Young people all across Ireland and Northern Ireland presented their environmental action projects to judges at ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards ECO-Dens. Over 70 groups took part in the regional ECO-Dens - the semi-final of the Young Environmentalist Awards 2017 competition- that took place in each Province of Ireland between 15-30 March.

The groups had to convince a panel of expert judges, that included Elaine Nevin (ECO-UNESCO), representatives from Local County Councils, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National University of Ireland Green Campus Facilitator, and many more amazing people, that their group deserves a spot at the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2017 Final Showcase and Awards Ceremony taking place in Dublin’s Mansion House, Tuesday 23^rd of May.

The projects covered a wide range of themes and topics, from biodiversity, climate change and water and some really creative ECO-Design projects were seen across the 6 ECO-Dens.

Commenting on the ECO-Dens, ECO-UNESCO Director Elaine Nevin said,

“The ECO-Dens provide a fantastic opportunity for the semi-finalists to work together in their teams to pitch their projects to a panel of experts. We were inspired and impressed about what steps this year’s young people have taken to tackle environmental issues; the quality of projects is always high and this year was exception!”  

Since 1999, the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards has been recognising and rewarding the work of young people in environmental protection.  Now in its eighteenth year, the programme has received hundreds of applications from schools and youth groups from both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Groups successful in the regional semi-finals have a chance to attend the annual National Showcase and Awards Ceremony event held each May. There, participants will get a chance to showcase their work, meet TV celebrities and win fantastic prizes.