Germany’s 'Blauer Kompass' award: prize for outstanding projects for climate change precautions and adaptation

The goal of the 'Blauer Kompass' competition is to showcase innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions for addressing the impacts of climate change. On its 10th anniversary, the joint competition organized by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency set a participation record with a total of 488 entries.

All submitted applications were thoroughly reviewed and evaluated by experts. The German Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency nominated a total of 25 outstanding projects for the 'Blauer Kompass' Federal Award. The six award winners particularly demonstrate how various societal actors—such as municipalities, companies, schools, educational institutions, and associations in Germany—are making an important contribution to greater climate resilience. In doing so, they convinced the jury of eight experts, who selected five award winners. The additional 'Community Award' was determined through a public online vote.

Olof Palme Comprehensive School, Hiddenhausen (North Rhine-Westphalia)

Using sponsorship funds raised from a school run, the Olof Palme Comprehensive School has planted a climate-resilient forest and a mixed orchard – a living learning environment that stores CO₂, buffers heavy rainfall and enables lessons to be held outdoors.

The Olof Palme Comprehensive School (OPG) in Hiddenhausen has been committed to climate protection for many years. In the face of advancing climate change, there was a growing desire to make a visible contribution to adaptation: a forest that mitigates heat, stores water after heavy rainfall and promotes biodiversity – whilst also becoming part of everyday school life.

In October 2021, the school community organised a charity run and raised just under 33,000 euros. These funds were used to create a fruit orchard (from February 2022) and a climate-resilient forest with over 5,000 trees and shrubs (from January 2024) on the ridge of the Schweichelner Wald – planned and planted jointly by students and teachers, supported by experts in forestry and nature conservation. The hillside woodland acts as a natural water reservoir during heavy rainfall, thereby providing better protection against flooding for the neighbouring residential area.

The forest also serves as a ‘green classroom’ and offers a wide range of opportunities for use in lessons: biology lessons become more engaging, as students can observe the growth and development of the woodland over many years. In home economics lessons, fruit from the orchard meadow is freshly harvested and prepared; in German and art lessons, the woodland and fruit trees inspire pupils to write poems and sketch the fresh fruit blossoms.

The project’s successes are clearly visible: increased biodiversity on this former arable land and improved water retention on the slope. Furthermore, the trees and shrubs store more CO₂ than was possible under the previous agricultural use. Planned information boards are designed to keep walkers in the forest and on the school grounds informed at all times. Since January 2026, the OPG has been active in the Erasmus+ programme, and a partner school in Sweden is already considering adopting the project.

Quote: “Climate protection and climate adaptation succeed when people get involved with enthusiasm. The ‘Blauer Kompass’ national award has achieved exactly that within our school community and far beyond: it has raised the profile of our OPG Climate Forest and the orchard meadow and inspired people to get involved. In doing so, it has brought our mission statement – ‘Open to new insights – Positive in attitude – Acting together’ – to life.”

Biographical Film (in German)

Organiser: Olof Palme Comprehensive School, 

Location: Municipality of Hiddenhausen, County of Herford (Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia)

Project start: January 2021

Partners: Municipality of Hiddenhausen, Wald und Holz NRW, Gut Bustedt Biology Centre, Ravensberg Biological Station, German Forest Youth

Contact: Joachim Burger, j.burger@olofpalme.de

Website: https://www.opg-hiddenhausen.de/

Further information (in German)

Fulda District (Hesse)

In the Fulda District, a heavy rain early warning system alerts the authorities, emergency services and the public to heavy rain and flash floods with precise location-based information. The system combines the use of sensors, weather data and artificial intelligence.

Heavy rain can lead to flooding and flash floods within a short space of time. Smaller bodies of water and local low-lying areas in particular are not always adequately covered by large-scale weather warnings. For this reason, all 23 towns and municipalities in the Fulda District have joined forces under the leadership of the district administration. The aim was to develop an alert system that records regional rainfall and water levels in real time, identifies hazards at an early stage and provides concrete options for action.

