The results of the Ecological Drawing and Video Clip Contest among children and youth were summed up in Minsk
The winners of the drawing and video clip contest among students of schools – partners of the Green Schools educational project in Belarus – were announced in Minsk on the eve of Earth Day. The contest theme coincides with this year’s Earth Day theme - Restore Our Earth!
The main goals of the contest were to develop a responsible attitude towards the environment among children and youth, as well as to promote ecologically oriented education.
“Through the children’s eyes we saw the relevant issues, which our young generation feels concerned about and which we have to solve for the sake of our healthy future, the future of our home land and the planet, - emphasized Boleslav Kazimirovich Pirshtuk, First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus in his welcoming address. – Many works show the ways of solving these environmental objectives. I am happy that today young people care about their future as much as ecologists”.
In total, 294 schools took part in the contest in the Drawing category (1,061 drawings in total) and 128 schools – in the Video Clip category (206 video clips in total).
It is noteworthy that all participants of the contest study under the Green Schools Programme. The guys were able to transfer their acquired ecological knowledge to their art.
“On Earth Day, we keep fighting with the pandemic that has had no precedents in our life and that requires a global response. The climate change, nature protection and biodiversity issues may appear less relevant in this context. However, the crisis also offers some opportunities for applying new knowledge, practices and technologies to save the planet and people, to make the economy greener and more sustainable, and to extend ecological education to people of all ages. I am happy to note that this knowledge and these solutions are also manifested in the drawings and video clips that were submitted for the contest”, - emphasized Alexandra Solovieva, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in the Republic of Belarus.
Ecological knowledge is necessity in the modern world. In 2010, they began to adapt the Green Schools educational programme to Belarus with the support from UNDP and funds provided by the European Union. Since then, more and more educational institutions join it every year. Today, more than 400 educational institutions study the issues of biodiversity, energy and water saving, waste management and air quality; and they arrange awareness-raising ecological events within the programme.
The contest winners are:
· in the Drawing category among 5-6 year-old children: Ilya Matylevich, 6 y.o., drawing “By the Feed Rack” (Preschool Child Development Centre No. 2, Lida)
· in the Drawing category among 7-10 year-old children: Maxim Zhuravko, 10 y.o. (Secondary School No. 2, Novalukomĺ)
· in the Drawing category among 11-13 year-old children: Anastasia Alekhnovich, 12 y.o., drawing “Young Guardians of Jielnia” (Hiermanavičy Nursery and Secondary School, Šarkaŭščyna District)
· in the Drawing category among 14-17 year-old children: Yulia Morozova, 17 y.o., drawing “Little Wetlands Bird – a Disappearing Species” (Secondary School No. 1 of Pinsk)
· in the Video Clip category among 11-13 year-old children: Sofia Motolyanets, 12 y.o., video clip “Spend Your Time Usefully!” (Brest Regional Children’s and Youth Centre of Tourism and Local Lore” (eco-biological profile))
· in the Video Clip category among 14-17 year-old children: Denis Vasekho, 15 y.o., video clip “Follow the Energy Saving Rules” (Gymnasium No. 7, Viciebsk).
The Restore Our Land! contest of drawings and video clips was held under the project “Civic engagement in environmental monitoring and improving environmental management at the local level”, which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus and financed by the European Union.
