Great News from ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards about our work in Timoleague Educational Garden.
“Congratulations, Your Team is a YEA Semi-Finalist! We are delighted to say you are through to the ECO-Den Semi-Finals of the Young Environmentalist Awards 2024!. A big congratulations to you and your team for all your hard work over the past weeks and months in crafting your environmental action project. Your project stood out, and we're eager to learn more about it first-hand at ECO-Dens!”
ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) is an all-Ireland environmental awards programme that recognises and rewards young people who raise environmental awareness and improve the environment.
Since 1999, ECO-UNESCO has run the YEA programme to honour the work of young people to protect, conserve and enhance the environment through local environmental projects, making a difference to their lives and the lives of others both locally and globally. Over 50,000 young people have taken part in the YEA since it began, bringing about lasting change to the environment, and reaching countless others with awareness-raising campaigns in schools and communities throughout Ireland.
The YEA programme is a fun and exciting way to empower young people to become better citizens, to build awareness of environmental issues in the community and promote local actions and lifestyle changes to the environment.
HOW DO THE AWARDS WORK?
Interested groups register online.
Registered groups take part in free ‘6 Steps to Success’ regional training.
Groups submit their ECO-Action projects.
Internal judging panels assess all registered projects and create a shortlist.
Shortlisted groups are invited to pitch their projects to a panel of expert regional judges at ECO-DENS.
Finalists showcase their project at YEA Gala Showcase and Awards Ceremony.
YEA PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
1. ACTION
We are looking to see that young people have taken action that preserves the environment in some way. Your project may already involve action but if it does not, you may like to consider adding this element to your project. For action ideas, see our YEA Programme Manual (p.49).
2. RAISING AWARENESS
We want to see that you have understood the environmental issue that your project addresses and that you have raised awareness about this issue in your school, local community or further afield. For more information on this, see the YEA Programme Manual for more details.
WHAT DOES 'TAKE ACTION' MEAN?
Taking action is an essential part of the Young Environmentalist Awards Programme, not only to demonstrate what you have learnt, but also to be empowered and inspire others to take action in the future. There are several kinds of actions, big or small, that can be taken, and you can choose to focus on one of them or mix them together, depending on your team timeline, budget and interests.
