YES! 2026 School Competition Launched Under New Management – ZEW Actively Involved Once Again

The nationwide high school competition “YES! – Young Economic Solutions” is entering its next round with renewed vigour: Under the leadership of the German Climate Foundation, scientific expertise on sustainability will play an even greater role and the competition will offer students in grades 10+ a platform to help shape the future. The young people will conduct real research, supported by scientists and specialists from practice at numerous institutions.

The competition started with two online kick-offs to launch the six-month mentoring programme with technical discussions and feedback from the participating researchers. ZEW has put forward three diverse topics for this round. The institute is pleased to once again host the regional final for the Southwest region, which will take place in Mannheim on 1 July 2026, with eight teams participating. Two of the school teams from each of the five regional finals across Germany will advance. On 30 September and 1 October 2026, the winning teams will then compete against each other in the grand final in Berlin.

YES! has long been an established fixture in the educational landscape, providing young people with the tools they need to actively shape the world of tomorrow. Whether it is building their own wind turbine, analysing local energy consumption or simulating climate policy scenarios – there are no limits to the ideas of young researchers. ZEW has been successfully involved as a scientific partner since 2017. Last year, the school teams supported by ZEW took the top two places. In 2026, the economic research institute will once again contribute its expertise with commitment.

We look forward to seeing many innovative solutions and are keeping our fingers crossed for all school teams.