On 21 March 2017, celebrating the International Day of Forests, the finals of Niko Ketskhoveli and Photo Synthesis 2017 were held in Fabrica.
23 countrywide selected schools were taking part in Niko Ketskhoveli environmental school competition. The schools had won competitions in their respective regions and remained the best throughout the whole competition.
The environmental competitions are organized by CENN in partnership with the ministries of Environment and Education of Georgia.
Within the initiative, teams were formed in each of the schools, who, with the help of local governmental and/or public organizations carried out numerous environmental activities.
As expected, the competition final was not without emotions, with the jury having a hard time selecting the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place holders. At the end of a tense and difficult day, the following schools were awarded as the 2017 Niko Ketskhoveli winners:
1st place: Gori N1 School
2nd place: Telavi N2 School
3rd place: Didadjara Public School
All three winners will assist in organizing CENN’s eco hub.
All schools were awarded with various prizes and a honorary green flag by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Georgia, Gigla Agulashvili, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education of Georgia, Lia Gigauri, CENN’s executive director, Nana Janashia and GFW national coordinator, Catherine Nakashidze
Within the Niko Ketskhoveli competition, the Minister of Environment awarded three schools on best featured video. The ministry will organize camping and hiking events on Georgia’s various protected areas for the winning schools. The student of Tchiatura N2 School, Elene Gogoladze, received a special prize – she will serve as Minister of Environment for one day.
The competition participants received many other prizes from the partnering organizations, doubling their motivation to take part in the next year’s competitions.
The international forest day was enriched by beautiful photos themed – “My Forest”. The jury selected the following two winners:
David Bilokhidze
Tamar Kopaleishvili
The social network users chose Mamuka Tchkadua.
The winners received different vouchers equivalent to GEL 1000, enabling to acquire various gear for hiking and camping.
The initiative is carried out within the project framework of sustainable forest management in Georgia, with the financial support of Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC)
