Young environmentalists from Dublin scoop top prizes at ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2024

Five groups of young people from Dublin claimed prizes at this year’s ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) 2024.

Over 1,000 people attended the awards showcase and finals, which took place at the Royal Convention Centre, Dublin on Wednesday (15.05.24).

The groups were from four schools in Dublin and were among 26 eco-projects to receive awards at this year’s competition.

They included:

• ‘Making Mercy Marvellous’, Mercy College Coolock (pictured above receiving their award) was the winner in the senior eco-health and wellbeing category, and took home a special award sponsored by IKEA. This group tackled multiple issues in their school, including a regeneration of their outdoor areas and introducing more sports to improve students’ mental and physical wellbeing.

• ‘Benefits of Nature and Gardening on Mental Health and Wellbeing’, Mercy College Coolock (pictured above receiving their award) was the winner in the junior eco-health and wellbeing category. The group of young people promoted gardening in their school and within the wider community to benefit on mental health and wellbeing as well as the environment.

• ‘Sustainable Eco Action in Schools (SEAS)’, Skerries Community College (pictured above receiving their award) was the winner in the Further Growth category. This project founded an eco-club for students to collaborate on climate action.

• ‘We Only Want the Earth’, Loreto High School Beaufort (pictured above) was the winner in the senior eco-art and design category. The group of young people spread awareness about climate justice and equity through peer taught classes.

• ‘SDG Courtyard Project’, St MacDara’s Community College (pictured above) was the winner in the Local to Global category. These young people, sought to improve the level of awareness and action, by students and staff, on preserving biodiversity in their school and greater community.

The awards recognise the work of young people who are tackling key issues in relation to climate and biodiversity loss, taking environmental action in their school or community and coming up with creative solutions to solve environmental issues.

Now in its 25th year, the YEA programme has reached people in every county of Ireland, with a total of over 65,000 young people participating and 6,000 projects entered down through the years.

Commenting on the awards, Elaine Nevin, National Director, ECO-UNESCO said: “Since the Young Environmentalist Awards began 25 years ago, we’ve seen the programme go from strength to strength each year. I’m so impressed by the number of projects and the high standard this year from students in Dublin and across Ireland.

“Our young people are the heart of the YEA programme, using their passion, creativity and dedication to make a lasting impact on their communities.

“We have created a strong tradition of effecting environmental change over the last 25 years and I’m proud of the work that’s been done to date.

“When we started the YEA programme, there were five awards categories, since then it has grown to 12, reflecting the sheer scale of environmental issues that impact our planet and our young people.

“I would like to congratulate all of our awardees, acknowledge those who took part in our regional semi-finals and thank all our funders who make this all possible every year.

“Each and every project that entered this year’s awards deserves to be celebrated. We look forward to continuing to inspire youth environmental action for the next 25 years!”