Environmental awards target local youth

YOUNG people on the Northside are being encouraged to get their hands green and reap the rewards of their environmental efforts.

Now in its 16th year, the Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA), run by ECO-UNESCO, is Ireland’s biggest celebration of youth eco action and is an initiative open to people aged 10-18 years from the 32 counties.

The programme sees groups from schools, youth and community organisations come up with real solutions to a host of local and global environmental issues.

Last year, following some very competitive regional semi-finals, hundreds of entries were shortlisted to just 75 finalists.

The groups impressed the judging panel with projects ranging from developing biodiversity trails, creating art objects from recycled aluminium, delivering environmental workshops in schools, to setting up a

‘city farm’ to harvesting crops and cutting down on food miles.

The 75 groups attended the prestigious Young Environmental Awards showcase and ceremony in May.

Registration for the awards will close on November 28. Participants will have until the end of February 2015 to complete their project in one of 10 categories.

Once registered, groups can avail of ECO-UNESCO’s training, advice and ongoing support as their projects progress.

Teachers and youth leaders can register groups of 2-25 people by visiting www.ecounesco.ie or by contacting ECO-UNESCO at 01-6625491 or email yea@ecounesco.ie