History

Emerging from scholar projects at Schiller Highschool Münster pupils, teachers and former students founded the association Solar Net International to support sustainable intercultural youth exchange projects. To give young people from different cultures, countries and social backgrounds a common platform to get to know and exchange each other, we founded the internet project www.solarnet.tv in summer 2005.

Today Solar Net is a registered organisation in Germany and Poland with members from more than 40 different countries all around the globe.


Watch the statute of Solar Net International

2004

  • Visit of the Solar-Media Group of the Schillergymnasium in Baumgartsbrunn, Namibia, supporting renovation and reconstruction works in the school village, production of films, posters and presentations to acquire further sponsorship for Baumgartsbrunn
  • Visit of the Namibian teacher Bertus Böck in Münster. Information meetings on the subjects of “education and care outside of school” and “renewable energies”  
  • Fundraiser in cooperation with the leading local newspaper WN (“Westfälische Nachrichten”) for the school village Baumgartsbrunn: 45,000€ were donated.
  • 2005 gobabeb.jpg

  • Second visit of the Solar-Net-Media Group in Baumgartsbrunn. Several activities of the pupils together with Namibian pupils, planning of renovation works in the school village, among them the installation of solar-thermics, support for the integration of street children form Katutura/Windhoek into the school village
  • Foundation of the association Solar Net International r.a. with teachers, pupils and former pupils of the Schiller high school, and further interested people. Its aim is a global network of young people on the subjects of renewable energies and media education - Read the statute
  • Launching the website http://www.solarnet-international.org
  • Visit of the Headmaster Paul Sauerwein of the Primary School Baumgartsbrunn in Münster, development of detailed plans for the renovation works in the school village, considerations concerning the education of social workers in the school village
  • Participation in the competition “Climate–Alliance School” (Climate-Alliance r.a. and German Post World Net) 2005, winning a donation of 4800€ for renovation jatropha1.jpgworks of solar thermics in Baumgartsbrunn and the extension of communication devices
  • Establishment of contacts with the Ghanese Environmental Organisation RENERG. Visit of association members and pupils from Münster to study the project “Jatropha-oil as an alternative fuel (compared to rapeseed-oil)” in Ghana, July 2005
  • Lectures on the main topics of renewable energies in Namibia and Ghana
  • Production of the film “Journey to Jatropha”, a 20-minute documentary on renewable energies in Ghana
  • Single payment of the annual salary of an employee of RENERG for environmental work at schools in Ghana on the subject of renewable energies
  • Production of films for the project “Münster - a global city”. The film “John Keise – a short portray” was awarded the first prize and an additional special award by the Bishop of Münster at the Youth Film Festival in Marl
  • October 2005: first meeting of the polish solar net group in Katowice/ Poland

2006

  • February: Third meeting of German and Namibian pupils in Baumgartsbrunn: solar-powered boiler project by German and Namibian pupils, film productions with pupils form Baumgartsbrunn, further renovation works, interview of German and Namibian girls   nordsuedklein.jpg
  • The special award “Girls’ Worlds of World Hunger Relief” is received by the German-Namibian girls’ team, which produced a book of interviews during the exchange in February. The award was presented by the Federal President of the Republic of GermanyHorst Köhler in May 2006
  • Winner in the competition “Wenn das Schule macht” (“If this sets a precedent”) for the concept of media cooperation between Münster and Katowice, presentation of the award by the Department for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Polish Ministry of Education
  • May: Winner of the prize “Political North-South Advancement and Development”, awarded by the city of Münster
  • Polish-german Solar Net Youth Media seminar in Katowice/Poland with students from Poland and Germany
  • October: Christoph Lammen socializes with new partners in Vietnam: ausstellung.jpgSince then the business students Dinh Viet Hai Thy und Trang Bui from Ho -Chi -Minh- City work online together with Solar Net International in the Vietnam-Forum
  • November 2006: first price for the film "good coffe" from Daniel Filipek and Andrzej Krawczyk at the cellphone-films festval in Łódź
  • 9th - 23rd november: premiere of the travelling exhibition "We are the children from Baumgartsbrunn" in the LBS-West bank in Münster
  • 14th - 25th november: visit of five students and two teachers from the Institute for Home Science and Agriculture Baumgartsbrunn in Münster
  • 28 november - 11th december: visit of the two teachers Thusnelda Dhausas and Gabriel Khoeseb from the Primary School Baumgartsbrunn in Münster: media training, workshops together with students from the Schillergymnasium to prepare the common filmproject "About those two"
  • 19th december: the german association "Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI)" (Association of German Engineers) gives a prize to those students who took part in the projects "Jatropha oil as a renewable energy in Ghana" and "Solar cooking in Baumgartsbrunn/Namibia 2006"

