2021 YES! Student Competition Starting at ZEW
Dates and NewsFirst Round for the Southwest Region Kicks Off in March
What will be left of our houses, savings and pensions in times of low interest rates? What distinguishes sustainable start-up companies from other firms? How can refugees be successfully integrated into the labour market – especially in light of the pandemic? How can we get young people excited about economics? These are some of the questions that will be tackled by the student teams participating in the 2021 YES! – Young Economic Summit, Germany’s biggest school competition on economic issues. Researchers of ZEW will mentor and support the students during the competition.
In a first kick-off round, the students from the Southwest region (Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse) have the opportunity to explore their topics in depth together with ZEW researchers. They will then have four months to do their own research and develop answers to economic issues. At the regional finals on 6 July 2021, three winning teams will be selected to compete at the national finals.
This will be the seventh time that the young generation has developed creative solutions within the framework of the YES! competition. ZEW has been participating in this competition since 2017 and helped one of its teams win the second place at last year’s finale after winning first place for three years in a row – the bar is set high.
In 2021, ZEW researchers will be supporting five student teams in tackling the following topics:
- New Challenges Due to COVID-19 and Lockdown Measures: How Can We Strengthen the Integration of Refugees?
Katia Gallegos Torres; Paul Berbée: Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium Frankenthal (Rhineland-Palatinate)
- Gründerzeit now! Through Innovative Start-Ups to Green Economy
Hannes Marks; Marius Berger; Julian Dörr: Berufliches Schulzentrum Leonberg (Baden-Württemberg)
- “My House, My Savings Account, My Retirement”: Saving for the Future: Dealing with Low Interest Rates
Karolin Kirschenmann; Jesper Riedler: Johann-Philipp-Bronner Schule Wiesloch (Baden-Württemberg)
- “My House, My Savings Account, My Retirement”: Saving for the Future: Dealing with Low Interest Rates
Karolin Kirschenmann; Jesper Riedler: Mons-Tabor-Gymnasium Montabaur (Rhineland-Palatinate)
- Generation Greta: Ecology vs. Economy? Getting Young People Interested in Economics
Karla Schneider-Dörken; Lisa Rath: Robert Bosch College Freiburg im Breisgau (Baden-Württemberg)
About YES!
The YES! – Young Economic Summit, a joint project by the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics and the Joachim Herz Stiftung, is one of the biggest German school competitions aimed at getting young people to engage with global economic and social issues. Over the course of a six-month mentoring programme, student teams tackle pressing issues facing future generations. The students come up with their own solutions to global economic, ecological and social problems and present them as part of a conference for other students, also known as the “YES! – Young Economic Summit”. Researchers from various (Leibniz) research institutions support the students by providing their scientific expertise. The regional qualification round for teams from Southwest Germany will take place as a digital event on 6 July 2021 at ZEW in Mannheim. The best teams from five different regions will then face off against each other at the YES! national final in Hamburg in September 2021.