Between 2021 and 2023, more than 180 internet-connected sensors (IoT) were installed on bodies of water, in canals and on public buildings. They transmit water levels, discharge and rainfall data in real time. This information is combined with radar data from the German Weather Service, analysed in the cloud and processed using artificial intelligence to generate forecasts and warnings. The system distinguishes between three warning levels: 1. intense heavy rain with waterlogging, 2. exceptional events with flooding, and 3. extreme heavy rain with flash floods. Warnings are issued via app, text message, email and, at the highest level, by telephone call. Depending on the situation, advance warning times range from 15 to 60 minutes.

During a heavy rainfall event in May 2024, the early warnings enabled fire services to respond sooner and, amongst other measures, to erect flood barriers. The public received information on the risk situation and specific instructions on what to do, such as not entering their cellars. The alert system thus not only provides more lead time for emergency response but also strengthens individual preparedness. The alert mechanism is regularly evaluated so that thresholds can be adjusted and false or excessive alerts avoided as far as possible. The experience gained in Fulda has also helped to promote similar projects in Hesse.

The next steps planned include satellite-based data transmission in the event of mobile network failures, as well as a digital real-time twin. This is intended to ensure that critical infrastructure facilities are warned even more precisely and at an earlier stage.

Quote: “With the heavy rain early warning system and timely alerts for heavy rain and flash floods, we want one thing above all else: to protect people – their homes and possessions and, above all, their lives. We are delighted to have received the national ‘Blauer Kompass’ award, and it motivates us. We will use this momentum and the prize money to make the system even better. We want to be able to issue warnings even earlier and, above all, protect vulnerable groups even better.”

Biographical film (in German)

Organising body: Fulda District 

Location: Fulda District (Federal State of Hesse)

Project start: November 2021

Cooperation partners: 23 towns and municipalities, fire brigades and municipal works departments, Spekter GmbH, EDAG PS GmbH & Co. KG, Office for Land Management, Hessian State Office for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology, Kassel Regional Council, Fulda Geodata Infrastructure Round Table, Falkenhahn & Partner Engineering Consultants

Contact: Ramona-Margarita Ruppert, wasserbehoerde@landkreis-fulda.de

Website: https://www.landkreis-fulda.de/

Further information (in German)

Stefan Bernickel’s farm, Gramzow (Brandenburg)

Farmer Stefan Bernickel manages a ‘sponge field’ that retains water in the soil and reduces erosion. Thanks to soil-conserving tillage and a climate-resilient crop rotation, the farm is better equipped to cope with drought and heavy rainfall.

The family-run farm is situated in one of the regions of Germany with the lowest rainfall. Long periods of drought are followed by heavy rainfall events, during which water on conventionally ploughed soils often runs off the surface or washes away valuable topsoil. In 2021, the farm’s management practices were therefore fundamentally overhauled. The aim is to develop the soil so that it can absorb and store rainfall, and make moisture available to the crops when rainwater is scarce.

Since 2024, the farm has stopped using the plough and cultivator for crop production and has adopted the soil-conserving strip-till method for sowing. With strip-till seeding, only narrow strips of soil are disturbed, leaving more than 80% of the soil surface intact. The farm also uses a climate-adapted crop rotation, supplemented by chickpeas, peas, grain maize and, in the future, sunflowers. This preserves a protective layer of mulch that shades the soil, slows its warming and reduces evaporation.

Soil biology is continuously monitored and analysed, including by counting the number of earthworms per spadeful. According to the farm, the earthworm population has risen from one to two to ten to 20 worms per spadeful. The earthworms’ burrows facilitate water penetration into the soil and help to channel it into the ground even during heavy rainfall.

Scientific partners are supporting the transition to the regenerative farming system and will carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the results by 2028. The transition has been largely financed through reduced operating costs: thanks to the drastic reduction in labour and machinery hours and the savings on diesel fuel, the transition effectively pays for itself.

