Nature under the lupe impressed the jury with its original idea. “What made it unique was that it will educate the youth, that sustainability will consist in older colleagues showing something to the younger ones and that it is about learning by having fun, as already recommended by Comenius,” said the judge Magdalena Daria Vaverková from the Institute of Applied and Landscape Ecology AF MENDELU.

“I wanted to try the practical part with the children, to give them interesting information in a way that would keep them entertained and interested, which I think was successful. I work as a dance coach, I have afternoon training sessions with children and I enjoy it very much, so I am even thinking about becoming a teacher,” Lenka Lemberková outlined the motivation for the project.

The two winners will have a number of sub-tasks before the final round in Stockholm. “We have to work on the English throughout the project. We also want to make our motivation more visible, what we wanted to convey to the children. I’m grateful that there were five projects here today, so we could get inspiration from the others on what we can still improve, be it on our presentation, videos or overall graphic design,” Adam Kejda explained his plans for the future.

The final round in Stockholm will be divided into three parts. Competitors must submit a paper written in English, complete an online interview and present a poster on site. The winner will be decided by an international jury who will evaluate the written work and the subsequent interview. The winner of the international round will win USD 15,000, a trophy and a diploma.

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) is an international project that brings together high school students interested in water and sustainability. Each year, thousands of students from more than thirty countries compete for the best work that is directly or indirectly related to water. The Czech Republic has been participating in the competition since 2022, with Mendel University in Brno as the coordinator of the national round. The winner of the national round represents their project, school and the Czech Republic in the international round in Stockholm. There, the work is judged by a jury of international experts. The prize is presented to the winning student or team of students by the patron of the prize, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

About the project – Stockholm Junior Water Prize.