Rome, February 24th 2010 - Winners of the Playenergy 2009 international competition were awarded today in Rome by Enel Chairman Piero Gnudi and by Enel CEO and General Manager Fulvio Conti, during a ceremony attended by Italys Minister of Youth Giorgia Meloni.
Once again this year, a wide number of schools enthusiastically participated in the competition: 446,000 pupils at over 7,400 schools in Italy and internationally, of whom 112,000 actually took part in the competition. The 3,000 projects that they submitted underwent an initial regional selection phase before being sent to Rome for final judging by the National Panel.
PlayEnergy is one of the ways in which Enel underlines its commitment to young people. The competition promotes energy awareness and consciousness, encouraging children of all ages to discover the world of power and science. Schoolchildren in Italy, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Greece, Guatemala, Panama, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and the United States of America were challenged to use their creative and design skills in a Call for eco-ideas for your town. The students came up with efficient solutions to improve quality of life as well as promoting the intelligent use of electricity in the places in which we live, transforming cities into models of energy efficiency and savings, for the benefit of the environment and of society as a whole.
Minister of Youth Giorgia Meloni stated: The interest shown by students in taking part in PlayEnergy shows just how aware young people are about the importance of energy saving and of its positive impact on the environment. Initiatives like this demonstrate that young people around the world speak the same language when it comes to tackling issues that concern not just their own future, but the future of society as a whole.
Enel CEO Fulvio Conti stated: The Playenergy project shows how the energy issue can bring together younger generations from many different nationalities going beyond geographical boundaries. We think it is important to continue raising awareness among young people, to whom the future of the world is entrusted, about sustainable development, energy efficiency and the value of scientific research, in order to ensure greater awareness across society of how important it is to use our energy assets wisely and appropriately.
The award ceremony in Rome provides an excellent opportunity for everybody involved in PlayEnergy to meet and share ideas. A delegation of non-Italian students who took part in the project also received an award during the ceremony.
ITALIAN WINNERS
The primary school category winner was year two classes A/B at the Grazia Deledda I School division in Carbonia (Province of Cagliari), who developed their Ecoschool project with teachers Anna Maria Carboni and Anna Etzi. Second place was won by years two and three at the Voltri 2 Unified School in Genoa, whose project A Portrait for Voltri was coordinated by teacher Luisa Ratto. Third prize was awarded to year four class A taught by Anna Maria Alonzo at the F. Nicolini di Via Marco Aurelio Severino Comprehensive School in Naples, whose project was Lets Not Waste Energy.
Special mentions in this category were given to the year four classes at the unified Bargazza Unified School (Bologna), led by teacher Anna Maria Giovanelli, whose project was entitled Silent Energy, and the Boccioleto (Vercelli) elementary school mixed-age students who, led by teachers Antonella Saresini and Mathias Micanolo, presented their project Walser Village; a further special mention was awarded to year five class C TP for their We Are The Future design, coordinated by teacher Lucia De Donno.
In the XL category the lower level of secondary school first prize was taken by the On the Edge of a Condominium project submitted by year two classes A-B at the Alessandro Manzoni di Montefiascone Middle School (Viterbo), overseen by teachers Laura Mascioli and Federica Revoltella. The Scuola Teseo Tesei of Livorno won the second prize with year two class G, taught by Maria Cristina Pasquini, whose project was entitled O Sole mio. The final medal winner was teacher Annunziata Mirella Bellavistas year two class E, at the Scuola Don Giovanni Minzoni in San Pietro Vernotico (Brindisi), for their project Young People, Energy Saving Educators. A special mention in this category went to Dream House, a design presented by class 3A at the Castel di Casio Comprehensive Institute (Bologna), led by Stefania Agostini.
The Arca Group class at the Antonio Bernocchi di Legnano Industrial Technical Institute (Milan) won the upper-level secondary school category (XXL) with their project The Energy Step, co-ordinated by their teacher Francesco Lauricella. The silver medal went to the Cristoforo Colombo di Porto Tolle (Rovigo) State Professional Institute for Industry and Crafts, for the Clean Living project submitted by classes 3A OE, 4A TIEL, 3B OM, and 4B TIM, presented by teacher Maurizio Bruciaferri. Third place went to the Photovoltaic installation for Foligno Hospital project submitted by class 5B (teacher Crispoldo Nalli) at the Leonardo da Vinci di Foligno Industrial Technical Institute (Perugia).
The Panel found the following entries to be worthy of special mention: class 3A at the Riccia Galileo Galilei high school for scientific studies (Campobasso), which submitted the project Making Riccia Beautiful with the help of teacher Michele Campanaro, and classes 3S, 4B, 4B ARTE, and 3T at the Diego Bianca Amato Institute, Cefalù (Palermo), taught by Giovanna Cascio and Giovanni Ballistreri, for the Energy Seminar project.
Prizes were also given to pupils at the Pasquale S. Mancini scientific high school, Avellino (Avellino) who, guided by their teacher Francesco Masi, won the third PlayEnergy Master for their dissertation Water... A Precious Asset.
As part of the initiative, fourth and fifth year high school students had an opportunity to find out more about University-level science-related issues. Winning students who decide to enroll at a science faculty will be reimbursed their first year enrolment fee up to a maximum of 2,000 euros.
PRIZES
Enel rewards the commitment and creativity of winning students, teachers and schools with a range of attractive prices, ranging from Nintendo consoles to teaching computers, portable DVD readers, Lovemytime Music Toys, electronic dictionaries, design lamps and weekend trips to a European capital. As a sign of the companys unwavering commitment to education, the top-placed schools in each category will win the installation of a 2kW photovoltaic plant (alternatively, 6,000 euros in financial support to those schools that do not meet the technical requirements for the installation of a photovoltaic plant). Second and third placed schools will receive financial support of 3,500 and 1,500 euros respectively.
WINNERS IN BULGARIA, SLOVAKIA, RUSSIA, ROMANIA AND PANAMA
The Bulgarian first prize winner in the XXL category was class 10 at the PMG Nikola Obreshkov School, Kazanlak which, guided by teacher Penka Tundareva, presented the project Sun, Wind and Water - Our Treasures, Our Salvation. The Gold Medal for Romania in the XXL category went to the Campaign for energy-saving project, presented by year nine and ten classes at the Liceo Teoretic Dimitrie Bolintineanu, Bucharest, co-ordinated by Steliana Petcu.
In Slovakia, the Giraltovce Gymnázium won the XXL category for its (Eco)logical education project, submitted by the year seven class, with the help of teacher Eva Ba?kayová.
At the top of the podium for Russia was the year ten A class at School no. 1 - Stavropol Region, Nevinnomyssk, which won in the XXL category with the Ecological Camping project, assisted by teachers Valentina Sukhova and Aleksey Karanin. To conclude, the best L category project among Panamanian schools was the Bella Vista Theme Park, presented by the Escuela Gualaca Centro in Gualaca, Chiriqui, accompanied by teacher Juan Avila.