Since summer 2026, the State of Brandenburg has recognised the farm as an official demonstration farm for conservation tillage. It now officially serves as a hub for knowledge transfer between agricultural holdings. A training room on the farm, as well as collaborations with research institutions and agricultural networks, are designed to facilitate exchange with other farms, experts and the public.

Quote: “Receiving the national ‘Blauer Kompass’ award is both recognition and motivation for us. It shows that climate adaptation in crop farming has long been a societal concern. When we store rainwater where it falls, we lay the foundation for sustainable agriculture, the protection of biodiversity, and the replenishment of our groundwater.”

Biographical film (in German)

Organiser: Stefan Bernickel Farm

Location: Municipality of Gramzow, Uckermark District (Federal State of Brandenburg)

Project start: July 2024

Partners: Julius Kühn Institute, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Brandenburg State Farmers’ Association, Horsch, SeedForward, OmniCult, Deutsche Saatveredelung AG (German plant breeding and seed company), Rapool

Contact: Stefan Bernickel, landwirt.bernickel@gmail.com

Website: https://www.landwirt-bernickel.de/

Further information (in German)

St Mauritius Secondary School, Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt

With ‘Campus Cultiva’, St Mauritius Secondary School has built a climate-resilient greenhouse with an aquaponics system – a learning space where students can gain hands-on experience of sustainable food production.

St Mauritius Secondary School uses its school grounds as a real-world laboratory to combine climate adaptation with STEM education, career guidance and sustainable nutrition. At the heart of the project is a closed-loop system that responds to increasingly scarce resources such as water and soil, and enables food production all year round, regardless of the weather.

At the heart of the project is a 22-square-metre greenhouse with an integrated aquaponics system. In this closed water cycle, the fish’s waste serves as natural fertilizer for the plants, whilst the plants purify the water. Thanks to the water cycle, rainwater harvesting and solar energy, the system operates in a resource-efficient manner and is largely energy self-sufficient, whilst being independent of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. The project contributes to climate adaptation by enabling year-round, weather-independent food production that is resilient to extreme weather events such as droughts or heavy rainfall. Furthermore, the project demonstrates how transport emissions from food can be reduced and how scarce resources can be managed more responsibly.

Students were involved in every stage of the project, from the planning to the construction of the greenhouse. Working as a team, they dug the foundation pit, erected the formwork and poured the concrete foundation. The students took on responsibility and acquired practical, hands-on and cross-curricular skills that go beyond traditional classroom teaching.

As the greenhouse is now in operation, students in Years 5 to 10 are studying the ecosystem in biology lessons, analysing water quality in chemistry lessons, exploring solar energy in physics and evaluating crop yields in maths. The harvest is processed in home economics lessons and in the school’s own student-run café. The impact of the project-based learning is to be evaluated after one year using questionnaires and an internal school skills matrix.

‘Campus Cultiva’ is to be expanded step by step: plans include outdoor and raised beds, a larger rainwater harvesting system and shaded recreational areas.

Quote: “With ‘Campus Cultiva’, we want to show that schools can be much more than just places of learning – they can be places where sustainable solutions to the consequences of climate change are developed, tested and put into practice. The national ‘Blauer Kompass’ award belongs first and foremost to our students. With great dedication, they have shown that climate adaptation is not just an issue for the future, but can be actively shaped today.”

Biographical film (in German)

Organiser: St Mauritius Secondary School

Location: City of Halle (Saale), Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt

Project start: August 2025

Partners: Bayer Foundation, the school’s Friends’ Association, Halle Energy Supply Ltd (EVH), Halle (Saale) Chamber of Skilled Trades, Halle-Dessau Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Contact: Pascal Riedemann, pascal.riedemann@ess-mauritius.de

Website: https://www.ess-mauritius.de/

Further information (in German)

Catholic University of Applied Sciences Munich, Munich (Bavaria)

A university course prepares midwives to advise on the health consequences of climate change and equips them with the knowledge and practical skills needed to provide climate-sensitive support during pregnancy, childbirth and the first years of life.

