Volvo Adventure - young environmentalists to "invade" Göteborg
05/06/2009
On 5 June the Swedish west coast city Göteborg will be hosting about 75 young students along with 25 teachers from ten different countries. All of them invited as they are finalists in the worldwide environmental competition Volvo Adventure.
Their environmental projects will all be presented on 8 June, when also media is invited.
It is busy days for Kikki Hugestrand at Volvo Cars. She is arranging and preparing everything from the program to inform the teams about the temperature in Göteborg to if you should bring shoes or not (definitly needed in the Swedish rather cold climate). She has for many years worked with the finalist program together with the teacher Helena Sagar, from Kullaviksskolan a junior high school close to Göteborg.
The teams come this year from Mexico, Isle of Man, Hungary, USA, India, Brazil, China, Egypt, Russia and Turkey. They will, as the normal procedure during the years, be hosted by Helena Sagars pupils. They are all well prepared to guide and help the students during their 6 days visit.
"Volvo Adventure is simply great!", Helena Sagar says. "It is so great, from different perspectives, that it is hard to describe in words, it has to be experienced! Nobody seems to understand how big it is. My students say that it is their best experience from their time in compulsory school and several of them have built relations that last for ever."
On the 9 June the prize giving ceremony will be held in the Volvo hall (Volvohallen) at Volvo Cars' headquarters. The winning project together with the second and third place winners are awarded.
The teams have all done a great job with their different projects (find them in the related information in the banner, click "Additional information").
The projects concern all from protecting dolphins and manatees, recycling of paper, environmental education run by youngsters, handling of used oil, cleaning a beautiful river, to learn other to recycle and not throw waste, sun light heater with recycling waste, to not waste the precious water, save biodiveristy and and thus save money for the cities and to make the students to cycle to school.
It is really a full programme during the days they will spend in Göteborg, with workshops, UNEP (United Nations Environmental Partnership), Tunza* and Scout activities, taking the bus to Kullavik but also visiting the amusement park Liseberg.
*Tunza -is an environmental project within UNEP. The word "TUNZA" means "to treat with care or affection" in Kiswahili (a sub-regional language of Eastern Africa). The overall TUNZA Concept, therefore, is built around this theme. It is an initiative that is meant to develop activities in the areas of capacity building, environmental awareness, and information exchange, with a vision to foster a generation of environmentally conscious citizens, capable of positive action.
FACTS
The Volvo Adventure is open to youngsters aged between 13 and 16. The winning team gets 10,000 US dollars, the runner-up gets 6,000 dollars and the third team receives 4,000 dollars.
379 teams from 56 countries took part when this year's competition got under way. Ten of these teams have now reached the finals.
Here are the finalists 2009:
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School / Team name
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Country
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Project
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Grupo Escoteiro Guairaca
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Brazil
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Sun light heater with recycle material
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Shanghai Pinghe School
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China
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Greeeeen Runway
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Teenagers Conservation Task Force
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Egypt
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Wise Action & Tips for Environment Revitalization
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Avasi Gimnázium / Naturedoctors
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Hungary
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Protecting the cradle of life in Miskolc: Szinva
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Govt. High School Tilak Nagar Gudhiyari
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India
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Water drop - A Precious Pearl
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Queen Elizabeth II High School
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Isle of Man
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tREe"CYCLE"
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HUNAB proyecto de vida AC
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Mexico
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Aquaponics to save biodiversity and towns' economy
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Secondary school of Zelenogradsk
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Russia
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School Recycling Paper Workshop
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Büyük Kolej/Young Producers
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Turkey
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"Hunters for Fried Waste Oils"
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Leesburg High School
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USA
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Pier2Pier - protecting wild dolphins and manatees
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