This year’s competition focuses on mobilizing technology to create environmental solutions
Beirut, Lebanon – 2017: For the third consecutive year, Azadea Foundation celebrated Earth Day by hosting its inter-school Envirothon competition, organized under the patronage of the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education and in collaboration with The Little Engineer, experts in teaching children new trends in science education including robotics and renewable energy equipment. The Envirothon took place at the René Mouawad, Sanayeh Garden on April 25th with nearly 250 sixth-grade students from 10 private and public schools in the presence of previous Minster of Telecommunication Nicolas Sehnaoui among members of the jury panel.
In line with the increased importance of renewable energy solutions, this year’s Envirothon competition focused on “Using Technology for Environmental Solutions” with eight workshops designed to help students create items like cars and ovens powered by solar or wind energy. The event also served to develop various student skills such as team work, presentation, and communication.
“We strongly believe that education is one of the most powerful means to contribute in raising more environmentally-conscientious communities” said Marwan Moukarzel, President of the Azadea Foundation. He added: “With a commitment to create sustainable value, our annually customized Envirothon competition continues to positively impact the culture and behavior of rising young generations.”
The competition ended by finalist students displaying their projects to a professional jury comprised of previous Minster of Telecommunication Nicolas Sehnaoui, representatives from the Ministry of Education, The Little Engineer and Azadea Foundation, as well as Managing Editor of ArabNet Magazine, Rita Makhoul and Founder and Editor of “Mums in Beirut” blog, Dina Maktabi. The award provided the winning students the opportunity to attend a robotics class at The Little Engineer’s headquarters, allowing them with further opportunities to enhance their skills.
The founder of The Little Engineer, Rana Chemaitelly commented on this occasion saying: “At The Little Engineer, we believe that exposing young minds to the renewable energy resources like the solar and the wind energy, through hands-on learning activities, will trigger their minds to explore astonishing opportunities no book can offer. For this, we thank Azadea Foundation for its Envirothon initiative, where kids can go beyond the traditional learning environment to explore the potential of this huge industry and its challenges.”