The national final of the contest took place at Klaipėda University (KU) mid-April, where 8 teams competed for the right to defend Lithuania's honor on an international stage. After triumphing there, the two teams from Klaipėda continued their successful performance in the international competition final. This stage of the competition took place online and was conducted in English.
The final commission featured representatives from EU-CONEXUS partner universities. After evaluating projects presented by the participants, as well as their ability to present and argue the relevance of their ideas, the winners were decided. The final result came as a pleasant surprise to both Klaipėda teams: "Tent-Cape-Sleeping Bag" won the 1st place in the 12-15 age category, while "Home Town Changers" went home with the 2nd place title. In addition to their titles, both teams were also awarded cash prizes established by the organizers.
Authors of "Tent-Cape-Sleeping Bag" (Liucija Čėsnaitė, Viltė Garuckaitė, Aušrinė Ilgauskaitė, Gytė Liaudanskytė, Justė Gaidukevičiūtė, and their teacher Sandra Grinkovienė, who provided English language assistance) were accompanied by their teacher Vilma Norvaišienė during every phase of this contest. V. Norvaišienė noted that the students put a lot of creativity and effort into this project. "We had consistent meetings since November. As we were looking for ideas for the project, the students noticed that their peers brought in a lot of food products that were wrapped in aluminum foil. Inspired to make a change, the team members announced a packaging collection campaign, during which the collected packaging was cleaned and sorted. It was used as the first layer of our invented product. The second layer was sewn from non-decomposable plastic bags, and the middle section was filled with used cotton fabrics. The main idea for this project is that such a cape can serve as a tent. For example, in the event of an earthquake, it can provide warmth and protect from rain like a cape, but it can also be used as a sleeping bag. The girls confidently presented their project to the commission and were very pleased with the outcome," she said.
The team of seniors from Klaipėda's "Universa Via" International School, who won the second place (Anna Bayda, Rūta Stasiulytė and Emil Cibulskij), was accompanied by their teacher Sigita Medingienė. She said that the students' achievement was not accidental. All of them were consistent with their project progress since October of last year. The essence of their work for this contest is a circular economy business based on the 9R system. The smart containers and a website that this team presented are intended for ordering, collecting, and transferring various unused materials from those who haven’t utilized them to those who need them. This project is based on economic and social studies that the team carried out in preparation. "The team designed containers for the collection of materials that are unnecessary for some (but very necessary for others), developed a rental service for those containers, used the containers multiple times, proposed modern unlocking and usage mechanisms, and developed a service ordering page. They analyzed the social problems that this type of a material exchange system could solve as well. For example, it would help refugees improve their living conditions. This team has also participated in this competition for several years now, so the students knew that a long process awaited them, and they were very motivated and consistent every step of the way. The entire school is proud of their victory!" said S. Medingienė, the teacher of the vice-champion team.
The mission of the international competition "Think Smart, Create Green" is to engage students and generate more interest in sustainability ideas. It also seeks engage youth in tackling environmental issues and encourage young people to take responsibility for global changes in the planet's ecosystem by using their skills and creativity to seek nature-friendly solutions.
