Foundation Conservation Carpathia invites children from the communities around the Făgăraș Mountains to compete for a 7-day trip to the Bavarian Forest National Park and to participate in the second edition of the “Adopt a corner of nature” competition. Children can apply from 1st March.
“Adopt a Corner of Nature” is a competition run by Foundation Conservation Carpathia in partnership with the Bavarian Forest National Park (Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald), which aims to encourage children and young people to learn about and promote the natural values of their own communities and to provide them with models of best practice in nature conservation.
Pupils are invited to look for a special place in their local area (an interesting landform, a clearing, a river that flows past their village, a mountainside, a swamp, etc.), tell why it is special and why it deserves to be looked after, come up with a plan of action they would like to do there, and find novel ways to promote this place both in the community and online.
“<<Adopt a corner of nature>> is a good opportunity for children and young people to understand the importance of protecting and promoting natural values in their communities. Students are encouraged to get directly involved in actions that aim to care for and promote a corner of nature close to their hearts. At the same time, by visiting the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany, children have the opportunity to broaden their thinking and creative horizons by travelling and learning about best practice models of natural and cultural heritage management.”
– Ioana Duică, Education Specialist, Foundation Conservation Carpathia
To participate in the competition, students must fill in the following form and send it by email to Ioana Duică at: i.duica@carpathia.org by 15th of March 2024.
Link form HERE
Children aged between 13 and 17 from Avrig, Arpașu de Jos, Cârțișoara, Cârța, Porumbacu de Jos, Racoviță, Turnu Roșu, Tălmaciu (jud. Sibiu), Arefu, Albeștii de Muscel, Bughea de Sus, Brăduleț, Cetățeni, Dragoslavele, Dâmbovicioara, Lerești, Nucșoara, Rucăr, Stoenești, Valea Mare Pravăț (jud. Argeș), Drăguș Hârseni, Lisa, Recea, Șinca Nouă, Șinca Veche, Sâmbăta de Sus, Ucea, Viștea (Brașov county), Moroeni, Pucheni, Runcu (Dâmbovița county).
The 15 best applications will be rewarded with a trip to the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany’s first and largest national park.
The trip will take place from the 29th of July to the 2nd of August 2024.
The trip will be by train and the children will be accompanied by a team of teachers.
Eligibility criteria:
- Children must be between 13 and 17 years old and live in one of the above-mentioned communities;
- The application form must be signed by their parents. The documents required for the trip to Germany will be completed later for the 15 winners;
- Children must have at least a conversational level of English;
- Children must complete all stages of the project as outlined in the competition form;
- Applications must be sent by e-mail to i.duica@carpathia.org by 15th of March 2024.
Evaluation of applications:
- In order to evaluate each application, we will give marks between 1 and 5 for the following criteria:
- The applicant’s motivation and the degree of complexity of the form;
- Creativity of the proposed activities;
- Coherence of the activities proposed;
- Respect for the rules of grammar.
The timetable for the competition is as follows:
- 1st – 15th March – submission deadline;
- 15th – 25th March – shortlisting;
- 1st of April – notification of winners;
- April-August – project implementation, including the trip to Germany from 29 July to 2 August.
15 children from the communities of Făgăraș Mountains developed projects in 2023 about different corners of nature in their area.
The first edition of the competition “Adopt a corner of nature” was enthusiastically received by children from the communities surrounding Făgăraș Mountains. 29 children took part in the competition, but only 15 were selected for the next stage. The winning children came from Drăguș, Avrig, Arpașu de Jos, Recea, Rucăr, Dragoslavele, Valea Mare and chose to promote and take care of: a beaver dam, their grandparents’ orchard, a clearing on Vârtoapele Peak (Leaota Mountains), or a stretch of the Arpaș River.
The children were introduced to the world of photography by Vlad Eftenie, photographer and architect, and learned how to promote their corner of nature on social media from the Foundation Conservation Carpathia team. The highlight of the programme was a visit to the Bavarian Forest National Park. At the end of the first edition, 18 social media pages were created where the students promoted their chosen nature corner and documented the progress of the project.
