Calling on young people in Mayo to solve environmental issues in their local community

Do you have an idea about how to reduce energy consumption in your school? Are you concerned about the levels of pollution of the river in your local area? How could you tackle the issue of plastic waste in your classroom?

Registration for ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards is now open. The competition welcomes entries from young people aged 10 to 18 years across Ireland in primary and secondary schools, youth groups, community groups and Youthreach centres.

The awards recognise young people who are raising awareness and implementing solutions to environmental issues in their community in the form of a new or already established project.

Now in its 25th year, over 60,000 young people have participated in the initiative since it began.

As part of the competition process, participants will be invited to submit ‘action projects’ across 13 categories, including climate change, biodiversity, water, energy, transport, marine life, and waste. Each project entered is required to show that young people have taken action that protects the environment in some way while also raising awareness in the community.

Registrations for the Young Environmentalist Awards 2024 are open until Wednesday, December 20. Groups are required to submit their information to express their interest in being involved.

Details of the ‘action project’ are not required at this stage of the competition. Further information can be accessed here.