2007 

  •  22. january: 4th Schoolexchange of the Schillergymnasium Münster and Baumgartsbrunn: 17 students and teachers from Münster visit the Vocational and Primary School in Baumgartsbrunn to work on common projects with the namibian students. Part of the projects was amongst others a Solar Experients workshop, a dance workshop and the renovation januszmarth.jpg of hostel interior
  • 2nd -17th april: Realisation of the Film-Project "About those two" together with german, polish and namibian students in Baumgartsbrunn; Cooperation with the college of the arts in Windhoek
  • Begin of april: The major german aid organisation BILD hilft e.V. berlin.jpg"Ein Herz für Kinder" announced to support our project "Hostel Renovation" in Baumgartsbrunn.
  • 20-05-2007: The Solar Net Youth Group is announced as UNICEF Junior Embassador in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt 
  • June: Solar Net  and the Schillergymnasium are priced with the the national quality seal for their project “Global Learning”. The price was given by Etwinning, an e-learning initiative of the European Union. '
  • 13th of august: the renovation work of the hostels in Baumgartsbrunn starts, Solar Net Manager Mubasen Khoeseb reports regularly on our website.
  • 17th september 2007: more than 20 Solar Net members from 6 different nations come together in Münster for the first Solar Net Youth Seminar. For two weeks they work together on issues such as Renewable Energies and Media and explore together Germany
  • 28th of september: Alternative Nobel Prize Award Winner Bianca Jagger visits the Schillergymnasium Münster and discusses with students and participants of the Solar Net Youth Seminar about Renewable Energies and Human Rights. 
  • bianca Jagger25th of september: the International Youth Group from Solar Net receives the 3rd prize of the scholar competition from the  FOCUS magazine/ Germany. The award is appreciating  our  international youth  network that started from the Schillergymnasium three years ago  and the recent project, the filmproject "About those two..." 
  • 29th of october: launch of the exhibition "Solar energy in Baumgartsbrunn, Namibia" in Münster (Germany)
  • 27th of september: world premiere of "About those two" in the CINEMA, Münster (Germany) with project partners from Namibia, Poland and Germany
  • 16th of december: polish premiere of "About those two" in the Cogitatur Club in Katowice (Poland)
  • 26th of december: namibian premiere of "About those two", broadcasted nationwide on NBC
  • December 2007: Solar Net Polska becomes a registered association in Poland: first official meeting of Solar Net Polska; beginning of the official cooperation with gimnazjum nr 2 in Katowice

2008

  • 4th - 18th of february: 5th Schoolexchange between Schiller Highschool (Germany) and PS Baumgartsbrunn (Namibia): opening of the newly renovated hostel (by Bild hilft e.V. "Ein Herz für Kinder") through education planner Mr. Hinanifa"; start of the project "virtual accessible village Baumgartsbrunn"
  • April: first Solar Net radio show hosted at Studenckie Studio Radiowe EGIDA
  • April: In cooperation with the organisation "InWent" Solar Net opens a forum for the participant of the NRW-governmental programme "Konkreter Friedensdienst"  grouppicture_big2_300.jpg
  • July: 33 people from 9 nations meet together in Münster/ Germany and Aleksandrów/ Poland for the official Solar Net Youth Seminar 2008
  • 13th september: Solar Net manager Namibia Mubasen Gabriel Khoeseb dies in a tragic accident. Solar Net members and friends from all over the world are mourning. With him we lost one of the most active and most passionate members. His good character will forever shape Solar Net and be commermorated in the forum we opened for him after his death.
  • October: A first Solar Net Junior Board short meeting takes place in Münster Germany with pupils from Poland and Germany.
  • October: Solar Net members from 6 nations created an exhibition with the title "Learning in ONE World" which was first opened in Schillergymnasium Münster on 16th october.
  • October: Solar Net starts with a one year educative program for intercultural learning and multimedia education that will include 30 workshops in North Rhine-Westphalia/ Germany.