Heat, air pollution and extreme weather can take a toll on the health of pregnant women, newborns and families. Until now, midwifery training has lacked systematic content on planetary health, climate protection and climate adaptation. The project addresses this gap and recognises midwives as key actors in preventive healthcare and in building resilience among particularly vulnerable groups.

Since March 2024, the university module has been delivered at three locations and currently reaches between 20 and 40 students per year. It combines the scientific foundations of planetary health with profession-specific skills in climate protection, climate adaptation and climate-sensitive health counselling. Among other things, students explore heat-adapted organisation of daily life during pregnancy, air quality (particulate matter, ventilation practices, mobility) and risk assessment for newborns during extreme weather conditions. The content has been incorporated into counselling and care consultations.

In addition, the module-accompanying textbook ‘Climate-Sensitive Midwifery Practice – Contributions from a Planetary Health Perspective’ has been published. It serves as a reference work and supports the transfer of knowledge beyond the scope of the course modules. Furthermore, a group of students presented their Photovoice reflections at an international midwifery congress. The course is evaluated annually; this includes a questionnaire on climate-sensitive health literacy with a pre- and post-assessment.

In the medium term, the module is to be integrated into all bachelor’s degree programmes in midwifery in Germany and also made available through continuing professional development and further training. The approach can be applied to other healthcare professions, such as nursing and therapy.

Quote: “Health and climate adaptation go hand in hand. Climate change is already altering the conditions surrounding pregnancy, childbirth and our children’s upbringing. The national ‘Blauer Kompass’ award gives us the momentum we need to further strengthen midwives as key players in prevention, resilience, and sustainable practices in the healthcare system – to protect the health of current and future generations.”

Biographical film (in German)

Organiser: Catholic University of Applied Sciences Munich 

Location: City of Munich (Federal State of Bavaria)

Project start: March 2024

Cooperation partners: Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart and Heidenheim

Contact: Karolina Luegmair, karolina.luegmair@ksh-m.de

Website: https://www.ksh-muenchen.de/ 

Further information (in German)

Förderverein NaturGut Ophoven e. V., Leverkusen (North Rhine-Westphalia)

Following the destruction of NaturGut Ophoven by the floods of 2021, the Förderverein created the MutReiferei, a mobile, hands-on exhibition. Here, children and young people not only acquire knowledge, but also develop courage and gain a sense of self-efficacy for living with climate change.

The floods in July 2021 destroyed large parts of the NaturGut Ophoven environmental education centre, as well as the EnergieStadt children’s and youth museum in Leverkusen. This experience gave rise to a desire to continue educational work even under difficult conditions and to focus more closely on an often-overlooked consequence of climate change: the psychological strain on children and young people caused by the climate crisis. The ‘MutReiferei’ addresses this issue by combining environmental education with the cultivation of confidence and the ability to take action.

From autumn 2023, the Friends’ Association designed the mobile, modular, hands-on exhibition ‘Die MutReiferei – The Children’s Museum for Tomorrow!’ housed in eight shipping containers on the site of a former banana ripening facility in Leverkusen. Across an area of around 120 square metres, children aged four to twelve develop courage as a key skill for the future in four interactive zones: ‘KopfMut’ (exploring, asking questions, checking facts), ‘HerzMut’ (standing up for others and showing moral courage), ‘HandMut’ (shaping one’s own future), ‘OhrMut’ (listening, changing perspectives, giving space to quiet voices). The exhibition opened in August 2025.

Between September 2025 and March 2026, nearly 5,100 people visited the exhibition, including just under 3,600 children. The content was put into practice through 87 educational programmes and 54 children’s birthday parties. Feedback from teachers and standardised visitor surveys are being incorporated into the exhibition’s further development. The MutReiferei thus demonstrates how environmental education can be reimagined – in terms of both content and physical space – following an extreme weather event that has caused significant damage.

