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United Kingdom

ÖkoScoop Competition
 German meets Sustainability

Get ready for an exhilarating new challenge in the realm of sustainability research and journalism! Building on the success of last year’s debating competition, we are thrilled to launch a dynamic new hybrid format that merges hands-on investigative work with innovative digital storytelling in German.

Each team of four students will act as German-speaking researchers, exploring one sustainability topic relevant to their school community. As valuable preparation for the Individual Research Project (IRP), students will investigate how the issue is addressed locally, analyse and summarise their findings, propose improvements, and present their findings in a creative digital format . The project concludes with a live online press conference, where teams will present and discuss their work with other participants, applying their German in a real-world context.

Image of a boy taking a photo with a professional camera on the street with small illustrations as speech bubbles from the Gimagine Award Sustainability and Diversity Modules. @Goethe-Institut/Olad Aden

Who can participate?

If you are interested in our new competition format, please apply with a team of four to eight students from Year 11 to 12 (England & Wales) or Year 12 to13 (Ireland) or S4-S5 (Scotland), all at least in their 4th year of learning German. 

Please note that German native speakers are not eligible to participate in the competition due to matters of fairness.

How is the competiton structured?

The new competition format is divided into three phases.

To help students prepare for the competition and ensure they can confidently use journalistic and scientific vocabulary, present their own projects, and engage with others about theirs, the Goethe-Institut will provide each research team with a comprehensive resource kit.

Please note that the timeframes have been designed generously to give you flexibility—especially in case you have other priorities or scheduled events. For Phase One, we expect no more than two hours of engagement. For Phase Two, schools are not expected to use the entire weeks provided.

Judging Criteria for the Competition

Both the research phase and the final presentation will be judged, with points combined from both phases.
Several prizes will be awarded in different categories such as:
  • Clear structure and teamwork in the research process
  • Creativity and originality of the final product
  • Effective use of digital tools and AI
  • Imaginative and thoughtful approaches to solving the problem
  • Spontaneous speaking — with a focus on communication, not perfect grammar
Remember, the focus is on expressing ideas freely in German, rather than perfect grammar. We want to encourage confident and natural speaking!
 

Learning Objectives of the Competition

  • Support preparation for the Individual Research Project (IRP) by helping students develop essential research skills. Through structured team-based inquiry and analysis, participants gain experience in initiating and conducting research, summarising findings, and presenting them in written and spoken German—skills directly applicable to the A-level speaking assessment.
  • Apply German language skills beyond the classroom by engaging with sustainability topics relevant to the school community.
  • Provide students with the opportunity to reflect and actively engage within their school community, fostering an understanding of how to promote social justice and sustainability at the local level.
  • Develop digital literacy by using tools to present research findings in written German.
  • Strengthen spontaneous spoken German through peer-to-peer discussions and exchanges about their projects.

Questions?

We are delighted to hear from you!

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