ECO-UNESCO's YEA 2017 Finalist Booklet

ECO-UNESCO

EC O

Ireland’s Environmental Education and Youth Organisation

O’s C S E N -U

Young Environmentalist Awards

2017

Fin

a list Booklet

Environmental Protection Through Youth Action

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Message from Michael D. Higgins President of Ireland I would like to send my best wishes to all those participating in the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Award Ceremony.

Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time. It is a challenge that calls on each of us to consider how our own individual actions, achievements and initiatives can contribute to the preservation of our precious natural resources.

It is greatly encouraging to know that we have, in this country, so many young citizens who strive to develop new visions for a shared future. As President of Ireland I am very proud of those citizens, and inspired by their generous will to contribute to the development of new versions of the future in which we might live ethically.

I congratulate all those taking part in the final Showcase and Award Ceremony, and I thank you for your commitment to the crafting of a shared world that is democratic, enriching and respectful of our fragile planet.

Michael D. Higgins

Uachtarán na hÉireann President of Ireland Patron of ECO-UNESCO

Welcome to Ireland’s Biggest Celebration of Youth ECO-Action We are delighted to welcome you to the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards Showcase and Ceremony 2017, Ireland’s biggest celebration of young people taking environmental action.

This year there were over 270 entries from thousands of young people, and today we recognise the hard work and dedication from this year’s over 80 finalists. Each of today’s finalists attended a regional ECO-Den, a Dragons’ Den style semi-finals where participants pitched their projects to a panel of judges in order to secure their spot at this year’s Showcase and Awards Ceremony.

This year we’re celebrating 18 years of the Young Environmentalist Awards, and with it, our largest showcase to date. The programme has grown from its beginnings in 1999 and through the years, tens of thousands of young people from all across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have participated, helping to conserve and protect the environment and promote sustainable development, and encouraging others to do the same.

We are immensely proud of all of the achievements of young people participating in this year’s Young Environmentalist Awards. You have shown magnificent creativity, innovation and enthusiasm in your approach to protecting the environment and promoting environmental awareness amongst your peers, schools, youth groups and wider community. We would like to commend the hard work, time and effort put into the projects by all the groups involved.

Jamie Cudden Chairperson ECO-UNESCO

We would like to thank everybody who supported this year’s Young Environmentalist Awards, our sponsors, funders, prize givers and our judging panel. We greatly appreciate your time, interest and commitment and we look forward to working with you again in the future. We’d also like to extend a warm welcome to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment Mr. Denis Naughten, Mr. Philippe Pypaert Programme Specialist at UNESCO in the field of Environmental Sciences, and the Lord Mayor of Dublin Mr. Brendan Carr.

We would encourage you to continue your great work and to encourage others to take environmental action and spread the spirit of the Young Environmentalist Awards.

Thank you for making the programme such a success and we hope you have a wonderful day!

Elaine Nevin National Director ECO-UNESCO

Contents Welcome Message···············································································

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About ECO-UNESCO··············································································

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Our Link to UNESCO···············································································

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YEA 2017 Showcase and Awards Ceremony Schedule·····························

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Floor Plan······························································································

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Getting Your Youth Group or School Involved in ECO-UNESCO··················

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YEA Impact ·························································································· 10 What People Say about YEA ·································································· 11

Finalist Project Summaries Biodiversity··························································································· 12 Climate Change··················································································· 16 ECO-Art & Design·················································································· 19 ECO-Community Development······························································ 21 ECO-Enterprise······················································································ 24 ECO-Health & Wellbeing········································································ 25 Energy·································································································· 27 Transport······························································································ 28 Waste··································································································· 28 Water··································································································· 32 Super Junior·························································································· 33 ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards Funders & Sponsors ·········· 36 Acknowledgements·············································································· 37 Mansion House Code of Conduct··························································· 38

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

About ECO-UNESCO Founded in 1986, ECO-UNESCO is Ireland’s environmental education and youth organisation.

ECO-UNESCO has extensive experience in the development of environmental education programmes for young people in schools, youth groups and community groups. ECO-UNESCO is affiliated to the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations (WFUCA).

ECO-UNESCO’s aims are to: • • • •

Raise awareness, understanding and knowledge of our environment among young people; Promote the protection and conservation of our environment among young people; Promote the personal development of young people through practical environmental projects and activities Promote the ideals of UNESCO

ECO-UNESCO’s Work Environmental Youth Programme ECO-UNESCO develops and runs programmes for young people on a broad range of environmental issues through schools, youth organisations, community groups or local authorities. The programmes include environmental events and activities, environmental workshops, ECO-UNESCO Clubs, ECO-Youth Choices and Youth for Sustainable Development including a Peer Education Programme.

Training Programmes ECO-UNESCO develops and runs training programmes for young people and trainers within non-formal and formal education, providing a specialist approach to working with young people. The programmes include one-day training courses, and a range of QQI Accredited Courses including Introduction to Sustainable Development (L5), ECO-Community Development (L3), Peer Education (L5), Outdoor Vegetable Crop Production (L3), Growing Vegetables (L4) and Ecology and the Environment (L6).

Education Resources ECO-UNESCO produces environmental education resources including publications and posters suitable for primary and secondary school teachers, youth groups, community groups and individuals.

Consultancy ECO-UNESCO also offers consultancy services to groups and agencies that want a specialist approach to environmental education, environmental youth work and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Special Guest from UNESCO We are delighted to welcome Philippe Pypaert to Dublin and indeed to this year’s Young Environmentalist Awards Showcase and Awards Ceremony. Mr. Pypaert is a Programme Specialist at UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice (Italy). Mr. Pypaert will deliver a special address and will also present the Awards.

Link to UNESCO ECO-UNESCO is a Key Strategic Partner of UNESCO for the implementation of the UNESCO Global Action Programme for Sustainable Development.

ECO-UNESCO is affiliated to the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations (WFUCA). The UNESCO Clubs movement started in Japan in 1947 with the aim of providing a means for individuals to become involved in promoting the goals of UNESCO, namely cooperation and collaboration for peace. Founded in 1981, WFUCA is responsible for informing, coordinating and mobilising its members with UNESCO’s support and cooperation. ECO-UNESCO is the WFUCA affiliate in Ireland and supports and coordinates an all-island network of ECO-UNESCO environmental youth clubs.

ECO-UNESCO & UNESCO GAP Commitments ECO-UNESCO is a Key Partner of UNESCO in its Global Action Programme. UNESCO launched the Global Action Programme (GAP) to generate momentum on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This follows commitments made by the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development that called for changes about how we think and act to achieve sustainable development. The goal of GAP is to generate and scale up action in all levels and areas of education and learning to accelerate progress towards sustainable development. In 2015 ECO-UNESCO was recognised by UNESCO for its work in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and was selected by UNESCO as a Key Partner for the implementation of its Global Action Programme (GAP) in ESD under their Key Priority Action 4 – Mobilising and Empowering Young People. This recognition came from ECO-UNESCO’s work in ESD in particular through the Young Environmentalist Awards programme and Youth for Sustainable Development programme.

ECO-UNESCO Successfully Ran Prestigious Education for Sustainable Development Youth Leadership Training in Conjunction with UNESCO in Dublin, February 2017 ECO-UNESCO was delighted to be selected by UNESCO to run their ‘Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Youth Leadership training’ on 21-22 February 2017. The training is a flagship project of the UNESCO Global Action Programme that aims to empower young people aged 18-35 to inspire and mobilise others to take action towards a sustainable and just future, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is one of just five pilot trainings being held globally. Out of 105 applicants, 27 young people from ten European countries were chosen to complete the intensive two day training that took place at the Clock Tower, Department of Education and Skills, Dublin. They developed their understanding of ESD, their leadership and facilitation skills and will become part of a global network of UNESCO youth leaders. The GAP training also supports the achievement of the government’s ‘National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development 2014-2020’.

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Young Environmentalist Awards 2017 Showcase and Awards Ceremony Schedule Showcase Schedule 8:30 - 9:30

Registration and Project Set-up in Round Room

10:00

Showcase & Interactive Zones Open to All

10:00 - 10:10

Welcome to the YEA 2017 Showcase

by Elaine Nevin, ECO-UNESCO National Director

10:10 - 10:20

Official Launch of the YEA 2017 Showcase

by Brendan Carr Lord Mayor of Dublin

10:20 - 12:45

Visit to Projects by the Expert Judging Panel

12:45

Showcase Ends

Awards Ceremony Schedule 14:15 - 14:30

Round Room Re-Opens

14:30 - 14:35

Opening of the YEA 2017 Ceremony

by MC, Clara Murray & Ande Gray, RTÉ Presenters

14:35 - 14:40 14:40 - 14:50

Welcome Address

by Elaine Nevin, ECO-UNESCO National Director Opening Keynote Address

by Denis Naughten, Minister for Communications, Climate Action & Environment

14:50 - 15:10

Award Presentations and Youth Performances

15:10 - 15:15

Welcome to Guest of Honour

by Jamie Cudden, ECO-UNESCO Chairperson

15:15 - 15:25

Special Address

by Philippe Pypaert, UNESCO Programme Specialist

15:25 - 17:00

Performance by Inhaler and Award Presentations

17:00

Ceremony Closes

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ENTRANCE 7

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Getting Your Youth Group or School Involved in ECO-UNESCO! ECO-UNESCO has a wide range of programmes – here are some ways that your school, youth group or young person can get involved.

ECO-UNESCO Clubs Do you want to meet like-minded people with an interest in the environment and in learning more about UNESCO’s work? If so, why not set up an ECO-UNESCO Club in your school or youth group?

ECO-UNESCO Clubs are a great way to give focus to a group of young people who are interested in environmental issues! In a school setting the ECOUNESCO Club can meet during school hours (often during lunch time) or as an after school activity.

In your youth group the ECO-UNESCO Club can take place as part of your youth programme and provide a special focus for some of your young people. ECO-UNESCO Clubs get involved in all sorts of activities – in particular Clubs take on the Young Environmentalist Awards programme and carry out action projects; they can also get involved in the Learning2Change programme or the Youth for Sustainable Development and other programmes offered by ECO-UNESCO. They can also organise

their own events and activities, which they can highlight through ECO-UNESCO. There are Clubs in countries all over the world and you can be part of this global network. If you want to set up an ECOUNESCO Club all you need to do is to register your group with ECO-UNESCO (www.ecounesco.ie).

