Kick-off date: 22 September 2023-

Suggested for: up to 19 years old

Are you curious about our home planet and what we can do to protect it? Join Climate Detectives, explore your local environment and make a difference in understanding and protecting Earth.

This school year we have exciting updates and a new beginners category – Climate Detectives Kids. Complete activities focusing on climate or planet Earth, collect evidence and earn your Detectives badges!

Also the more advanced category is expanding in scope: you will have the opportunity to focus your investigations not only on climate but also on environment and sustainability on Earth. Identify your research question, collect your data, and share your results with the Climate Detectives community. At the end of the project, teams selected by the National Organizers will be invited by ESA for a learning and celebration event to take place in June 2024.

Check out the amazing work done by the Climate Detectives Teams in 2022-2023 and visit the project gallery.

Climate Detectives is run by ESA in collaboration with its ESERO network.

The River Dodder Detectives, Ireland Showcase – The team investigated how Climate Change has affected the river Dodder’s ecosystem, using indicators such as pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, presence of the mayfly and stonefly.

Climate Detectives is a European Space Agency school project for students between the ages of 8 and 16 years.  Teams of students are challenged to identify and investigate a local climate problem using real satellite images, historical climate data, or even their own measurements.  Based on the conclusions of their investigations, students are called to ‘make a difference’ and propose a way to monitor, reduce, or raise awareness of the problem.  Participation in the Climate Detectives project helps to develop Scientific and 21^st Century Skills.

The Climate Detective project will launched in September and is open to all students aged between 8 years and 19 years

Climate Detectives has three phases as follows:

Phase 1: Identify a Climate Problem (September to November)

• Engage the students
• Identify the research question
• Identify the Earth observation data to be investigated
• Submit the investigation plan

Phase 2:  Investigate the Climate Problem (November to April)

• Collect data
• Organise and manage data
• Analyse data and draw conclusions

Phase 3: Make a Difference

• Decide on any actions to be taken
• Showcase the project
• Share the project with a wider audience / Climate Detectives community

For more information on how to take part click here for the ESA Climate Detectives Website