(German title: Mit Mikroalgen gegen den Klimawandel – Do it Yourself (MikaDo))

Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time. The last four years have been the warmest since temperature records began, and 2019 was the second warmest year ever. CO₂ levels are also rising sharply, having increased by 146% compared to pre-industrial times. The local effects of climate change, such as heavy rainfall events, heatwaves, shifts in vegetation periods, etc., have long been felt in all areas of society.

Despite this awareness, there is still insufficient knowledge about how the public can be optimally involved in sustainability-related research. This is why the MikaDo project (“With microalgae against climate change - Do it Yourself”) was initiated. As part of science outreach activities (à SDG 4 “Quality education”), the aim is to demonstrate the contribution that microalgae can make to climate protection (à SDG 13 “Climate action”).

Science outreach and science communication are requirements that have become a fixed element of major research programs such as clusters of excellence or collaborative research centers (CRCs). This is primarily about public relations work, i.e. the participation of the non-specialist public in subject-related findings. Such modern knowledge generation in basic research has hardly been noticed by the public to date. The reason for this is that the technical issues are often unknown, inaccessible or incomprehensible to people outside the scientific community. This results in the frequently criticized “gap” between science and society, which is characterized by a lack of exchange in educational policy debates.

How can microalgae be used as a climate protection measure? What quantitatively measurable contribution can they make? What are the differences between microalgae and cyanobacteria? And what is a biofilm? Questions upon questions, but what is the best way to address these and other questions in the context of science outreach programs for the public and, in particular, students? To answer this research question, some conceptual and organizational measures must first be initiated.

As part of a cooperation between the Institute for Science Education at the University of Koblenz Landau and the Chair of Bioprocess Engineering at TUK, subject-specific and subject-didactic competencies are combined to solve these problems. To this end, the Chair of Bioprocess Engineering is developing a plug-in box system for photobioreactors that enables the do-it-yourself cultivation of microalgae under various conditions. The didactic preparation in the context of science outreach programs is implemented by the Department of Natural and Environmental Sciences. This intensive collegial cooperation between the specialist discipline and subject didactics should make it possible to present subject-related research topics in an appropriate way for laypeople and can thus lead to a better awareness of sustainable topics among the population.