The Environment Olympiads, whose national final takes place on Faial Island from Thursday to Saturday, are an “excellent opportunity” to promote the Azores to the dozens of youngsters from different parts of Portugal that are participating in the event.

This is the opinion of the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea that was conveyed on Thursday afternoon in Horta where Álamo Meneses presided over the opening session of the national final of the 15th Environment Olympiads which counts upon the participation of 78 “finalists” from basic education and secondary schools.

For the Regional Secretary, the organisation of the national final in the archipelago is also “a way of demonstrating to our schools the importance of this participation,” thus encouraging their participation in this event.

There are some Azorean schools successfully participating in these Environment Olympiads and “we hope there are some Azorean students amongst winner,” added Álamo Meneses.

Nevertheless, the Regional Secretary insisted in the importance of increasing the participation of Azorean schools in the Environment Olympiads, which he considered to be “the greatest national event” regarding environmental education in schools.

Despite admitting that the Azores present a “very high rate” of participation in environmental programmes as most students attend schools that have been awarded with the Green Flag or participate in another programme, Álamo Meneses stressed that goal is “to disseminate these programmes” and “promote excellence” in environmental issues. 

The Regional Secretary added that “the students and teachers who have been selected for this national final are amongst the best in this area” and he hope that this “may encourage our schools to seek this excellence.”

The 15th Environment Olympiads, which have counted upon the participation of about 41,000 students in various phases throughout the school year 2009/2010, are a joint initiative of the Portuguese Catholic University, of Quercus - National Association for Nature Conservation and of Zoomarine – Mundo Aquático, S.A., whose final phase is supported by the Government of the Azores.

“Environment in Competition” (students), “Environment and Art” (students and teachers) and “Environment and Citizenship” (teachers) are the three categories of the Olympiads which have counted upon the participation of over 405,000 students since 1994.