We have a dedicated Clubs Officer to help you establish and support your Club. We also provide a Clubs Manual and Leader Training for Clubs leaders. Contact: clubs@ecounesco.ie.

“I will use the skills in the future and I will also give others advice on my knowledge.”

- ECO-UNESCO Clubs Participant

Youth for Sustainable Development (YSD); Global Youth Leader for Change Programme Are you aware of the links between your own life and those of other people around the world and how this links to sustainable development? ECOUNESCO’s Youth for Sustainable Development Programme involves a variety of initiatives to engage, empower and support young people aged 16 to 18 who are interested in sustainability and environmental issues. The YSD programme inspires, motivates and empowers young people to act locally in favour of sustainable development!

The programme is currently run in the Dublin area.

We will be going nationwide next year. If you are a young person who is interested in sustainability issues and wants to get involved with our Youth for Sustainable Development programme please e-mail us at: ysd@ecounesco.ie.

“I enjoy our session so much. I will come every week no matter what!”

- Youth for Sustainable Development Peer Education Participant

Learning2Change Our World Programme Learning2Change Our World is an ECO-UNESCO programme aimed at promoting a Whole Schools approach to Education for Sustainable Development in post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. The programme works with students, teachers and school staff across a number of selected schools. As part of the programme teachers and students receive training; they set up an ECO-UNESCO Club for young people; they explore issues regarding sustainability and development and how these areas affect our local and global communities; they carry out a Young Environmentalist Awards Action project and work together in organising a week of action and

awareness related to a local/global issue regarding sustainability.

If you would like more information or have any questions on ECO-UNESCO’s Learning2Change Our World Programme please contact us at: youth@ecounesco.ie.

“I started learning more about people from different parts of the world and made me more environmentally friendly.”

- Learning2Change Our World Participant

Young Environmentalist Awards Programme The Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) is an allIreland environmental awards programme for young people aged 10-18. Since 1999, ECO-UNESCO has run this programme to honour the work of young people to protect, conserve and enhance the environment through local environmental projects, making a difference to their lives and the lives of others, both locally and globally.

After groups submit their ECO-Action project report, a number of groups from across Ireland and Northern

Ireland are invited to pitch their projects in the Dragons’ Den Style regional semi-final judging rounds; the ECODens. The finalists then showcase their project at the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards Gala Showcase and Awards Ceremony in Dublin.

The programme is a fun and exciting way to empower young people to become better citizens, to build awareness of environmental issues in the community and to promote simple actions and lifestyle changes to help improve the environment.

YEA Transition Year Module ECO-UNESCO has a specific Transition Year (TY) Module designed to support teachers and young people to develop an action project for the Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA). The TY module includes a support and activities pack for teachers with themed activities related to the award categories such as Biodiversity, Waste and Climate Change. These activities aim to increase young people’s environmental awareness and knowledge and upskill them on how to develop an environmental action project. This module is available from ECO-UNESCO. Contact: yea@ecounesco.ie.

“It was a very worthwhile experience for me as a TY teacher. I found all resources very useful. I was very happy to have the ECO-UNESCO team visit my school to deliver a very experiential knowledge-based workshop to our students and support for me as a first time teacher in the programme.”

- Mary McMullen, TY Coordinator from Bailieborough Community School, Cavan

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

YEA Impact

+40,000

young people involved since 1999

287

+4,000

young people engaged in the YEA 2017

VOTE

+600

projects registered for the YEA 2017

young people received the 6 Steps to Success training workshops

YEA 2017 Key Highlights

11,845

online votes cast in the People’s Choice Award

6

regional semi-final ECO-Dens held

84

finalist groups invited the Gala Showcase & Awards Ceremony

What People Say about YEA

“The YEA programme is very well structured with clear guidelines given. It is very accessible for all students at all levels.”

- YEA Project Leader from Abbey Community College, Waterford

“After the YEA, I am more conscious in my actions and more aware of what I am doing!”

-YEA Participant

“My favourite thing about the YEA project is being able to see what a difference we made to the local community.”

-YEA Participant from Presentation Secondary School Tralee, Kerry

“I enjoyed working as a team because we all got to share our opinions on the environmental issue we chose and discuss our ideas on how to approach it. It was very interesting and enjoyable.”

- YEA Participant from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Kerry

“The Young Environmentalist Awards is the most enjoyable competition to enter and the atmosphere is so good. From start to finish there is always someone there to help and guide participants at every stage. I like the fact that everyone is particularly friendly at every stage as well. I have entered and won many national competitions but this is by far my favourite one. It is planned very well at every stage which makes it possible to keep working on your project knowing that ECO-UNESCO is working away as well. I will most definitely be entering again and want to keep in touch with ECO-UNESCO.” - YEA 2016 Overall Junior Winner from St. Leo’s College, Carlow

“I feel the YEA gave students a hands-on learning experience where higher order skills of problem solving, creative thinking, and social justice promotion developed. The students excelled as a team, learned about responsibility towards each other. Their social skills improved greatly when they spoke to adults and student about their project and also when organizing their various activities.”

- YEA Project Leader from Bailieborough Community School, Cavan

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Finalist Project Summaries Biodiversity - Senior Operation Pond: Phase 2

Drimnagh Castle Secondary School, Dublin Last year’s TY group designed and started building a pond in our school’s green yard as part of the YEA 2016. This year we decided to continue to work on the project and aimed to bring back the frog species that disappeared from the local area. The aim of our project was to create a better ecosystem in the area and promote a lively biodiversity. Our group dug out the base for the pond and added pond water so it is a natural setting for biodiversity in the area. We hope that we have restored the ecosystem to its previous stable equilibrium.

Christopher Boyd, Jamie Waterhouse, Aiden Daly,Luke Carruthers, John Anrei Sy, Kian Yambao, Aaron James, Nathan Martin, Christopher HollowedRoche, Simon Galazka

The Benefits of Creating Habitats for Wildlife in Your Garden Using Recycled Materials Cootehill Youthreach, Cavan

Our group wanted to raise awareness of the benefits of creating habitats for a wide range of animals, birds and insects. We wanted to provide sustainable and cost-effective habitats to encourage and invite wildlife back into the community. We did this by adding water sources, food, and making nesting boxes and shelters from recycled materials, to enhance the habitat of the area. We displayed our project in the centre garden, local supermarket and community in order to raise awareness, everyone could see the habitats being used by all different kinds of wildlife!

Bio-zone

Presentation Secondary School Mitchelstown, Cork

Martin King, Patrick Sheridan, Dylan Comiskey, Dean Mannering, Shannon O’Neill, Rebecca Rayburn, Amy Mulligan, Brandon Reilly, Kelvin Flood, Michael McCarthy, Luke McDonald, Owen Monaghan -

The aim of this project was to redevelop our school’s biodiversity garden as it had become much degraded. We planted seven native trees, cleaned the area of litter and created a space ideal not only for local flora and fauna to thrive, but also for students and parents to appreciate when passing through. By doing this, we raised awareness of the importance of Irish biodiversity and showed people how important it is to care for the environment.

Aileen Kent, Cáit Walsh, Hayley Fitzgerald, Lauren Pyne, Emma Carey, Aisling Cremins

Bee Co Unesco

FCJ Secondary School Bunclody, Wexford

Our project raised awareness of the importance of bees in our global and local environment. Our group was concerned about the decline in bee population and held a ‘Bee Day’ in school to inform people of the role bees play in the food cycle as well as what we can do to conserve and promote bee numbers.

As part of the project, we did a poster campaign and presented a PowerPoint to all classes. Our group also planted a bee garden with a bee hotel and a bee bath. We also designed bee tags that are being distributed in local garden centres so consumers know how to make their gardens more bee-friendly.

Can a Little Lichen Identify a Lot of Pollution?

Skerries Community College & Ardgillan Community College, Dublin

The goal of this project was to raise awareness of the different lichen species and to give people ways to identify them. Our group did this by creating an app to help people identify them as they find them. We raised awareness throughout our community and wrote an article for the local paper about lichens. We looked at different areas where there were lichens and compared the amount and the type of lichens that were present. In the end, the project showed that there were more lichens in less polluted areas, such as Lambay Island, than areas closer to the city.

The Rowan Project

Bailieborough Community School, Cavan

Calasanctius College Oranmore, Galway

Naoise Ensor, Sarah Burns, Sara Burs, Matthew Kelly, Mario Getzo, Kevin Harkin

Over the last year our school has lost biodiversity as a result of deforestation from building construction. Our project aimed to reconnect people with nature by re-establishing a rich biodiversity in our community, thereby promoting and nurturing our own wellbeing. In order to do this, we researched biodiversity and suitable habitats for our local community and created, constructed and designed our outdoor garden. We raised awareness by taking part in the school spring clean and encouraging students to participate in outdoor activities. We created a nature trail, and also a display and slideshow which we showed to Minister Heather Humphries. It is unBEElievable!

Honey B - We’re Buzzing

Ciara Kinsella, Ciara Carroll, Clodagh O’Leary, Karen Cowman, Aisling Pender, Aoife Milne Katie O’Toole, Kate Kirwan, Jack Sinnott

Shane Farrelly, Mikey Farrelly, Shane Mc Cabe, Cian Wilson

For our project we wanted to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators. We also wanted to have a positive effect on the biodiversity of our area by planting wildflowers. In order to do this we started a social media campaign as well as organised awareness events in our local Tesco and at NUIG Science Week. As part of the campaign, we provided everyone in the area with wildflower seeds and taught them the importance of pollinators and bees to our environment. Our group also worked with ‘Galway County Biodiversity’ in NUIG and Oranmore Tidy Towns Committee to organise an event called ‘Get Busy for Bees!’ which would raise awareness of the importance of pollinators to our local biodiversity. Activities on the day included meeting the local bee-keepers and building a bug hotel. Overall our group really engaged with the community to ensure everyone understood the importance of pollinators to our environment.

Following the project we hope to develop a new 3 year biodiversity plan for our school.

Alice Kennelly, Sarah Price, Colin O’Shea, Kevin McGrath, Tom Canavan, Orla McDermott, Dylan Cox, Eoghan Geraghty, Darragh Beirne, Jade Greaney, Thomas Heraghty, Róisín Croke, Thomas Walsh, Martha Haskett, Aoife Keaveney, Laura Byrnes, Anna May White, Emily Timmins, Seán O’Donovan, Emily Macken, Erin Mullins, Aoife McDonagh, Lorraine Delaney, Kate O’Sullivan

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Don’t Panic, It’s Organic

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Presentation Secondary School Tralee, Kerry Our group really wanted to focus on the biodiversity of our school and our school surroundings. Thus, we decided to fundraise for a polytunnel greenhouse in the school. This would be used to grow various different types of fruits and vegetables. We needed to raise a substantial amount of money to build a polytunnel with running water and electricity so we decided to organise a ‘Night at the Dogs’ and sold tickets. To promote the event we put up posters all around the community. Our polytunnel is now under construction! Our group has done research on how to grow organically properly so we can use our shiny new polytunnel correctly!

