After winners and runners-up were awarded for grades in each school, GoodWe then held a championship awards event at the August Melbourne Home Show with all 1st place winners, teachers, parents and media in attendance.
EcoSmart Kids comprised of a series of interactive animated workshops, written and created by GoodWe Australia, approved by education professionals and aimed at primary school children from grades two to six. The workshops covered climate change, ways of helping the environment and how solar and other renewable energy sources work. The GoodWe Australia team, equipped with “Working With Children” permits, visited schools across Victoria to deliver the program inside the GoodWe smart innovation vehicle – the custom-made roadshow truck launched in 2022 by John Grimes of the Smart Energy Council.
The EcoSmart Kids competition allowed all participating children to create something that promotes a positive environmental message, leaving the medium completely open to their own creativity and passions, from art, to creative writing, to music and more. Winners and prizes were awarded to each grade in each school, and the 1st place winners going on to the championship awards event which was held at the August Melbourne Home Show.
The competition was judged by a panel consisting of Dean Williamson, Country Manager for GoodWe Australia, Maridza Riccioni, Features and Sponsorship Director for Exhibitions & Events Australia and Roshan Ramnarain, CEO of Energy Matters. Entries were wide and varied, including origami posters, eco-message cookies, solar powered jet turbine engine models, timeline dioramas, recycling bins, videos, poems and much more,
Ayaan Shah won the championship award for the grade 2-4 category, with Fletcher Curry taking the top spot for grade 5-6, they each received a trophy and a prize pack worth over $1,500 each. All other finalists received certificates and prize packs worth over $500 each. The event was supported by Exhibitions & Events Australia who run the popular Home Show events all over Australia, and TV host James Treble provided his talents to compere the event.
Dean Williamson, commented: “We saw a unique opportunity with our roadshow vehicle, to utilise it to reach a new audience in a fun and informative way. We thought that more could be done to support schools in helping to bring awareness about climate change, and showing that doing small, everyday things can make a positive difference. With the creation of EcoSmart Kids, we hope we can do our part to help inform and inspire children, their families and schools, and also reward them through the competition. We are also very thankful for the collaboration and support from the fantastic team at Exhibitions and Events Australia, to help us with an amazing awards event and celebrate the end of our 2023 program. The hope is that long term, we can deliver EcoSmart Kids across Australia and even tailored to other regions around the world for GoodWe teams overseas.”
Maridza Riccioni, commented: “With our Home Shows, we feel very strongly about showcasing sustainability for the home and outdoors, so we are really honoured to support such a fantastic and innovative program in ‘EcoSmart
Kids’ and to host the championship awards at the August Melbourne Home Show. We want to congratulate all the kids who participated in the program and competition, they made it very difficult for us to judge and decide on the prize winners at the school grade levels and especially at the championship final. We were blown away by the imagination and creativity from all the kids that entered. They should all be very proud!”
Roshan Ramnarain, commented: “At Energy Matters, we believe in a zero-carbon future, so we were delighted to be involved in this competition. The quality of the entries was amazing and absolutely inspirational. Considering the ages of the kids involved, the quality and creativity of the work really demonstrated that their level of understanding about climate change was significantly higher than expected – this is a true testament to the commitment of educating on climate change by their respective schools. I truly believe that when we hand the baton over to the next generation, our planet will be in good hands as the difference these eco-kids will make will be mind-blowing. What a great event and what a great initiative.” A public web page can be found at www.ecosmartkids.com.au with additional information about the 2023 program.
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