The exhibition concept has been published, enabling the modular container design to be adapted for use by other environmental education centres. Once the refurbishment of the main site is complete, the MutReiferei is to be developed as a permanent format and used as a blueprint for further locations. Plans include additional stations on heavy rain preparedness, urban heat protection and nature-based solutions.

Quote: “Climate anxiety paralyses – courage empowers us to act. We empower children to develop confidence and take action on their own. In doing so, they learn that courage can be cultivated. Receiving the national ‘Blauer Kompass’ award means a great deal to us and sends a powerful message: Climate adaptation begins not only with heatwaves and flooding – it also begins in the minds and hearts of the next generation.”

Biographical film (in German)

Organiser: Förderverein NaturGut Ophoven e. V.

Location: City of Leverkusen (Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia)

Project start: June 2023

Cooperation partners: City of Leverkusen, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, four Rotary Clubs, Büro für Sinn und Unsinn, Studio Neue Museen

Contact: Daniel Haase, daniel.haase@naturgut-ophoven.de

Website: https://naturgut-ophoven.de/

Further information (in German)

• Competition Start Date: January 20, 2026
• Application Deadline: March 27, 2026
• Online Voting: June 16 through June 23, 2026
• Jury Meeting: July 2, 2026
• Awards Ceremony: September 17, 2026

In June 2026, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) and the German Environment Agency nominated a total of 25 projects for the award based on an evaluation and selection process.

Between June 16 and June 23, the public had the opportunity to decide which of the 25 nominated projects would receive the Community Award of the 2026 'Blauer Kompass' Federal Award.

On July 2, 2026, a high-level jury of experts from the fields of politics, municipal umbrella organizations, business, research, communication, and youth participation selected one winning project per category from the remaining 24 nominated projects.

The 'Blauer Kompass' award comes with a cash prize of 25,000 euros for each winning project. The six selected projects were honored on Thursday, September 17, 2026, during a festive awards ceremony at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) in Berlin. In addition to the prize money, the winners receive a special trophy as well as support for their press and public relations efforts. Short films were also produced for all the winning projects, which the winners can use for their public relations efforts.

The awards ceremony can be viewed online via livestream on the BMUKN website.

The Community Award, which also comes with a cash prize of 25,000 euros, was awarded from among the 25 nominees. From June 16 to 23, 2026, an online vote determined which project received the most votes from the public and thus won the Community Award. Voters could cast one vote per email address for their favorite project. All 25 nominated projects can be viewed in the project database 'Tatenbank' (in German).

The applications received were evaluated based on the Federal Environment Agency’s six criteria for best practices in adaptation (in German) in order to nominate 25 projects for the 'Blauer Kompass' Federal Award:

• Effectiveness: Is the project successful or does it show promise in terms of mitigating and addressing the consequences of climate change?
• Robustness: Can the project cope with uncertainties regarding future climate change? Does the project have a positive impact even under various climate scenarios?
• Sustainability: Does the project contribute to the long-term environmental, social, and future-oriented development of society?
• Financial Viability: Does the project demonstrate a positive cost-benefit ratio?
• Flexibility: Can the project be adapted to changing conditions, further developed, or even reversed if necessary? Is it possible to modify the project at relatively low cost?
• Positive side effects: Does the project generate additional positive effects beyond its primary purpose of climate adaptation and precautionary measures regarding the environment and society?

If you have any questions about the 'Blauer Kompass' Federal Award and its competition, please feel free to contact the competition office:

Blauer Kompass Competition Office

Phone: +49 30 36 99 61 - 12

Email: blauerkompass@uba.de

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Hochkirchstr. 9
10829 Berlin
Germany

Here you will find press photos of the 2026 nominees.

Here you will find press photos of the 2026 winners.