AUSTRALIAN Teachers of Media Inc. has teamed up with television star Jamie Durie and award-winning television production company WTFN Entertainment, to launch a new schools competition.
The ATOM Groundswell Schools Competition is open to all schools and students of primary and secondary school age, giving them the chance to showcase environmental and sustainability projects and initiatives in their community.
The competition is headed up by the House Rules star Durie, who in partnership with ATOM and WTFN has launched Jamie Durie's Groundswell, a content platform that shares stories of environmental and climate change endeavour from across Australia and worldwide.
"We've seen from recent climate strikes and actions that this subject has never been more important to younger generations. The competition is all about finding ideas, no matter how big or how small, and giving them a platform," Durie said.
"We cannot wait to see some of the fantastic entries we receive. We know young people have great ideas for how we can live more sustainably."
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He said the competition invited entries in four school categories, primary years 1 - 3, years 4 - 6 and secondary years 7 - 9 and 10 - 12.
ATOM managing editor Peter Tapp said scientists around the world were sounding the alarm around climate change.
"Students are also calling for action, frustrated by the apparent complacency around their perilous future," he said.
"To provide a new platform to showcase these ideas and generate discussion and further action, ATOM and Groundswell have created a website and competition through which students can put forward ideas for sustainability and show how their school, local community or family are addressing environmental issues, contributing to positive change."
ATOM said the competition was supported by ALDI Australia after the supermarket chain launched ambitious targets to reduce their plastic packaging by 25 per cent by 2025.
They said within each school category, there were four ways to submit an entry- short film or video, website, essay, or photo essay.
The ATOM Groundswell Schools Competition is open from now until September 11, with winners to be announced in November.
Find out more at jamieduriesgroundswell.com/competition.
