Nord StarT – a Nordic climate change competition
The Nordic Nord Start Climate Change Competition will be held by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture in autumn 2021. The competition is part of Finland’s presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021 and is organised in cooperation with the LUMA Centre Finland’s StarT programme. The competition aims to gather children, youth and adults to brainstorm concrete means for the fight against climate change.
The competition has ended. The winners were announced at the Nord StarT Climate Education Event on February 9th 2022. You can read more about the best Nord StarT projects and practices here.
Thank you for participants and our collaboration partners. Congratulations to all the winners!
There are two series in the competition
1. Projects carried out by teams of children, youth and adult students
Come along with your friends and show us how to solve the climate crisis together. The project topic must be linked to the theme of the competition climate change, in other respects the projects will be implemented in accordance with the guidelines of the START programme for project works and will be carried out in teams of children, youth and students of higher education.
Competition categories for project work:
- 0–5 -year-olds
- 6–12 -year-olds
- 13–15 -year-olds
- 16–18 -year-olds
- over 18-year-olds
It is possible to participate with a project work that is done in collaboration of different age groups. Your project doesn’t have to ready, an idea or a plan is enough. For these projects one chooses the best fitting assessment category when applying to the competition.
2. Best educational practices by teachers and educators
Share us your idea or a model for dealing with climate change in education from early childhood education to higher education. An educational practice is a practice, instructions or a model that the learning community has tried and found useful in educating about the climate change.
Competition categories:
- early childhood education
- pre-school and primary school
- lower secondary school
- upper secondary school
- higher education
- liberal education
It is possible to participate in the competition with a practice that is done in collaboration of different education levels. For these practices one chooses the best fitting assessment category when applying to the competition.
Main prize 500 euros
The Ministry of Education and Culture awards the best projects and practices in each competition category with 500 euros. The winners will be announced by the Minister of Education on 9 February 2022 at a Nordic Conference.
Schedule
- The competition was launched at the Virtual Conference on Education, Culture and Youth as Drivers for Sustainable Development (in Finnish) on June 8-9, 2021.
- The application period for the competition starts in August and ends on 3rd of January 2022.
- Assessment and jury work in December and January
- Public voting from 24.1. to 6.2.2022
- The competition culminates at a Nordic Conference on 9th of February 2022.
Participate in Nord StarT competition
You can participate in Nord StarT by filling in an online application form the latest on 3.1.2022. Please read through the rules of the Nord StarT competition and our privacy notice before participating.
Please note, that you can enter into the competition with projects that are still ongoing. For these projects instead of reporting what you have done just tell us what you have done so far and what you are planning to do.
Assessment
The assessment is done by the Nord StarT jury. The jury work begins immediately after the application period ends. The assessment is based on the information provided in the online form by the end of the deadline. No information can be added or changed after the application deadline. Assessment is carried out in accordance with assessment criteria, which have been defined separately for both series and takes into account the competition categories
1. Assessment criteria for projects
Assessment of project work is about the engagement and competence of children, youngster and adult students. The age group will be taken in account. When evaluating projects, the jury takes into account the project as an entity that is reported through the online form, video and diary.
Ideal project:
- utilizes an interdisciplinary approach when addressing the climate change topic according to the project aims
- addresses sustainable development meaningfully
- originates clearly from the children/youngsters/adult students, engages them from planning to execution, highlights their ideas and thoughts throughout the project process
- is original and creative
- includes inquiry and problem-solving
- is the result of teamwork and demonstrates an equal participation of team members and the utilization of team members know-how and interests
- the project and the project creation are presented with clarity and thought has been given to the visual execution of the project
2. Assessment criteria for educational practices
The main goal with educational practices is to share ideas, instructional material and models for climate change education. Therefore, it is important that the practice takes pedagogy into account and is described in such a way that it is easy for other teachers and educators to replicate it in their lessons. The assessment is based on the form, especially the written description, video and additional material.
Ideal educational practice:
- is pedagogically well executed and demonstrates a link to curriculum (of the educational level in question)
- addresses the climate change theme and sustainable development in a manner suited for the practice and its aims
- addresses interdisciplinary and transversal competences (21st century skills) in a feasible manner
- supports inquiry-based learning and is based on research findings
- uses student-centred approaches and activated pupils/students (e.g. project-based learning)
- is innovative by introducing something new to the climate change education in the given education level /competition category
- promotes collaborative or communal learning (including cooperation within the teacher community and with other actors outside of the learning community)
- is presented with clarity and is easily executed by other educators in other learning communities
Competition material:
Subscribe to Nord StarT -newsletter
Application form (in English, Finnish and Swedish)
Application form (Icelandic)
Application form (Faroese)
