7,380 pupils from 143 schools across Austria engaged creatively with sustainability issues

Cultural education projects in schools raised awareness of ecological and social sustainability as part of the projekteuropa competition 

"(k)now - creative.active.curious" was the theme of this year's creative competition "projekteuropa", to which the OeAD, Austria's education agency, invited all schools throughout Austria. 7,380 pupils from 143 schools responded to the call and designed creative contributions for a democratic and sustainable society in the 2023/24 school year. They were encouraged to reflect on their ideas in a European context.

A jury selected 70 winners from the 191 submissions. These can look forward to cash prizes totalling 30,000 euros. Projects with titles such as "Floods of Freedom", "A Minecraft Adventure for the Environment", "Synced World" and "The Bauer to Change" show the wide range of topics, from participation and involvement to current ecological challenges. Pupils developed innovative ideas for shaping a peaceful and sustainable society and utilised the full range of artistic media in their projects.

The external jury from the fields of education, sustainability and art and culture emphasised: "The broad spectrum of interdisciplinary and cross-school projects and topics worked on as well as the in-depth and exciting examination of sustainability issues were a positive surprise. The commitment of the teachers and the courage of the pupils to tackle difficult social issues were also impressive. Their high level of motivation and commitment in the lively artistic treatment of their concerns is unmistakable in the works submitted. Public presentations of many of the project results provide inspiration for a broader social discussion and examination of current issues and challenges. Art becomes effective as a medium for social awareness and change. What is important to children and young people is made visible in the creative competition projekteuropa!"
www.projekt-europa.at
The creative competition "projekteuropa" is organised by the OeAD Education Agency on behalf of the BMBWF.