Ekaterine Dgebuadze, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia attended the final event of the youth environmental competition "Niko Ketskhoveli School Award".

The final stage of the competition was opened by Nana Janashia, CENN Representative in Georgia, and was also attended by Nino Tandilashvili, Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, Thomas Mulmann, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to Georgia, and Ghasan Khalil UNICEF Representative in Georgia.

Ekaterine Dgebuadze addressed the audience and wished the participants success in the final stage.

Ekaterine Dgebuadze: “Implementing similar projects and competitions at schools and further integrating the components of sustainable development into the educational process is absolutely essential, as it allows us to raise young people with the right values ​​and standards, which will help the next generation to meet any challenge and live in a better socio-economic environment. I would like to congratulate each finalist once again and wish them future success.”

The Niko Ketskhoveli School Award competition aims to encourage change to improve the natural and social environment and to establish values ​​for young people such as solidarity, cooperation, and environmental responsibility.

At the event, 34 finalist schools presented important projects that they implemented throughout the year in response to global challenges in the cities and villages of Georgia.

The panel, composed of representatives of state, international and scientific organizations, identified three best schools in the final stage: Duisi village school of Akhmeta municipality was named the winner of the first place, whereas II and III places were awarded to Akhalsopeli №2 village of Kvareli municipality and Tseroveki village of Mtskheta municipality, respectively. In addition, the organizers named their favorite schools. The winners and the selected schools were awarded with special prizes and certificates by the organizers.

Schools from various regions of the country participated in the competition, however the jury selected 34 finalist schools in two stages: in the first stage, the eco-clubs registered on the portal gained points according to the activities carried out by them; whereas the second stage involved the implementation of regional semifinals, during which the students were given the opportunity to discuss the results of team-work and acquired knowledge with the panel of experts from the public sector and the field of environmental protection and sustainability. 

The Niko Ketskhoveli School Award was established in 2015 by CENN with the financial support of the Austrian Development Partnership, and to date more than 1,000 schools across the country have participated in the competition. The competition was co-organized by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Spots of Georgia, the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and the Parliament of Georgia.