in order to have a powerful impact over time. In brief, abandon the“conference & stand mode”. For an event to be a success concentrate oncommunicating (see. ‘Guidelines: How to organise an event’).

3. A FUNDRAISING EVENTEvents should also be organised to finance the activities of your organisation.There are dozens of activities that can be adapted to each specific situation.For example, the sale of ecological products (targeting the Christmas market)or competitions (artistic, sports…)

4. EVERYBODY GATHERED TOGETHERTO CELEBRATE

Of course, being a green campus also means celebrating victories such asthe signing of a charter, the implementation of energy saving measures oreven the installation of solar panels. These events are also occasions for offi-cial ceremonies with your college administration. They should be organisedwith great care. Try to make them significant events. Examples would beimprovised theatre or a fair trade dinner.

5. HOW TO UNITE A TEAM? Amongst team members, it is absolutely essential that there is a united teamspirit, and there are certain ways of achieving this. For example, after eachevent/activity take the time to have a little debriefing meeting over a drink, orgo to environmental or sustainable development shows, festivals, exhibitions,demonstrations, films etc., together.

Of course you can organise an awareness event that will also enable you toraise funds. Don’t forget to take plenty of photos when you organise an event.

You have access to highly effective means of communication.Solar Generation covers the costs, although expenses can be high (solar bar, solar sound system). They are consequently reserved for large-scale events.Reference: The GUERILLA KIT by Morjane Baba (published by’ la découverte’)

LIST OF EQUIPMENT MADE AVAILABLE TO CAMPUSES BY SOLARGENERATION (depends on country, so check for availability):

n solar powered bar n solar powered sound system n climate change exhibition panels n energy revolution exhibition panelsn bannersn small wind turbines.

So here is a list of ideas – non-exhaustive - of interesting and fun activities, that can be developed, revised, transformed, evolved, or experimented with…

1. Bring a block of ice and let it melt on the campus and mark it with aflag that says “Global warming is in the here and now”.

2. Borrow some solar panels in order to charge mobiles and laptops.

3. Organise a “solar lunch” day with a solar powered oven, a crêpestand and a solar powered bar.

4. Assemble some sun squads (groups strolling about disguised as suns).

5. Make banners with designs and messages that can be hung from the university windows.

6. Organise a “human banner” (a banner whereby the letters or symbols are formed by people).

7. Form a large parade with people in disguise carrying symbols.

8. Set up a photo-messaging system.

9. Organise little solar vehicle races.

10. Bring in a solar cinema.

11. Set up a workshop to make solar torches.

12. As for the associations, ask your partner groups to come up withgames that can be played so that people can join in.

13. Organise a debate over coffee followed by a quiz to see who has been following the issue.

14. Show films.

15. Organise a competition and a photo exhibition.

16. Ask the university refectory if you can use paper napkins, cups andtable settings to get your message across.

17. For your competitive games, quizzes and tombolas give away original prizes (low-consumption light bulbs, solar lighters, multiplesockets, model windmills, a visit to a renewables installation site…)

18. Arrange a darts competition. A darts game (with darts shaped inthe form of windmills or suns) with the target being a coal-firedpower station or the building you wish to demonstrate about.

19. Arrange a competition to establish the most energy efficient hall of residence in order to encourage everybody to take action.

20. Install a barometer, designed and made by the Art students,to measure the conditions in the faculty. Leave it therethroughout the campaign, adjusting the arrow in accordancewith the progress of your project.

21. Increase eco activism in the lecture theatres.

22. Organise a Green Olympic Games amongst the various associations or societies that are taking action on your campus.

23. Provide two sets of bicycles, one with low-consumptionlamps and one with glow lamps so that people becomeaware of the energy required to illuminate the various facilities.

24. Organise an on-the-spot demonstration, with everybodywearing swimming costumes and carrying banners to high-light our vulnerability to global warming.

25. In order to raise money organise lotteries, tombolas, charitybazaars, auctions, garage sales or treasure hunts.

26. Organise a blind test on different issues.

27. Put together a questionnaire whereby people can win andaccumulate “solar points”; after a certain number of pointsprizes can be won.