Cara Segal, Aine Rice, Zara Riaz, Casey O’Donnell Emma O’Keeffe, Jordan Quinliven, Orlaith O’Sullivan

Biodiversity and Sustainability Borris Vocational School, Carlow

For our project we, the Garden Club 2016/2017, decided to plant a sensory garden in our school to raise environmental awareness. We carried out research on the sensory plants needed for the garden, organised fundraisers such as a cake sale and raffles to raise funds to buy the plants, hens, turkeys and some building materials. In order to raise awareness about our project allowing people to follow the journey of the garden, we set up a blog on the school website and submitted articles to the local newspaper. Our garden is now competed and we feel that this project was a great success as we have learned new skills, learned to work together and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

Our Wildlife Biodiversity Garden Coláiste Chill Mhantáin, Wicklow

Ciaran Murphy, Grainne Hannafin, Lorraine Kavanagh, Aisling O’connor, Nicholas Brennan, Brian Doyle, Emily Doyle, Pauric Coleman, Nadeen Kelly, Amy Molrooney, Margaret Doyle, Kate Drennan

We decided to work on a ‘Wild Biodiversity Garden’, to help support important pollinators and provide shelter and food for other wildlife. We contacted many organisations, such as Birdwatch Ireland, to research and get advice on our project. We made upcycled birdhouses from bottles, planted Irish wildflowers, made wooden signage, raised awareness about our project on our school website and wrote an article for the local newspaper! We invited two guest speakers to talk to our class about the importance of biodiversity. To complete our project we plan to make insect-hotels and work with teachers on top tips of how they can protect pollinators and support our project.

Molly Hodgkin Son, Sophie Richardson, Zoe Byrne, Julie Carey, Siobhan Irons, Patrick Kepogh, Brandon Kelly, Eve Gregory

Wild Bird Cover, Yay or Nay?

St. Kieran’s College Kilkenny, Kilkenny Our project investigated the effectiveness of growing linseed and oat habitats to support farmland bird populations. We met with local farmers who had wild bird cover plots and accounted for the number of birds on their plot. The figures were compared to bird populations from 20072011. We also researched what type of plots would be most attractive to the birds. The main achievement of our project was to show that a steady decline in farmland bird populations was directly affected by the plantation of linseed and oat habitats. We also discovered that the Wild Bird Cover section of the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment (GLAS) Scheme isn’t as effective as its administrators had planned for it to be.

Luke Gannon, Alex McCluskey, Cathal Ryan

A Study of Brent Geese on Sandymount Strand Gonzaga College, Dublin

Our project is a study of Brent Geese on Sandymount Strand. We wanted to find out whether disturbance impacts Brent Geese feeding. Sandymount Strand is a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive and a Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive; we wanted to find out whether people were aware of this and that Brent Geese are of conservation concern in Europe. Our project involved observing the Brent Geese over three and a half months on Sandymount Strand and in surrounding areas. We also took a survey of people along the Strand. We raised awareness of the Brent Geese by exhibiting our project in Dublin City Council for two weeks to coincide with World Wetlands Day. We’ve developed a better understanding and appreciation of Brent Geese and we raised awareness of Brent Geese as a conservation concern and the importance of preserving their habitats.

Bee Our Hero

Moate Community School, Westmeath

Kieran McGovern, Dan Morrissey, Myles Ryan

This project was about raising awareness of the declining bee populations.

For this project we disseminated information in the local community about the importance of bees in the environment. We also made posters and presentations to inform students and the wider community. We distributed seeds to the local community as a source of food for bees, dug banks in the park as a nesting area, and planted herbs to prevent the spread of the Varroa destructor in honey bees. All of this will provide a better environment for bees!

Lorna Boland, Jessica Okpaeye

Biodiversity - Junior Investigating the Behaviour of Seagulls in Our Area Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan, Dublin

The main aim of our project was to observe the pre-dominant characteristics of seagulls in a coastal area, and use our findings to create a solution to the problem. Herring Gulls are a problem in our school, especially during lunch.

To investigate their characteristics we observed them on a daily basis for four weeks. We then conducted a survey amongst students to understand their feelings towards seagulls. In order to observe the birds correctly, we got professional advice from various bird experts. Our project helped us to see the full picture of the seagull problem in the area and the possible solutions!

Kirsty Burns, Cleo Gallen, Enya Andersen

Let It Bee Loreto College Swords, Dublin Our group decided to plant a wild flower garden in our school to provide a habitat for bees and other insects. We fundraised by organising a cake sale and a concert to buy wild flower seeds. We then ran a campaign to offer a starter pack with instructions on how to plant the seeds in their garden to 60 parents of 1st and 2nd year students so that we would have an impact on our local community. We also wanted to have an impact at county council level so we got agreement from Fingal County Council to plant flowers to attract bees at the local busy River Valley Roundabout in Swords. The Council then invited us to design the garden! We raised awareness of the problem of bee decline through an exhibition on bees and wider environmental issues. We also produced a rap and a drama with dancing bees to engage more people.

Lauren Barret, Sarah Barron, Jessica Benzies, Amy Boulton, Aimee Cummins, Aisling Dempsey, Hollie Dolan, Sally Duff, Sinead Fitzpatrick, Katie Fogarty, Emma Fowler, Niamh Fulton, Jennifer Kearns, Caoimhe Keogh, Sarah McCloskey, Jenna Mc Dermott, Ellen McGloin, Alyson MCMahon, Ava Mitchell, Rachel Monahan, Ava Moore, Niamh Ni Mhorain Anthea Padilla, Zara Purewal, Jessie Reilly Ashley Santos Joelle Tierney, Ellen Walsh, Orlagh Walzer, Aoife Whelan

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Climate Change - Senior Operation Gold

Abbey Community College, Waterford Our project investigated deforestation in the goldmining industry. We did not agree with miners cutting down the trees for mining and therefore decided to hold an awareness day in school about the issue. We produced and hung up posters around the school for the day! We also made a deforestation model so people could clearly see what was happening.

The students in the school are now more aware of deforestation and the issues caused by goldmining.

Aoibheann, Kavanagh, Molly Dunphy, Lauren Walsh, Julianne Barry, Niamh Fennessy

Planet Savers

Castleisland Community College, Kerry Our project aimed to raise awareness and find solutions for deforestation.

We decided to promote the use of FSC products and the benefits they can have, both globally and locally, in the fight against deforestation.

Our group organised a Tree-mendous give away and gave out 300 trees.

We raised awareness by creating a wall display and fairy trail around our school. We also tried to encourage other schools in the Kerry ETB to follow our policy, and Kerry ETB has agreed to switch to FSC paper in their head office.

Kevin Mahony, Thomas Murphy, Brian Lonergan, Patrick Horan, Darren Horan, Jack Curran, Jack O’Connor, Diarmuid McCarthy, Darragh Foran

Next Generation

Bailieborough Community School, Cavan

Our project aimed to create a safer and greener world for the ‘Next Generation’ to live in. We decided to publish a story book called ‘Green Girl Gone Global’. The story follows a young girl’s journey around the world using her superpowers to make the world a greener place. To raise awareness we held a colouring competition in primary schools and also raised money for printing by making recycled Christmas signs. We also organised an environmental speak out competition between the schools of Cavan and Monaghan. We hope that our book will be in every primary school in the country so that our message can be spread nationally.

Josie O’Connor, Amy Cahill, Nessa Cooney, Alannah Maguire, Chloe Gemmell, Jack Barry

Let’s Get Nifty with Ireland 2050

Ashbourne Community School, Meath Our project aimed to bring the issue of climate change to our peers through social media channels and highlight the problems along with the difficult choices we must all face about our future. “Ireland 2050” is a new website which uses a “My 2050” facility to quantify the emissions resulting from every possible energy choice we make. This website empowers users to choose different energy options and evaluate their climate change impact. As a class group we were chosen to nationally launch this website. Follow our journey by logging onto www.ashcom.ie.

Here you can see how we harness the power of social media to focus our generation’s attention on the vital role we all have to play in securing the future wellbeing of our planet and develop a collective culture of working towards a better future for all.

Jack Behan, Adam Brady, Lucy Butler, Jack Byrne, Liam Byrne, Sean Clarke, Sinead Clarke, Aisling Coates, Eoghan Corry, Leo Corry, Leah Craigie, Alannah Cronin Allen, Emmett Cullen, Roisin Donnelly, Megan Donohoe, Ava Doyle, Leanne Finglas, Maria Fox, Rebecca Harford, Cian Hayes, Megan Heeney, Amy Kennerk, Hannah Keogh

A Write to Refuge

ECO-UNESCO Youth for Sustainable Development Programme, Dublin

Our overall goal was to raise awareness of climate refugees and dismantle stereotypes given to them. We used a pen pal programme that we run with young people in each of our respective areas. After visiting our schools and giving detailed presentations we discussed the issue with our peers. We made a film to engage young people and showed them what it is like to be displaced by climate change.

Edward Tierney, Issac Hurley, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Grace Dolan, Rachel Byrne, Bronagh Campbell, Lianna O’Connell

COY12

ECO-UNESCO Youth for Sustainable Development Programme, Dublin

In Spring 2016, we came up with the idea of attending the Conference of Youth (COY12) in Marrakech, Morocco, an international event where youth around the world gather on the theme of climate change in connection with the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). To raise money to bring 6 of us to the conference we set ourselves a number of challenges, including ‘extreme poverty challenge’ where participants had to live on less than €3 a day for a week and ‘school uniform days’. We represented ECO-UNESCO as the Irish Delegates and delivered our own workshop to highlight climate change from Irish young people’s perspectives. It was a fantastic trip! Following the trip, we organised a number of events to share our experience including a movie night and a workshop in Filmbase in Templebar during One World Week.

