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Representatives of Commissioner Piebalgs’ Cabinet, DG TREN (Transport and Energy) from the European Commission and a group of MEPs attended the event. When handing over the awards, Mr. Gierek, the host of the ceremony, said: I am very happy to see that young people take energy issues so seriously. The winners have truly deserved a prize for that and I encourage them to spread the message about energy efficiency in their environment. The twelve winning students come from the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. They also participated in a programme of activities and visits in Brussels which were organised by PlasticsEurope and European Schoolnet.
The Energy is our Future (FuturEnergia) school programme is a joint initiative of PlasticsEurope and European Schoolnet. It aims to increase awareness on how energy consumption affects climate change and how advanced materials such as plastics can help save energy and contribute to a sustainable future. Participants of the school competition designed a poster accompanied by a slogan and a short explanatory text either in English, French or German.
The school programme has reached over 2 000 000 students through an interactive website which includes monthly live chats hosted by high-profile energy experts, an online European-wide poster competition as well as an interactive “Energy Train Story”. The programme will continue its activities in the school year 2007/2008, targeting primary and secondary school students.
Wilfried Haensel, PlasticsEurope Executive Director, who chaired the ceremony, said: Energy is a key issue of our times. The plastics industry is proud to be an associate of the EU Commission’s Sustainable Energy Europe campaign. Our support for FuturEnergia, an independent platform for discussing energy efficiency with young people, is an integral part of our activities in the framework of Sustainable Energy Europe.
Winners and jury comments
Category: 12 years old and under
- 1st Prize: Ignacy Duszyński, Poland, Szkoła Podstawowa w Złotorii (Coordinating teacher: Alina Skowrońska); The winning piece of artwork is a collage that conveys a clear message about environment protection, by using a metaphor of traffic signs with appropriate forms and colours. (entry)
- 2nd prize: Caroline Camilleri, Malta, Paul Pullicino School (Coordinating teacher: Marlene Caruana); Caroline depicted the Earth and the Sun as two characters in a dialogue about the use of natural resources. The composition is well balanced with colours and shapes that speak for themselves. (entry)
- 3rd prize: Greceanu Raluca, Romania, School 120, Martisor, Coordinating teacher: Daniela Theodorescu; Raluca put together a group of compositional elements to strengthen the idea of energy saving as a key action to make a significant contribution to a sustainable future. Her slogan, poster and text description prove a realistic perception of the nowadays world and the energy issues it faces. (entry)
Category: 13 – 14 years old
- 1st prize: Eliška Pilátová, Czech Republic, ZUŠ Domažlice, Coordinating teacher: Igor Šlechta; Eliška created a visual contrast between the sleeping and conscious minds of people. She builds her visual arguments with a family of colours that are intended to remind people to “wake up” and understand that our common future should be built on other forms of energy. (entry)
- 2nd prize: Anna Martinusiková, Slovakia, Gymnázium Skalica, Coordinating teacher: Mária Kišková; All the elements of this competition entry tell a story about some future energy solutions, namely how to catch solar energy. The composition embeds several stages and the author used a relevant range of colours to convince her audience. (entry)
- 3rd prize: Aneta Kastlová, Czech Republic, ZUŠ Domažlice, Coordinating teacher: Igor Šlechta; Aneta formulates her slogan as a question: How do you want to look like? The poster is a comparison of two elements: classic and modern solutions to energy resources. (entry)
Category: 15 – 16 years old
- 1st prize: Octavian Palade, Romania, Colegiul National Bacau, Coordinating teacher: Liliana Dumitru; Octavian’s collage expresses a metaphoric idea of plugging the Earth to the Sun, as a way to get energy for free. The strong message of the composition is strengthen by the perspective in which the two compositional elements, the Sun and the Earth, live together. (entry)
- 2nd prize: Paweł Otremba, Poland, Publiczne Gimnazjum nr 4, Coordinating teacher: Elżbieta Suchińska; “The energy from under our feet” is the message of the collage of Paweł. He invites scientists to find solutions to capture the energy hidden in the Earth heart. (entry)
- 3rd prize: Alexandros Alexandridis, Greece, 1o TEE Ag.Dimitrios, Coordinating teacher: John Bacas; Alexandros composition is based on a balance in which a man holds two versions of the Earth: a black version resulting from the excessive use of energy and a blue version, as a result of efficient use of energy. (entry)
Category: 17 – 18 years old
- 1st prize: Alessandra Ferrante, Italy, Istituto Professionale Statale dei Servizi Sociali e della Pubblicità, Coordinating teacher: Elena Girogio; Alessandra’s collage is well carried out in terms of artistic use of materials and technique. It is a clear visual presentation that features new energy solutions. It is well arranged and composed - ground is at the bottom and the sky is at the top of the collage. (entry)
- 2nd prize: Loredana De Lullo, Italy, II.SS. Pietro Giannone, Coordinating teacher: Rachele Nardella; Loredana came up with an original artwork that compares the past and the future of humanity, by incorporating an optimist vision of the future. (entry)
- 3rd prize: Marta Puķīte, Latvia, Jelgavas Spīdolas ģimnāzija, Coordinating teacher: Baiba Āboltiņa; Marta’s collage symbolises the excessive use of energy in the world. The author strengthens the message “Turn off the heat!” through a set of relevant metaphoric elements: the Earth on gas ring. (entry)
General information
The Energy is our Future school programme is run by European Schoolnet on behalf of PlasticsEurope, the association of plastics manufacturers in Europe.
For more information about the school programme, please contact Petru Dumitru at: futurenergia@eun.org
For more information about PlasticsEurope, please contact: Hanane Taidi at: hanane.taidi@plasticseurope.org
Related links
Photo-gallery: FuturEnergia Awards Ceremony, Brussels, 19-20 September 2007
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The Energy is our Future School (FuturEnergia) School Competition prizes, in the four age categories, were announced at the Awards Ceremony that took place at the European Parliament, in Brussels, on 20 September 2007. Polish MEP Adam Gierek brought FuturEnergia’s Europe-wide poster competition on energy efficiency to a close by presenting the prizes. The prizes consisted of FuturEnergia Trophies, music players and certificates.