28. Rig up two arches at the exit of the school - one labelled “Iwill consume more” and the other “I will consume less” - andask students to sign up to either one. Count the participantsand use this figure in order to petition.

29. Close all the blinds in order to convey the message “We must use the sun”.

30. Circulate a rumour about polar bears on bicycles.

31. Organise a theme-based graffiti competition or create a symbolic and permanent work of art.

32. For an official inauguration in addition to the obligatory handshake, don’t forget to cut the ribbon, take the photosand provide the cocktails.

33. Organise taxi bicycles in order to chat with the students along the way.

34. Create a symbolic image, such as boats on the campus, to illustrate rising sea levels.

35. Hand out “fortune cookies” with messages in them.

36. Collect signatures on a windmill-shaped petition and thenplant a field of windmill petitions.

37. Release a large number of biodegradable balloons.

38. Publish a journal dated 2050 that would illustrate a pseudopiece of news typical of that time (with games and drawings too).

39. Organise a “virtual walk” for your project by collecting videosor photos and displaying them.

40. Organise a “die-in” of polar bears or penguins.

41. Set up a giant hourglass on the campus to represent “time is running out”.

42. Make a “minute of noise”, with everybody shouting out the message at once.

43. Illustrate the impact of global warming locally (flooding, melt-ing glaciers, drought…) with, for example, everybody dressedup in boots, oilskins and in boats to illustrate the floods.

44. Ask people to commit to an energy-saving measure, make note of all the commitments they agree to and illustrate the total energy saved in this way.

45. Rename the various buildings and roads on the campus and officially inaugurate them.

46. Organise a communal event and finish off the evening with a concert on each campus.

47. Organise a big event involving all the campus players (staff, and other students).

48. Involve the president or director of a school, or another strategic person in your plans.

49. Consider images and ideas that can be achieved at night.

50. Organise a Climate Parade with a float and bicycles to carry a lot of people.

51. Create models of the campus and the buildings being targeted, illustrating the desired improvements and renew-able energy installations.

52. Erect a giant board on which everyone can write messages or draw pictures.

NOTES

TESTIMONIESDENISE MATIAS, SOLAR GENERATION PHILIPPINES

«Solar Generation showed me what I can do, as a Filipino and as citizen of

the world. The ADB AGM last year (2006) atHyderabad is testament to this. All SG gatheredthere are youth from all over the world, all com-moners in our own country yet by being togetherand by working together, we were a force toreckon with! In this case, power in numbers doesnot hold true but rather power in being one voicecreated the much-needed buzz which madeADB worried (and hopefully think twice of their energy projects as a develop-ment bank). I realized how important SG work is, in approaching strategicdecision-makers and in showing that the youth are concerned about and verymuch involved in the shaping of their own future. »

AKSHAY, 21 YEARS OLD, SOLAR GENERATION INDIA

«The Solar project was launched in India during my first year at univer-sity and I was there from day one, which was the project launch day!

One of the eventful activities in which I participated was the documentary Imade with six other Solar members. We filmed it for the Solar Generation HotSpot Tour, which was collecting pictures of the locations most affected by cli-mate change in order to bring them to the COP/MOP conference that washeld in Montreal in 2005. Our project was about the socio-economic impact ofclimate change on fishing and farming communities in the Indian state ofOrissa. The image of fields flooded by the rising sea level will remain with mefor a long time. This documentary is the first project that I did with Solar and ithelped us make the reality of climate change much more tangible. »

FRANK ERNST, 24 YEARS OLD, SOLAR GENERATION SWITZERLAND

«During the five years I’ve been active in the Solar Generation project,I’ve successively convinced politicians to implement climate-friendly

policies, installed hundreds of solar panels with young people from all over theworld, talked to people from every kind of background from behind a Solarstand, learned about the technical side of sustainable energy, organizedawareness events for other students, was part of a delegation that partici-pated in the conference on sustainable energy, and I wrote about all thoseexperiences in a blog.. »

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