2020

Vote for the Best LVM Bio-economy School Video Messages

In anticipation of the UN International Day of Forests, which is to take place on 21 March, participants of the LVM Bio-economy School have created video messages on this year’s topic “Young Stand”. You can vote for your favourite video by 29 March, supporting the authors in the competition for a scholarship.

Although the vision and means of expression of each author differ in how to talk to the public about the forest and its management, all members of the LVM Bio-economy School share the desire to make this world a better place by raising public awareness of wood as an environmentally friendly and renewable resource.

All videos that qualify for the scholarships in 2020 can be found on the Facebook page "Explore the Forest, Latvia" (Izzini mežu, Latvija) here, where you can vote for your favourite work by clicking on Like below the relevant video.

“In our daily rush, we do not even realize how important trees really are. They provide us with wood for home heating and construction, kitchen items and other tools, right down to the gym floor and books. We need to open our eyes and realize that wood is our future, as it is a renewable natural resource that can be fully used. But to get the best wood, forests need to be planted. Young stands are much healthier, they provide more valuable material and grow faster. So, let us think about a greener future and the importance of forest planting on 21 March - the International Day of Forests!" says Anete Paula Tomiņa, a student at the Engineering High School of Riga Technical University in her video message.

The scholarships will be awarded to the authors of the best video messages, whose works will earn the highest score; the score consists of the jury’s rating (75% of the total score) and the Facebook voting (25% of the total score). The results of the scholarship competition will be published at www.lvm.lv/bioekonomika on 30 March; this website also provides additional useful information on the competition.

The LVM Bio-economy School scholarship competition has been taking place for several years and is open to grade 10-12 students of general education schools and to 16-19-year old vocational school students. To participate in Round 1 of the scholarship competition called “DISCOVER!”, students had to individually create a poster sketch on what bio-economy is in the context of this year’s topic “Young Stand”. For Round 2 of the scholarship contest “EXPLORE IN NATURE!” the students headed for a bio-economy expedition to get acquainted with Latvia's largest renewable resource - the forest - together with industry experts to gain insight into the innovations in JSC “Latvijas Finieris” factories and the production facilities of LLC “Rīgas meži”.

For Round 3 of the scholarship contest “SPEAK!” those who have participated in the Bio-economy Expedition have an opportunity to create a minute-long video message to their peers on the UN International Day of Forest, which is celebrated each year on 21 March.