Climate Detectives

Education Level:: Junior Cycle; Primary Level; Senior Cycle

Are your students curious about our planet and how to protect it? Climate Detectives, a European Space Agency (ESA) project, invites students to investigate local environmental issues using tools like satellite images, climate data, or their own measurements. Through this process, students propose ways to monitor, reduce, or raise awareness of the problem, whilst also building valuable scientific and problem-solving skills.

Brown hills speckle the eastern part of Australia’s Lake MacKay in this satellite image.

How It Works

The project has three main phases:

Identify the Problem (September to November): Define a research question, identify data sources, and submit a plan.
Investigate (November to April): Collect, organize, and analyse data to draw conclusions.
Make a Difference: Take action, showcase your work, and share it with the Climate Detectives community.

For younger students, Climate Detectives Kids offers fun activities to explore Earth and earn badges.

Key Dates for 2026/2027

Kick-off Date: 7 September 2026
Climate Detectives Kids: Registration opens 7 September 2026 and closes 6 August 2027 . Participants will complete Earth Sciences related activities and collect badges. Suitable for up to 12 years old.
Climate Detectives: Registration opens 7 September 2025 and closes 2 April 2027. Teams will investigate a local climate or environmental problem using Earth Observation data. Suitable for up to 19 years old.

Get Involved

To learn more or get involved, visit the ESA Climate Detectives website and inspire students to explore and protect our planet.

ESA Climate Detectives website

Other Projects

View other projects

Moon Camp

Join the Moon Camp Challenge and design a project related to space exploration. Create anything from a scientific experiment or astronaut base design to a 3D printing model or virtual reality world. Choose a topic and format that suits your team and let your creativity shine.

Mission X

Learn how astronauts stay healthy in space and on Earth with Mission X. Through fun physical exercises and science investigations, students develop key skills while helping mascots Luna and Leo on their virtual journey to the Moon. Find out more and register

CanSat

Discover what it takes to create a real space project from start to finish. The CanSat competition challenges students in TY and Senior Cycle or equivalent to design, build, and launch a mini-satellite, all within the size of a beverage can. CanSat is a competition by the European Space Agency (ESA) for second level students. The challenge is to fit a satellite’s key parts—like power, sensors, and communication systems—into a beverage can. Students design, build, and launch their CanSat, collect data as it descends, and send it back to a ground station for analysis. CanSat 2025/2026 is now finished. Registration of interest for CanSat 2026/2027 is open – see below.