Aoibhínn Nevin-Ginnetty, Oileán Stritch, Liam Hanley, Kyle Al Kaadiri, Alex Antochi, Leon Gill

Climate Change - Junior Sustainable School for the Future - Food Garden and Permaculture Design for CETSS Cork Educate Together Secondary School, Cork

Our group aimed to put our school on track to become the most sustainable school in Ireland. Our group split up to focus on different areas within the school such as heating, electricity and gardening and developed a broad vision of how our new school should be built in 2019. Each group then presented their ideas and findings to other students in the school. We also started a petition to get the government to introduce a solar energy feed in tariff for schools so that not just our school but all schools in Ireland can become climate-friendly.

Kaya Ray Fiessler, Stefan Tomic Miskovic, Ine Rammeloo, Lana Abelite, Dani O’Neill, Tom Humphreys, Jurie El-Shenawi, Rosie Fletcher-White, Siobhan Roseno

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What Is a Fair Solution to Climate Change and Global Inequality?

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Cork Educate Together Secondary School, Cork

Finding a fair solution to climate change and global inequality was the main goal of our group. In order to do this, we researched climate change and global inequality in the North and South and the differences in carbon emissions. We looked at past climate change treaties and came up with our own treaty. We used the treaty to further educate people in our school about climate justice issues. We decided to use our research and the treaty we created to pressure politicians to work on finding fair solutions to climate change and the global injustice it is creating.

Freyja O’Sullivan, Maya McGrath, Tommasso Parisi

The Amount of Carbon in Different Types of Hedgerows and How It Affects Wildlife Scoil Mhuire Strokestown, Roscommon

In this project our aim was to investigate the amount of carbon in different types of hedgerows and to understand how it affects wildlife. In order to calculate carbon in hedgerows we took 4 samples from 4 different areas. With our research results, we raised awareness of the importance of hedgerows as a safe habitat and shelter to wildlife and as the storage of large amounts of CO2, and of the threats hedgerows face in our area.

We hope that people will realise how important hedgerows are to the environment. We are glad that we could contribute to this.

Alannah Hanley, Zuzanna Pawelec

Local Food Feast and Community Festival

Cork Educate Together Secondary School, Cork Our group decided to organise a local food feast for the end of the school year and invite the entire school. Our project was about growing food ourselves and teaching others how to do it to prepare for our feast. Our aim was to ensure all food in the school was as sustainable and as climate friendly as possible. Nearly all of the food was to be locally sourced! Overall we hope that we created a community in the school that was more aware of how to be more sustainable and climate-friendly.

Lauren Johnson, Abby O’Riordan, Abbie Condon, Jodie Condon, Abbie Deeney Josh O’Mahony, Jessa Walsh, Allanah Campbell-Brookes, Bru Vallebella

ECO-Art & Design - Senior Eco Bird Boxes

St. Aidan’s Community College, Cork For this project, our aim was to make bird boxes out of recycled materials and unused wood. We used MDF and plywood for the outer layer of the boxes. Between the start of the project until the end, our team worked hard to complete the bird houses. We wanted to do this project to provide our school with bird houses to enhance the surrounding environment. We put them around the school, home gardens and around the local community. The project gave birds a warm and colourful home in our community.

Amy O’Neill, Becky O’Mahony, Jamie Lewis, Aimee Saund, Lee Donovan, Craig Downey

DC Sculptures

Drimnagh Castle Secondary School, Dublin

Our project focused on the importance of recycling. We wanted to highlight the issue and decided to do this by creating stickmen sculptures. These were made out of plastic bottles and cans which were collected by our group members and in the local primary schools. We hoped the sculptures would remind people of easy ways to reuse their waste and how we do it in a fun and interactive way. Our project was seen across the school and successfully raised awareness of the issue!

Tomy Zhu, Ciaran Kelly, Tighe Kiernan, Denis Brailanu, Neil McGuigan, Kristian Melecio, Iyer De La Cruz, Mark Delahunty, Warren Doyle, Jordan Finn

MAE Designs

St. Michael’s Community College, Clare As part of our project we designed and made a dress out of polystyrene cups and recycled materials such as ribbons and feathers. We wanted to show how old and seemingly useless materials can be used to create beautiful things!

We raised awareness by creating social media accounts and by showing our progress regularly on them. We also entered the Bank of Ireland ‘Junk Kouture’ contest and were featured on their Snapchat account. Many people saw our project as a result of this! By the time we finished making and showcasing our dress everyone in our school was aware of the importance of reusing materials.

All Eyes on Me

Moate Community School, Westmeath

Aoife Daly, Eabha Killeen, Michelle Collins

We wanted to raise awareness of the different ways to recycle and reuse plastics. Firstly, we made an appeal to local places to collect ‘dummy lenses’.

These are usually recycled or disposed of in general refuse. We decided to create a fashionable dress using these lenses. To raise awareness of the different ways to reuse plastics our group visited a local primary school with the dress that we made. We asked the students to describe the Life Cycle of Dummy Lens in a poster/ video competition. We showed the students how they can use the lenses to make key rings and bag tags!

Seán O’Flaherty, Cameron Rooney Dignan, Ella O’Neill

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Don’t Clothes Your Mind

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

St. Kevin’s Community College, Wicklow For our project we designed and created a number of dresses and outfits all from waste and rubbish. We made four dresses from a variety of materials such as coffee pods, shredded paper, coke cans and old jigsaw pieces! We raised awareness of our project and our ideas throughout our school by promoting our collection among the entire school community and asking people to collect their rubbish over Christmas for us. When our creations were complete we showcased them in the Helix at a fashion show. After doing the project we realised how much waste you can collect and reuse!

Slaney Kearney, Aisling Slevin, Natasha Keogh, Anna Conway, Megan Muldowney, Hannah Doyle, Alison O’Dwyer, Lisa Mullaly, Ciara Kelly, Aimee Guing, Rachel Agar, Ali Miley

Garden of Renewal

St. Tiernan’s Community School, Dublin Our group wanted to clean up our school garden and renew it. We started doing this by picking up any rubbish and getting rid of weeds in the garden every week. We also created wooden plaques for the area with educational information on the plaques. We plan to collect rain water for our garden for the plants. Overall, we managed to enhance our school environment and create a nice space for our students!

Lee Malone, Alexis Ball, Katie O’Hara, Caitlin Kelly, Angel Oyedoh

ECO-Art & Design - Junior Cantrens

St. John Bosco Community College, Clare The aim of this project was to reduce the amount of waste of cans in our schools. We did this by showing how you can use the cans in different ways. We collected the waste cans and we made Christmas decorations and ‘Cantrens’ (can + lantern) with them. We advertised our new project at various assemblies, at the Christmas fair and by hanging our new decorations on the tree. By reusing the cans in our project, we reduced waste. We will continue our work to reduce waste!

School Recycling and World Café

North Wicklow Educate Together, Wicklow

Zoe Nagle, Heather Moore, Eve Garry, Emma Byrne, Lyonah Burke, Sarah Casey, Laoise Keane, Ella Shannon, Sinead Kelly, Amy Murphy, Sinead Mc Cann, Megan Cooney, Sinead Lally

Our group project had three aims; recycling, food growing and creating a community event. We started recycling and composting in our new school. We helped in our local community garden and grew different salads, cress, beetroot, onions and edible flowers. We also created an artwork for the side of the raised beds painted with waste paint from our local recycling centre. In March and April for one day a week all 1st years in our school completed ‘phenomenon based learning’ projects on the theme ‘Sustainability’. To showcase other student’s projects and our Young Environmentalist Awards project we hosted a ‘Pop-up World Café’, where we discussed education and sustainability while serving our home-grown salads, wild garlic and stop-food waste soup to 110 people in our community.

Cecilia Stiebitzhofer, Lililotus Pascoe, Abbie Connolly, Liam O’Brien, Oisín Wernick, Dylan Brandon, Tadgh Ó Midheach, Alan Moran, Emma Coster

Reshirts

St. John Bosco Community College, Clare

The aim of our project is to raise awareness of recycling in our community. We did this by collecting old clothes and repurposing them to make something else. We turned t-shirts into bags, and then displayed our project across the school and showed people how they can put their old clothes to a new use!

Issy Cantillon, Chloe O Shea, Katie Moloney, Alanna Murphy, Caoimhe O’Connor

#Sussitout

Cork Educate Together Secondary School, Cork We care deeply about helping people to see what is happening in our world due to climate change and to reflect more deeply on why it is continuing. We researched and presented to our school the effects of climate change in our global and local environment. We presented to students across the school and recorded the impact we had on our students. We also created a visual campaign and a petition to challenge them to respond to our message. We are continuing to develop our work and hope to present these to the wider community in the future.

Julie Hrusova, Suil Pinagli Murphy, Aysha Santos, Ciana Ishaque, Elaina Laffan Twomey, Bernard Skonieczna, Nathan Maher

John Tyndall Eco-Warriors

Carlow Vocational School, Carlow For this project, our group wanted to reduce the waste and pollution in the area by building things out of the plastic that isn’t recyclable or that doesn’t usually get recycled. We did this by packing plastic bottles with this plastic until they are solid to make an ECO-brick. Out of the ‘Eco Brick’, we made a dog house which is going to be auctioned to raise money for charitable work taking place in Bali. The project was successful as it showed different ways you can reuse and reduce waste creatively.

Robyn Butler, Sophie Kennedy, Ciara Mac Carthy, Katie Brennan, Boni Millingano, Kayla Doyle, Zuhire Darsi, Tadgh Fitzpatrick, Jordon Power Molloy, Jasmine Supple, Leah Sheehan, Danielle Harkin, Rachel Doran

ECO-Community Development - Senior Awakening Our Sense

Moate Community School, Westmeath For this project, our group decided to develop a Sensory Garden at our local Dún Na Sí Heritage and Amenity Park, keeping in mind people with impaired senses. We worked with people who have intellectual disabilities in the area to design and construct a water feature for the Sensory Garden. We organised fundraisers for the park including Halloween and Christmas events. We have visited other gardens to get ideas for our own project. We also conducted research to understand what plants and herbs would be most suitable for the garden. This project helped different parts of the community integrate together on a project that made the environment better!

Annemarie Moran, Orlaith Seery, Lauren Claffey, Muireann Booth, Bronagh Bradley, Aisling Claffey, Emily Fielding, Orlaith Holloway, Edel Stone, Sineád Muldoon and Siobhán Lynam, Aisling Daly, Tara Hughes, Lara Kirwan

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Can You Dig It

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Youthreach Carlow, Carlow Our group decided to develop a small section of land between our centre and the business next to us as a beautiful garden. We asked for the permission of the business and they agreed to it. We wanted to brighten up the area as we are situated on a busy road. We explored different ways of brightening up our garden and wanted to use as many recycled materials as possible. We cleaned out and planted loads of different things in the garden. Overall the area was transformed into a much nicer place!

Bartosz Berent, Bill Cassidy, Jesse Davis, Mati Kutt, Harley Magnepera, Daniel Gough, Michelle Begley, Patrick Gorman, Jamie Moran, Joseph O’Connor, Ryan Preston, PJ Ryan, Angelika Zychowska, Oisín Corcoran

#Makeadoglucky

St. Joseph’s College Summerhill Athlone, Roscommon Our project raised awareness of stray dogs and raised money for the ISPCA. In order to do this we held a bake sale, movie day, Halloween fun day. We also sold raffle tickets and homework passes. In the end we raised a lot of much needed money for the ISPCA and spread awareness about dogs in need!

Orlagh Timon, Edel Duffy

From the Ground to Pollution, There Is a Hope of Solution Abbey Community College, Waterford

The aim of our project was to understand and raise awareness of the issue of soil pollution. In order to do this we planned and created a garden in our school community to raise awareness of the topic. After planning and creating our garden, we presented to a first year class to further promote the issue of soil pollution. Our project helped promote the issue of soil pollution while cleaning up the school garden in the process.

Síne Kavanagh, Rory Leech, Finn Lonergan, Molly Plunkett, Lauren Ryan, Ryan Tierney

Youth for the Future Environmental Youth Leader Summit ECO-UNESCO is delighted to host the transnational youth project “Youth for the Future”, a leadership summit for young people from Armenia, Italy and Ireland, funded under Erasmus+ through Léargas, starting in September 2017. The aim of this project is to empower young people to influence policy makers to commit to actions on the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda, with a 3 days youth forum as a centre piece. During the project over 60 young people will have the opportunity to discuss actions that they want to see politicians make on their behalf during the next year and at also to work on projects to create change in their own communities. Their results will be displayed at the International Zone of the ECO-UNESCO YEA Showcase 2018 for everyone to see. This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to bring about meaningful engagement with high-level decision makers. Launching soon!

Cycling against Racism

Stoneybatter Youth Service, Dublin As part of ECO-UNESCO’s ECO-Choices programme, we had a planning session to identify one problem we experienced in our community and one environmentally-based skill that we could benefit from in the future. We are a group of young people from all different countries and unfortunately some of us have experienced racism, so we really wanted to raise awareness about racism.

As most of us never learned how to cycle so we decided to learn how to cycle and then cycle against racism! Cycling is a great activity that can benefit both the environment and the community. At the end of the project we organised a Cycling against Racism event in Phoenix Park and raised awareness of the Love Not Hate campaign around the park.

Lena Sekirmian Karimi, Katie Kearney, Tatiana Saoura, Aisha Azeeza, Natasha Nyathi

Peer Environmental Education Project

St. Paul’s Secondary School Oughterard, Galway Our project aimed to educate children in our community about environmental issues. We designed an educational programme and delivered it to the children of the local primary school on the topics of energy, climate change, and littering.

In order to do this, our group had to research a lot about these environmental issues. Our project had a positive effect on the local community and hopefully made everyone more environmentally friendly across the entire community.

David Phillip, Nele Fornoff, Felix Barren, Aoife Mckeagney, Micheal Durkin, Francisco Macieira, Rhannion Mulcaire, Ruari McDonagh, Katrina Watson

Spring Cleaning: Mill Museum & Miller’s Cottage St. Jarlath’s College, Galway

Our group decided to complete a clean-up of the Mill Museum and the Miller’s Cottage. There was a lot of litter present and there were gates and fences that required painting. We spent a lot of time cleaning up and painting the area.

Hopefully, after it is finished, more people will visit the area as it will be a more comfortable and environmentally friendly space. It also creates awareness of maintaining a clean environment and taking care of our surroundings.

Browne, Nathan Carre, Darragh Collins, Michael Creaven, Keelan Cronin, Luke Devaney, Mark Dunleavy, Ronan Finnegan, Padraig Gavin, Ronan Hession, Cian Hochstrasser, Raul Hynes, Dean Kavanagh, Ryan Kelly, Cathal Marquez Santin, Borja McDonagh, Hugh McIntyre, Jamie Mooney, Gerard Ortega, Javier Raftery, Sean Sliz, Marcin Staed, Joseph

ECO-Community Development - Junior Be a Trooper, Use Your Scooper

Youth Work Ireland Monaghan Clones, Monaghan For our project we hoped to combat the issue of dog fouling in our community.

We wanted to raise awareness and try to change people’s attitudes about picking up after their dogs. We created a survey to understand how much information people knew about the dangers of dog poo. After extensively researching the topic, our group organised various events. This included a community dog walk, a colouring competition and setting up a stall in our youth club about the issue. We also wrote an article about the problem for our local newspaper! We were supported by the entire community while making the environment much cleaner.

AmyMcClusker, Sarah O’Harte, Finian Clerkin, Ryan Nolan, Bronwyn Cassidy, Renee Nolan, James McQuaid, Ceara Nolan, Niamh Tierney, Conan O’Neill, Katelyn Reavy, Shauna McCann, Shaunice McCann, Jodie McCormick Nevin

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

ECO-Enterprise - Senior Algae-Tecture

Newpark Comprehensive School, Dublin Our ‘Algae-tecture’ project aimed to integrate the properties of Algae into our daily lives. We also hope it will provide a platform to raise awareness about environmental problems such as air pollution. We designed and produced an algae-based oxygenator that can be used in a work space or at home. This ‘forest in a teapot’, will scrub carbon and produce oxygen, enhancing the air quality and boosting concentration. We have marketed our product as ‘clean air, clean mind, clean future’. We created a business model for our project in which we advertised, communicated and displayed our product for students, teachers, parents and in our local community. We promoted our campaign through Facebook, the Gazette newspaper, and at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s Eco-Conference, our school fair and the local library.

Si Yuan Xu. Daniel Hatter, Adam Kopik, Moya Bracken, Eoghan Funge, Don Crowley

Clew Bay Seaweed Fertiliser

Sancta Maria College Louisburgh, Mayo For our project we decided to create fertiliser from seaweed that is sustainable and easy to make. We raised awareness about where commonly used fertilisers come from, how unsustainable they are and more importantly how there is a much better solution – organic seaweed fertiliser! We decided to make our own seaweed fertiliser by collecting seaweed from our local beach. We then broke the seaweed down in fresh water and tested it in our school garden. Our project successfully showed how seaweed can be used as a fertiliser and the benefits of organic seaweed fertilisers.

Croia McDermott, Holly Morahan, Kyra HamiltonByrne, Michaela O Malley, Eimear Courtney

ECO-Enterprise - Junior Fairtrade Pop-up Shop

Ballyclare High School, Antrim Our project is focused on raising awareness for Fairtrade products and how Fairtrade helps improve farmers’ living and working conditions, but also helps them become better stewards of the land. In order to do this, we took part in our school’s Christmas Craft Fayre. The aim was to create awareness and raise funds so we could reinvest in other Fairtrade products. At the fayre we successfully raised awareness of Fairtrade by giving out Fairtrade stickers, Pick n’ Mix Fondue Bars and information leaflets to children at our stall. We plan to continue to promote Fairtrade products by running competitions and assemblies in our school.

Kayeann McRoberts, Emalee O’Connell, Apsley, Holly Beatty, Shaun-Lee Watson

Alex

ECO-Health and Wellbeing - Senior Meditation/Sacred Space Garden

Presentation Secondary School Ballingarry, Tipperary Our group wanted to build a meditation space on the school grounds to promote health and well-being in our school community. We decided to do this in an environmentally friendly way by using natural and recycled material. We learned how to willow weave and used this to make our meditation space. We also learned how to make furniture out of hazel wood. As part of this project we also investigated the ecological footprint of students in the school by conducting a survey.

Cathal Brett, Adam Brown, Aoife Doheny, Conor Dugan, Lauren Donovan, Claire Egan, Megan Kavanagh, Jake Keating, Martin Kehoe, Cormac Maher, Sadhbh Morrissey, Leanne Murphy, Michael Murphy, James O Meara, Eoghan Pollard, Thomas Quin, Anthony Ryan, Eanna Ryan, Eoin Ryan, Sean Ryan, Sarah Walton, Eadaoin Wilson

Making Our School a Healthier Place St. Louis Community School, Mayo

The aim of this project is to make our school a healthier place. In order to do this, we got permission to close our school shop and we removed all unhealthy food from our canteen. We started a healthy eating poster campaign around school and put up a healthy food board. We then did a presentation to different classes about the importance of being healthy. We organised games around school to make people more engaged with the topic. Students in our school are now much more informed about how to be healthier, and our school environment promotes a much healthier lifestyle.

Aoife Begley, Sabrina Cunnane, Sinead Guinnelly, Kirsten O’Neill, Aislinn English, Aoibhinn English, Samantha Clarke, Chloe Connaughton

The Wellness Way

Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Kerry For this project, we created a pathway that would be a permanent fixture in our school. It is called ‘Living Classroom’ where students and staff could relax and get some fresh air for their own mental wellbeing. The path is around 300m long and consists of metal plaques with the UN Sustainable Development Goals on them. Accompanying the plaques we also displayed sculptures and art pieces made out of recyclable materials. We are planning to plant more native trees and plants, make bird feeders out of recyclable materials, and benches using recycled wooden crates. The pathway will soon to be open to the school and let people enjoy the space we created!

Vilte Dubickaite, Megan McCarthy, Oisin Percival, Jason Curran, Raul Venczel, Brian Votta

Monstrous Microbeads

St. Michael’s Community College, Clare The aim of this project was to make people aware of the dangers and the consequences of using microbeads. Firstly, we put together a survey to see how much people knew about the dangers of microbeads in the environment.

Following this, we created a PowerPoint presentation about microbeads to inform classes about how they can harm the environment. We also started a social media site to reach a wider audience about the effects of microbeads.

Following the campaign, students told us that they would consider not buying products containing microbeads. So, we are so happy to hear this!

Ciara Quinlivan, Alannah Mullins, Róisín Keating, Grace O’Sullivan

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Ag Obair le Chéile

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Coláiste Na Sceilge & Kerry Diocesan Youth Service, Kerry Our aim was to connect with the broader community and develop environmental projects through the methodology of 5 a Day for Positive Wellbeing: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Get Involved, Give and Learn.

We connected with the school community by hosting a healthy breakfast morning for our peers introducing them to the new HSE Food Pyramid 2016. We have become involved with ACARD Limited a Community Voluntary Organisation and have proposed the development of a ‘Fairy Trail’ in the local children’s park. We are working with the Kerry Parents & Friends involved in the Cahersiveen Community Project and plan to plant and distribute window boxes for the elderly in early summer. We have enhanced our own school environment and will continue to work in our local community to enhance the local environment.

Anthony Quinn, Rebecca Thompson, Colin O’Sullivan

The Green Book of Receipes

Loreto Secondary School Babriggan, Dublin For our project we decided to focus on promoting a healthier lifestyle. In order to do this we decided to create a collection of recipes that promote a greener lifestyle. We showcased our recipe book at the school’s Healthy Eating Night for students. We also wanted to show how making small changes in people’s everyday life, like buying locally sourced food and reducing your red meat intake, can help reduce our carbon footprint.

We used social media to promote this issue. Changing our diet will also reduce the negative impact on the world around us!

Emily Forkin, Leah McCann, Aoibhe Rice, Frances Mulholland

Blinded by Beauty

Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Kerry Our aim was to raise awareness about beauty product testing on animals and inform people about the alternatives available. First of all, we carried out surveys among the students in school to see how their consumption patterns of cosmetic products contribute the continuation of animal testing. We then made our own organic makeup including foundation, lip scrub and face masks to encourage them to use alternatives. We also made a film about animal testing and showed it to all of the first years as we felt that it is necessary to teach the younger groups as they are our future generation and hopefully what they have learned can encourage them to make a difference.

Marion Knightly, Leah Browne, Ciara Lucid, Nicole Clancy, Ciara Elton, Rebecca O Brien

ECO-Health and Wellbeing - Junior Exercise in the Great Outdoors St. Colm’s High School, Derry

Our project focused on the health and well-being of pupils, staff and the community. We did this by creating an exercise program outdoors using the schools 3G pitch and the Biodiversity Trail as areas to exercise. A Health Fair was also organised by our group and experts from all different areas of health and well-being were invited to give their expertise on the topic. We became aware of global health issue and the importance of caring about the health and wellbeing of others in other countries. The community health trail received a grant of £20,000 from the Challenge Fund and £500 from the Workspace Group, Draperstown, to fund the exercise programme.

Can Music Move Us: Eco-Gig for a Sustainable Future Cork Educate Together Secondary School, Cork

Reece O’Flaherty, Jessica O’Haire, Joseph Peppard, Samantha Small, Vadims Smilgins, Bobbi Taaffe, Catalin Florea, Gemma Ryan, Lee Kinsella, Sarah Jane Goulding, Claudia O’Gorman

Our group wanted to create a new song and organise a musical event to influence political decisions about the environment and also improve young people’s wellbeing through music. We wanted to influence how people feel and make decisions in their own lives, and influence the politicians who are making decisions about fossil fuels, climate change, and biodiversity that threaten the wellbeing of humans and other living things. We decided to focus on biocides and pesticide pollution and help people to connect the environment to their own health. We composed a new song about this issue and performed it for all the students in the school. We recruited musicians to perform at a larger Eco-gig for young people and families in Cork in May.

Dylan Feller, Failenn O’Dwyer, Filip Tatarynowicz, Oskar Mc Callion Smith, Calli Joya, Samhain MohallyCastellan, Miriam Silva, Leo McLellan, Kate Taylo

Energy - Senior Aqua-Chargers

Carndonagh Community School, Donegal Our group decided to build a small, easily made hydro-electric generator that would be capable of charging a phone. For the generators we used water that was already available to us including rain water and water from streams to produce energy using a water wheel. Our creation was presented to the pupils of our school and other schools in our area to show how easy it is to create your own renewable energy for less than €25!

Eimear Smith, Rachel Devlin, Brigid Doherty, Danielle Houghton, Caiti Farren, Katie Dury

Energy - Junior The Winds of Change: Attitudes Towards Wind Power in Our Community Lanesboro Community College, Longford

The Winds of Change is our project which looks at the attitudes towards wind energy in the community. The area has seen the development of two large windfarms. As a result of this, there has been a debate over the benefits of the farms in the area. Our group used Vox Pop as a way to start a discussion around the importance of windfarms and the attitudes towards them. We also conducted a comparative study of real time electricity production by wind farms in Ireland, UK and Belgium to help understand the role that wind farms have in meeting their energy needs and tackling global warming. Overall we brought attention to the issue across our community.

Dylan McDermott, Sean Ryan, Melissa Banahan, Chloe Hussey, Cian Coffey

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Transport - Senior Park and Stride

St. Vincent’s Secondary School, Louth For our project we wanted to investigate air pollution and its effects on children. In order to do this, we built sensors and coded them to detect the levels of carbon dioxide and harmful gases in the air. They were positioned around various routes to school at a child’s approximate height. Following this, the data collected was analysed and the results of the project were advertised around the school. In the end, our project showed that school children are most affected by air pollutants due to their height and therefore it is a greater issue for them.

Ruth Clarke, Dearbhla McCourt

Transport - Junior 10,000 Steps Challenge

Coláiste Nano Nagle, Limerick The goal of our project was to highlight the importance of walking to school and leaving the car behind. In order to do this, we highlighted the damaging effects of car pollution and also highlighted the health benefits of walking to school. Our group set up a green schools group and brought in a Green Schools Travel officer to educate the group. We organised a non-uniform day for those students who walked to school and gave pedometers to teachers and students so that they could measure their steps. We also organised a sports challenge for 6 weeks with our PE teachers. Our project has resulted in the entire school becoming more active and healthy!

Nikoletta Kozma, Nancy Ekhtor, Amy McNamara Egan, Savannah Moran, Tori Franklin, Abbie Naughton, Zahra Pickford, Alanna Lohessy, Hiba Thabir, Lucia Babs, Nicole Quinlivan

Waste - Senior Ditch Your Carbon Cup Print

CBS Charleville Secondary School, Cork ‘Ditch Your Carbon Footprint’ is a project that aims to reduce CO2 emissions locally and nationally by encouraging people to bring their own reusable cup and ditch the disposable paper cup when getting a takeout beverage. Our group organised an event week in our local town to promote this cause. We got local coffee shops to give a discount to people when they bring their own cup when buying coffee. The Chamber of Commerce in the area agreed to mentor and help our group with this.

We conducted a survey as part of this project both before and after the designated week to get people’s opinion on the issue. We really hope to be able to encourage people to buy reusable cups by making more affordable ones available for them.

Paul Drinan, Luke Moore, Eamonn O’Sullivan, Brian Clifford, Conor Buckley, Jack Twomey, Thomas Foley

Cap your Waste

Abbey Community College, Waterford The aim of our project was to collect and reuse bottle caps around school and then use them to decorate old furniture. We wanted to promote the idea of reusing and upcycling our waste. We did this by collecting bottle caps all over our school grounds and finding furniture we could recycle. After decorating and upcycling our furniture we did presentation to a first year class to promote and spread awareness of the idea of recycling and upcycling.

Christina Balusca, Leah Bohill, Jennifer Neoh, Erin Ryan, Aoife Temple

Recycling Rangers

Blakestown Community School, Dublin

For our Recycling Rangers project we created a PowerPoint and classroom activities highlighting the issue of recycling. Our project encouraged the entire school to put more recycling bins along the corridors and make us recycle all of our waste in school. This was then extended to the local community where the Parent’s Association from all the schools attended a seminar to learn about recycling. We also raised awareness across the community by talking about the project on the local radio. We shared the knowledge about recycling all around our local community.

Alexandru Camila, Shannon Clarke, Stephen Devine, Tarek Eid, Trevor Fahey, Borys Garbowski, Dylan Hill, Mahamuud Ilyas, Conor Larney, Marcell Mustos, Aliyah O’Connor, Ciara O’Connor Pigott

What a Waste

Carrickmacross Youthreach, Monaghan Our team were really concerned by local media reports about littering and local dumping and how it was increasing in the area. We decided to produce a short documentary about the issue. We called the film ‘What a Waste’ to highlight the scale of the issue and its negative effects on the environment and what we can all do help solve the problem. We filmed at local sites around our area where littering was a massive problem and we also interviewed the Environmental Officer and Environmental Patrol Warden from our County Council. The film was not a ‘waste’ and contrasts the beauty of the natural environment with scenes of illegal dumping!

Cleaning up the Liffey

Stanhope Street Girls Secondary School, Dublin

Josh Martin, Bethany McCaul, Jennifer Muckian, Leanne Ward, Stephen Ward, Jacob Billingham, Christopher Maughan

For our project we made a short animated film about how litter and pollution affects plants and wildlife in the River Liffey. In order to do this, we researched the sources of pollution in the river and did surveys focusing on people’s attitudes to litter and how this relates to pollution in rivers. Our group showed the importance of this issue by showing the film to students in the school and other schools along with a presentation that we made. We reached 100 people so far but plan to reach much more. Our campaign will make people think twice about littering and hopefully make people proud of our area again.

Oumme Ghoorun, Malina Mihai, Bansan Alexandra, Jasmine Laam, Heather Kavanagh, Shazia Abbas, Michaella Murphy, Deneka Molloy, Shannon Ellis, Courtney Reddy, Hannah Dowling, Charley Hudson, Simona Matkovic, Helut Silvia-Maria, Silvia-Maria Helut, Anabade Ade, Mona Hameed

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Can Plants Lead the Way to Unleaded Soil?

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Moate Community School, Westmeath

For our project we wanted to raise awareness of phytoremediation as a suitable means to reduce lead pollution on contaminated Irish soils. Our group grew Indian mustard seedlings on a variety of contaminated soils in the presence of chelates. We identified the conditions that support lead uptake. We then grew Indian mustard plants in these conditions and determined the effectiveness of the plant as a biofuel. Our group also raised awareness of lead as a pollutant by carrying out a series of talks with school children. Finally we met with local farmers to stress the effects and treatment of lead poisoning in farm animals.

Ronan Murphy, Gerard O’Reilly, Patrizia Spiess

Ditch the Disposable

ECO-UNESCO Youth for Sustainable Development Programme, Dublin Our ‘Ditch Your Carbon Footprint’ project aimed to reduce CO2 emissions locally and nationally by encouraging people to bring their own reusable cup and ditch the disposable paper cup when getting a takeout beverage. Our group organised an event week in our local town to promote this cause. We got local coffee shops to give a discount to people when they bring their own cup when buying coffee. The Chamber of Commerce in the area agreed to mentor and help our group with this.

