There were 16 nominees at the competition Environmental Award of the Year 2013.
The category Environmental Award of the Year 2013; the winner
NGO Estonian Ornithological Society with its project “Garden bird watching in the winter”. This was the largest citizen science project in Estonia, with 2,501 birdwatchers participating in 2013. The project involved finding an hour at the last weekend of January, going to a garden (park), and noting down the bird species that could be spotted there. Over the course of garden bird watching, people learn how to determine bird species that can be found in the garden in the winter, feed them properly and responsibly. This also allows analysing the gathered data and improving the well-being of birds.
Recognized with a letter of thanks
- Porkuni School – for creating a hiking trail near the school
They cleaned the forest from household waste and scythed the hiking trails. The cleaned the areas surrounding the Lake Porkuni and the start of the River Valgejõgi from household waste and fallen branches. The hiking trails are 5 and 7 km long and were created with first and foremost the students of their own school in mind (it is a school for children with special needs). The trails were opened on 16 October 2013.
- Kohila Environmental Education Centre and Naturewalk OÜ – for the learning environment “Estonian bogs“
A freeware learning environment “Estonian bogs” was created under the project, which supports the national curriculum. The learning environment is a guide to the bogs and it includes a lot of information about our bogs, their biota and plants. You can make a virtual trip to Rabivere bog in the learning environment. The website of the project is www.rabivere.kohila.edu.ee
- Foundation Estonian Fund for Nature, for ELF’s community work program
Under the ELF’s communal work program 2013, 62 different community work events were organized, which included organizing landscapes, maintaining the habitats of species, and helped the researchers to get information about the population numbers of animal species. Altogether, there were 931 people participating in the community works.
- Tartu Environmental Education Centre – for founding Tartu Nature House
This is the first integral environmental education centre, with the building and the surrounding environment supporting the environmental education activities. The nature house comprises the energy-efficient study building and the public part with study trails surrounding the building. The nature house was open in September and in the first three months over 8,000 people participated in different events. There are about 665 children attending the hobby groups.
The Environmental Award of the Year 2013 received 16 candidates and the winners are: