Hotspot Forest

By Susanne Schramm and Jaroslav Faulhaber-Surböck

With the project “Hotspot Forest: The Science Fire Brigade!” (“Brennpunkt Wald: Die Wissensfeuerwehr!”), the Vienna University Children’s Office supports preventive measures to avoid forest fires in cooperation with scientists and experts from various fields. The importance of the forest in Austria and the dangers of forest fires are discussed with children aged 8 to 12 and placed in a context that is relevant to them. It explains how fires start and what can be done to prevent them. The content is communicated in various formats in a playful and realistic way, making it easier to understand for children and young people.

The project consists of a mix of activities dealing with forest fire prevention and developing awareness of the challenges of forest protection in the light of future climate change. The measures were embedded in our different Children’s University activities in 2024–2025: Vienna Children’s University, Children’s University on Tour (in Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland), Children’s University DOCKed and kinderuni.online.

We would particularly like to draw attention to the following offers:

• Together with scientists and experts we have created a research package on kinderuni.online that includes teaching materials for elementary school, secondary level 1 and online contributions on the topic of “forests & forest fires”. In addition, the teaching materials also include exciting games and group activities for the whole school class. The research package is mostly in German, but some content is also available in English and Arabic.
• Simple experiments and games about forests, forest fires or all measures that help prevent forest fires were submitted by teachers, pupils, students and educators as part of a public competition. These Science Snacks are now online available as didactic-practical concepts for school lessons together with other teaching materials.
• Our animated film highlights the challenges in forests using age-appropriate information and presents ways to better protect forests. German and English subtitles are available.

It is very valuable to bring together different groups of people in the science fire brigade – children, educators, students, scientists, experts and others. We are convinced that, together with all the stakeholders in the project, we are making an important contribution to climate awareness in Austria and beyond by drawing attention to the challenges in forests and pointing out possible solutions. Join us on our mission to prevent forest fires!