We conducted a survey as part of this project both before and after the designated week to get people’s opinion on the issue. We really hope to be able to encourage people to buy reusable cups by making more affordable ones available for them.

Hannah Fitzpatrick, Grace Dolan, Isaac Hurley

Waste - Junior Think Green

St. Cecilia’s College, Derry The goal of our project was to improve the environment by reducing waste and raising awareness among our peers through social media and blogs. Our group’s main aim was to start reducing waste throughout school. We did this by collecting food waste in the canteen after lunch and putting it in the compost bin that we purchased. We ensured that recycling bins were put into every classroom in the school. Our group upcycled cereal boxes, sweet containers and biscuit tins and made them into desk organisers and gift boxes. We also produced video blogs about this issue which already have 5,000 views. The project was successful as it reduced the amount of waste going to landfill and educated the entire school about the issue.

Ceili Mc Fadden, Caitlin Harkin Gallagher, Bronagh O Neill, Sinead Mc Gowan, Emilie Gillespie, Mia Bradley, Rebecca Mc Closkey, Tamara Doran, Sara Mc Bay, Brogan Long, Emily Ross, Clara O Kane

The Write Way to Write Rathdown School, Dublin

Thousands of whiteboard markers are thrown out weekly throughout schools in Ireland. These markers are both expensive and are ending up in landfill. Our project aimed to encourage our local schools to use renewable whiteboard markers called Legamaster, made by a Dutch company. The Legamaster involves buying the marker ink separately and the marker can be refilled whenever it runs out. We found that most schools in Ireland are using disposable whiteboard markers, and that switching to reusable ones would save nearly €1 million and reduce landfill by 35 tonnes per annum. We will continue to raise awareness of the use of the renewable markers.

Eithne Cuney, Olivia McKevitt, Isabelle Byrne, Julie Robinson

Plastic Never Goes Away

Mary Immaculate Secondary School, Clare The aim of our project was to study the micro plastics in the sand in North Clare.

We wanted to raise awareness of this issue through a poster campaign. We also wanted to reduce usage of non-reusable water bottles replacing them with reusable ones starting with all the first years. This would drastically reduce waste in the school. We also wanted to create a website to raise awareness.

We got reusable bottles for all first years in the school and raised awareness of the issue of plastic waste in the environment. Overall, we hope we reduced the amount of plastic waste in our school!

Binning = Winning

Stoneybatter Youth Service, Dublin

Niamh O’Growney, Zoe Norrish, Dylan Egan, Harry Wainwright, Eva Harrington, Eve McMahon, Holly Nilan, Órlaith Petty, Jane Barret, Róisín Roche, Róisín McNamara, Aoife McNamara, Sarah McNamara, Emma Vaughan, Bláthnaid Marsh, Ruth Costello, Lisa Shannon, Laura Griffey, Grace Lynch, Latisha Carr, Áine Connole, Norah O’Dwyer

Our Binning = Winning project focused on promoting recycling in the community.

We met every Tuesday to look at the issue of waste and to work in a creative and fun way on the recycling process in the Smithfield area. We conducted a survey to find out what the issues were in the area around littering. We made a video acting out different scenarios of littering at Smithfield square in order to find out what the response was when we threw litter on the ground. We then invited our friends and family to come view the video. As a result, we brought attention to the importance of recycling in the community.

Brook Donohoe, Timeea Simion, Shauna Fitzharris, Hollie Bannon, Sophie Noone, Nadia Byrne, Aoife O’ Connor

Setanta’s Leave No Trace Action Project

Coláiste Pobail Setanta, Dublin Our project aimed to clean up the forested area around our school. We wanted to clean up the rubbish around the area that had been gathering for years. We spent a day cleaning up the area and making the environment much nicer. The community was really supportive of our project. We made our local area cleaner and we now plan to organise monthly litter collection days to ensure the area stays clean.

Osmundo Joven, Richard Adebayo, Abdulwasii Ajayi, Adam Morrissey, Leon Woolbridge, Olamide Animashaun, Niamh Long, Lauren Royal, Luke Henry.

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Water - Senior Uisce Aille - Mapping the Aille Catchment Mary Immaculate School, Clare

For our project we decided to participate in a water catchment mapping program. We have explored and mapped the natural and the built environment underlying the Aille Catchment in the Burren. It is essential to know how water moves as it is a vital part of our ecosystem. In order to understand this, we have put together an infographic poster which will be on permanent display in Lisdoonvarna that shows the catchment and all the different environmental factors and land uses within the Aille watershed.

David Beuselinck, Fearghal Burke, Conor Clancy, Arthur Collins, Ciara Costello, Jayden Culligan, Tara Flanagan, Michael Garrahy, Thomas Hartigan, Jessica Kelly, Dara Kenneally, Ellen King, Lara Norrish, Hannah O Brien, Aishling O Connor, Holly O’Flaherty, Jane O’Loughlin, Claire Reilly, Jody Whelan

Eliminate the Microbeads

Christ King Girls Secondary School, Cork The aim of this project was to raise awareness and understanding of the effects microbeads can have in water and the harm they cause to marine life. We did this by researching microbeads and asking a guest speaker to speak about microbead pollution and its harmful effects. We also conducted experiments to try and further understand the dangers of microbeads. We also wanted to show that you don’t need microbeads and we created our own natural scrub to show this. By completing this project we have gained further knowledge of the effects of microbeads on the environment.

Aine Doyle, Brigita Jankovskyte, Deimante Miezetyte, Wardhah Moxamed, Rachel Moynihan, Richeal O’Korie, Jun Ping Li, Rachel Sheridan, Talina Simara, Pauline Tittmann, Liza Tsesnokova, Rachel Wall

Clean the Fleece, Dirty the Planet!

St. Louis Community School, Mayo

We focused on raising awareness around the microfiber epidemic and particularly look at the damage they cause to fish and other marine life when they get into our oceans. We tested whether fleece releases microfibers when washed. We conducted an experiment and found out that it does! We raised awareness of our research by contacting our local newspapers and submitting articles as well as making posters for our school and around our area. We hope we made people more aware of the dangers of microfibers.

Katie Mc Nicholas, Lorcan Conroy, Eshal Skaria, Michael Maloney

H2OMG

Presentation Secondary School Tralee, Kerry For this project we wanted to raise awareness about the negative effects of fluoride on our health. In order to do this we began hosting competitions in primary schools in our area and our own school. We also held a bake sale in our school to get more attention for our cause. We wanted to get the entire community involved and therefore we handed out leaflets around our local community. Our project was successful as we made people more aware of the dangers of fluoride and hopefully reduced their intake of it!

Sarah Hoare, Therese Keane, Sadbh Kilgallen, Katie Laucher, Ciara Lynch, Shauna McElligott, Clodagh McHugh, Xena Mitchell, Kayley Molloy, Croiadh Molloy, Caemnat Moore, Clara Moran, Roisin Moriarty, Ava Kelly, Chloe Morris, Lucy Murphy, Anna Shaughnessy

Water from Air

Wesley College, Dublin The aim of our project was to find the best way of collecting dew using recycled materials with a simple design that can be easily made by those who need it!

We did this by doing a real life experiment outdoors as well as simulation in our lab. This meant that we had two different environments to test our collectors. In the end we found that a W shaped can at a 20 degree inclination was the best design to collect dew in the most environmentally friendly and inexpensive way.

Jose Juan De Leon, Andrew Clarke

Water - Junior Ban the Bead!

Ursuline Convent Thurles, Tipperary The aim of our project was to demonstrate the impact that microbeads have on marine life and to create awareness of how widely they are used in cosmetic products. In order to do this, we gave presentations in our local primary and secondary schools. We also interviewed local politicians regarding the government’s standpoint on the issue. In order to reach a wider audience, we used various social media channels to spread our message as far as possible.

Leanne Donegan, Katie McCarthy, Sarah Fitzgerald, Sophie Timlin

Super Junior ECO-Pirates

Kill O’ The Grange National School, Dublin We, Eco-Pirates, campaigned about the local and global plastic crisis.

We focused on single use plastic bottles and the impact they have on the environment. We decided to lobby our Local Government to implement a Bottle Deposit Scheme in Ireland. This scheme has been proven to reduce plastic in landfill and it reduces the damage to our ecosystems and wildlife.

We carried out a petition and received 500 support signatures for the bill. We presented the petition to Cathairleach Cormac Devlin who sent it to Minister Naughten. We also performed a play about the bottle bill; showcased our project at the school fair; ran a bottle drive in school collecting 1,659 bottles over 3 lunch times.

Lauren Osbourne, Liam Young, Motheo Suping, Sophie Shepard, Oscar Schmidt, Rory McPherson, Zara Griffin, Sam Kennedy, Tadhg Clarke

Irish Tree Trail

St. Laurence’s National School, Dublin Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton launched our team’s “Irish Tree Trail”, a free video field guide to our 28 native trees during National Tree Week 2017. These films support our team’s UN-backed Plant-for-the-Planet goal; children plant one million trees in every country by 2020. Our school hosted Ireland’s First Tree Academy, planting 300 trees in our local park with children from the UK & US, where the Mayor of Fingal certified 50 UN Climate Ambassadors. Enjoy our 3-minute shorts made with the Tree Council showing which Irish trees to plant - our newest of 6 Irish Tiny Forests helps stop local flooding. Stop talking and start planting at easyas12tree.com.

Isabelle O’Reilly, Hannah O Brien Glackin, and the School Green Committee

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There Is Hope If We Act Together

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Milverton National School, Dublin

Our group wanted to gain an understanding of how climate change not just impacts communities in Ireland, but also communities all over the world! In order to educate the entire community, we decided to create a mural for the area and placed it where everyone can see. The mural was planned and created with the assistance of an artist and Supervalu who provided the wall. We organised a launch for the mural to gain more attention for our cause, which included a feature on the RTÉ Programme ‘News2day’. In the end, we were successful at raising awareness of climate change issues and also showing support for communities in places like Nicaragua who are being affected by climate change.

Jack Coleman, Daniel Daly, Megan Russell, Cillian Daly, Jacob Clinton, Isabella Fanning-Tolan, David Gorman, Kathy Seaver, Oscar McIvor, Aisling Rice

Think Global, Act Local - Bee Seed Selfie

Balbriggan Educate Together National School, Dublin Our project focused on bees and the other pollinators that are currently under threat globally. In order to help with this issue locally, we decided to plant bee friendly flowers so that there would be safer habitats and more food for the bees. Our group organised a school wide initiative where everyone got a wildflower seed ball that they could plant at home. This meant that there would be bee friendly habitats all around our community. Our group planted seeds all around the school as well!

