The winners of the ‘’Niko Ketskhoveli School Prize'' have been revealed

Tamar Aladashvili, the principal of EIEC, opened the meeting with words of greeting.

"This year's contest topic for the Niko Ketskhoveli school prize was climate change. As you are aware to deal with climate change, environmental education is particularly important for addressing climate change. One of our top concerns is educating the next generation about environmental issues and getting young people involved in environmental activities. The Niko Ketskhoveli School Prize and other contests of similar nature help to spread knowledge about climate change, introduce sustainable development goals, and strengthen local municipalities," stated Tamar Aladashvili.

The Niko Ketskhoveli School Prize is a contest among eco-clubs, and its main goal is to raise the awareness of schoolchildren about the goals of sustainable development. In 2023, more than 450 schools took part in the contest.

The winner of the Niko Ketskhoveli School Award 2023 became the N2 Public School of Marneuli Municipality. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia selected Marneuli Municipality's Public School N2. Traditionally, speakers of the school's eco club will "take the post" of the ministers of environmental protection and agriculture of Georgia for one day and take part in the program of eco leaders and agro school.

Within the contest, the Centre identified the winner of the "Green Award": Eter Getsadze, from the N1 public school of Apheni village; also, in the special nomination for "Eco-speaker of the Year," Aleksandre Benidze, from the public school of the village of Letitskvaia, was nominated.

Tbilisi N45 public school became the chosen city of the National Forestry Agency. The agency handed over a multi-functional projector to the Eco Club of the school, Green Life.

The representatives of 35 Georgian school eco clubs taking part in the final meeting submitted to the jury and the invited guests the important environmental and social activities that they implemented in their cities and villages during the year.

The Niko Ketskhoveli School Prize is implemented by the Caucasus Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations Network (CENN) within the framework of the project "Sustainable Forest Management for Rural Development", with the financial support of the Austrian Development Cooperation. The co-organizers of the contest are the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Parliament of Georgia.

The First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Tamar Makharashvili, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria, Thomas Miulman, Permanent Coordinator of the United Nations in Georgia, Sabine Makhli, and Executive Director of CENN, Logan George Etienne Nicole, attended the meeting.