Azadea Foundation has been hosting inter-school Envirothon competition for the past three years to celebrate Earth Day and this year’s competition was in collaboration with The Little Engineer. This year’s theme was “Using technology for Environmental Solutions” and students were encouraged to create items like cars and ovens powered using renewable energy such as solar or wind energy.

I was present at the first edition and it was great to see students go beyond the traditional learning environment to explore the potential of renewable energies, as well as develop communication skills and effectively come up with an end product. We are in desperate need of such events to raise awareness among the rising young generations and encourage them to become more environmentally-conscientious and impact their surrounding.

The best part is that winning students don’t just win an award, but they get to attend a robotics class at The Little Engineer’s headquarters, allowing them with further opportunities to enhance their skills.

I was asked to be on the panel of judges this year, which would have been a great honor, alongside Minster of Telecommunication Nicolas Sehnaoui, The Little Engineer and Azadea Foundation, as well as my friend and managing editor of ArabNet Magazine, Rita Makhoul and fellow blogger and founder of “Mums in Beirut” Dina Maktabi, but I was out of the country at the time. The Envirothon took place at the René Mouawad, Sanayeh Garden, which was restored few years back by Azadea Foundation as well, and is one of the best preserved and most visited public gardens in Lebanon.

I’m looking forward to next year’s Envirothon and to getting Brian into such competitions. Maybe he’ll invent some sort of robot that cleans after him and remembers where he hides my stuff LOL!