Through our actions, we were really successful at educating everyone about bees and other pollinators.

Alma Atagamen, Anziata Kamagate, Abdulwaaris Jimoh, Ciara O’Beirnes, Dario Cucu, Glory Agbator, Rima Almare

Tackling the Issue of Waste and Improving Our Recycling in Stanhope Street P.S. Stanhope Street Primary School, Dublin

For our project we wanted to reduce the amount of waste in our school.

We did this by first looking at our black bins and seeing what was put in there. The bins were full of things that could be recycled. We wanted to change this! We decided to tackle the problem by reducing, reusing and recycling. We organised a school wide campaign with posters, mascots and recycling stations to make sure people knew about recycling. Our project was successful as when we looked at our bins again after the campaign we found that we had reduced our waste!

Emma Heffernan, Ally Wynne, Saarah Noor

So-Fa So Good

Teach na nDaoine Family Resource Centre, Monaghan In order to show how easy it is to recycle and upcycle waste in a creative way, we decided to make furniture out of recyclable materials. We collected materials from our community and designed our project logo and the furniture. We made a sofa, coffee table and lamp with the materials we collected and they are now displayed in our community garden. To raise awareness of our project and the waste issue, we also contacted our local council, wrote articles in local newsletter and attended the local St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Eoin Clerkin, Francis Mc Donald, Jamie Clerkin, Karl Mc Cann, Robbie Mc Donald, Alec Mc Donald, Jessica Mc Donald, Katie Mulhall, Molly Cawley, Lisa Maughan, Kerri Mc Cann, Tyler McCann, Ronia Hall, Joshua Stephson, Morgan Cawley, Leon Mc Donald, Alex McDonald, Evalsad Garunkstis, Francis Mc Donald, Emma Louise Gormely, Clare Ginley, Linda Reilly

Notes

Young Environmentalist Awards 35

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Gold Funders & Sponsors ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards is part-funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE). ECO-UNESCO is also part-funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment through the Irish Environmental Network.

ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards is part-funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is responsible for protecting and improving the environment as a valuable asset for the people of Ireland and plays key roles in environmental regulation, provision of knowledge and advocacy for the environment.

ECO-UNESCO is part-funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs which focuses on harmonising policy issues that affect children in areas such as early childhood care and education, youth justice, child welfare and protection, children and young people’s participation, research on children and young people, youth work and cross-cutting initiatives for children.

Bronze Funders & Sponsors

ECO-Den Sponsors Monaghan County Council Galway City Council Galway County Council Clare County Council Wexford County Council

Cork County Council Longford County Council Kildare County Council Donegal County Council Westmeath County Council

Meath County Council Mayo County Council Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council

Venue Sponsors Lord Mayor’s Office (Oak Room) Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council (Lough Neagh Discovery Centre) The European Commission Representation in Ireland (Europe House) University College Cork National University of Ireland Galway

Other Supporters Pobal SSNO Irish Aid Irish Environmental Network (Biodiversity Zone) Buddabag (Chill Out Zone)

Acknowledgements ECO-UNESCO would like to thank all of the participants, teachers and youth leaders who took part in this year’s ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards, We would also like to thank our volunteers and those involved in promoting and supporting our work over the last year including:

ECO-UNESCO Board, Staff & Interns Board: Jamie Cudden, Tom McGovern, Liz Carroll, Anne Marie Kilshaw, Chris Nolan, Marie Collins Staff: Elaine Nevin, Evanna Craig, Dunchadh Kinane, Ji Hyun Kim, Lisa Wilson, Cintia Marques, David Brooks, Niall Barrett, Triona Reid, Susie Spratt Interns: Trish O’Beirne, Hye Jung Kim, Doireann Dunbar, Alison Phillips, Gabriel Ezutah, Tiffany Dempsey, Valéria Teixeira Colato, Tomas Bulnes, John Linnane, The KK Edit, Robert van der Does and all of our interns who have helped throughout the year Volunteers: Accenture Team, Serena Choong, Mark Hurley, ECO-UNESCO Youth for Sustainable Development Programme participants, and all of our volunteers who have helped throughout the year ECO-Den Expert Judging Panel: Evanna Craig (ECO-UNESCO), Karen Foley (Clare County Council), Professor Alice D’Arcy (University College Cork), Elaine Nevin (ECO-UNESCO), Mark Molloy (Galway County Council), Louise Ryan (Galway & Roscommon Education and Training Board), Fiona Cohen (Galway City Council), Gemma Richardson (Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council), Joan Shine (Southern Education and Library Board), Marcus Malley (Lough Neagh Discovery Centre), David Dawson (Environmental Protection Agency), Lisa Wilson (ECO-UNESCO), Dara Wyer (Kildare County Council), Carmel Breheny (Marks & Spencer), Gary Brady (Longford County Council), Ruth Maxwell (Westmeath County Council), Nial O’Connor (Monaghan County Council) Showcase Expert Judging Panel: Mary Cunningham (National Youth Council of Ireland), Michael Doorly (Concern), Kevin McCarthy (Department of Education and Skills), Carmel Breheny (Marks & Spencer), Brian Healy (City of Dublin Youth Services Board), Aidan Clifford (City of Dublin Education and Training Board), Tara Levins (Accenture), Philip Smyth (Cool Planet Experience), Lizzy Noone (WorldWise Global School), Vivienne Parry (UNICEF Ireland), Dean Eaton (Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council), Ruth Maxwell (Westmeath County Council), Bernadine Carry (Meath County Council), Karen Foley (Clare County Council), Gary Brady (Longford County Council), Niamh Ni Cholmain (Dublin City Council), Emer Barry (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland), Jackie O’Dowd (Science Foundation Ireland), Thomas Carolan (Gaisce), Edwin Landzaad (Transition Year Ireland), Moira Leydons (Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland) Ceremony Award Presenters: Philippe Pypaert (UNESCO), David Dawson (Environmental Protection Agency), Kevin McCormick (Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment), Michael Doorly (Concern), Oonagh Comerford (Irish Aid), Kevin McCarthy (Department of Education and Skills), Mary Cunningham (National Youth Council of Ireland), Dean Eaton (Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council) Special Guests: Brendan Carr (Lord Mayor of Dublin), Denis Naughten (Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment), Philippe Pypaert (UNESCO Programme Specialist) MC: Clara Murray and Ande Gray (RTÉ Presenters) Performers: Inhaler (Josh Jenkinson, Ryan McMahon, Eli Hewson, Robert Keating), Young people from Loreto College Swords and St. Laurence’s National School Baldoyle

YEA 2017 Finalist Booklet Edited by Ji Hyun Kim Designed by Hye Jung Kim Contributions by Elaine Nevin, Evanna Craig, Lisa Wilson, Trish O’Beirne, Doireann Dunbar

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ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017

Venue Location Map Round Room adjacent to the Mansion House, Dawson St., Dublin 2, Ireland

Marks the spot!

Accessibility: The Round Room is wheelchair accessible – please feel free to contact us if you require any specific arrangements.

Scan this QR-Code to have the map directly on your smart phone.

Code of Conduct The ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017 is being held once again in the prestigious Round Room and the Oak Room of the Mansion House, Dublin. We would like your group to gain as much from the experience as possible and for this, full cooperation and good behaviour will be expected from group members at all times. Please make note of the following rules, regulations and procedures and contact us if you have any queries or require any assistance. We look forward to a highly enjoyable event.

Project Displays • The Venue will be open for set-up at 8:30am – all displays must be completed by 9:30am sharp.

• Display materials are to be prepared in advance, adhering to criteria detailed above.

• You MUST NOT attach anything to the walls by any means; tape, blue tack, drawing pins, etc.

• Selected projects will form a public exhibition (venue TBC) after the Ceremony. For this purpose, all projects are to be left in the Round Room after the event.

• NOTE: DISPLAYS CANNOT BE RETURNED TO GROUPS. Showcase • 2 team members must be present at team’s display at all times.

• Group representatives must be prepared to talk to visitors and judges about their project. All displays will be visited by judges during the showcase.

Food • Each group is responsible for organising their own lunch between 1:00pm – 2:15pm. The Mansion House will not permit participants to eat in the venue. The Mansion House is in close proximity to St. Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street, which can be used as possible lunch alternatives.

• All participants are requested to bring in waste-free lunch, snacks and drinks (water) in reusable snack and drink containers.

Award Ceremony • All group members must return to the venue before 2:15pm and be seated by 2:25pm.

• All group members must stay in the Round Room until the Ceremony closes.

• An individual representative from each award-winning group may be asked to say a few words about their experience during the Awards Ceremony. We would advise that you prepare for this in advance and nominate a suitable representative from your group.

• ECO-UNESCO reserves the right to eliminate and/or combine categories where there are a low number of entries or where entries are deemed not to have reached the required standard. In this situation, there may not be an award made in each category. A number of high commendations may also be made.

General Terms & Conditions • All participating group members must commit to attending the entire event (8.30am – 5pm).

• Leaders and teachers are responsible for the conduct of their individual groups.

• Dress code is optional, we would suggest that young people should decide themselves what they wish to wear. Part of the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards ethos is to encourage young people to make decisions for themselves.

• Groups are advised to check their travel arrangements as soon as possible. The nearest train station is Pearse Station, while the Luas Green Line terminus is close by at St. Stephen’s Green.

• ECO-UNESCO and the Venue take no responsibility for lost or stolen or damaged goods during the event.

• As per the details signed in your original YEA Registration Form, please be reminded that images and/or video footage may be utilised by ECO-UNESCO for promotional usage in print and online publications; educational resources; publicity; advertising; web content; and other ECO-UNESCO media. ECO-UNESCO may use these images / video clips with or without names.

Register for ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards 2018!

Young Environmentalist Awards 2018 Timeline Sep 2017

Online Registration Opens

Sep - Oct 2017

Free YEA 6 Steps to Success Training

Nov 2017

Registration Closes

Nov 2017 - Feb 2018

Project Submission

Mar - Apr 2018

ECO-Den Semi-Finals

May 2018

Showcase & Awards Ceremony

Aug 2018

Exhibition of Winning Projects

Tel : +353 (0) 1 662 5491 Email : info@ecounesco.ie Web : www.ecounesco.ie

ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards 2017 is supported by: Gold Funders & Sponsors:

Bronze Funders & Sponsors: