The national stage of the "Eco Picture Diary 2014" international competition has been launched.

On the eve of the new academic year, the national stage of the "Eco Picture Diary 2014" international competition, held among schoolchildren in Azerbaijan, has been launched. On September 10, an event was held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku to announce the competition.

Representatives of the Heydar Aliyev Center, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the IDEA Public Union (International Dialogue for Environmental Protection), the Ministry of Education, and "Panasonic Marketing CIS" (PMCIS) spoke at the event and highlighted the importance of the project.

It was noted at the event that, according to the charter of the Heydar Aliyev Center approved by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan, the center operates not only to study, research, preserve, and comprehensively develop the statehood policy and Azerbaijani identity ideology of national leader Heydar Aliyev and his heritage, but also to support fields such as science, education, culture, economy, ecology, and others. It was emphasized that the project presented today is a forward-looking initiative related to ecology and education.

It was stated that, at the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva, Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and founder and head of the IDEA Public Union, Azerbaijan has joined the "Eco Picture Diary 2014" international competition under the auspices of UNESCO, which has been implemented since last year with the participation of nearly 50 countries worldwide. The project aims to promote ecological culture among the younger generation, instill care for nature, flora, and fauna, and form an active civic stance on environmental protection and human health.

It was noted that the competition covers the cities of Baku and Ganja. On September 9, an event dedicated to the launch of the competition was held in Ganja. A total of 5,000 special "Eco Diaries" will be distributed to students by teachers on September 15-16. The competition is open to students from general education schools representing the lower age group (6-11 years) and the middle age group (12-15 years). Participants must draw pictures about environmental problems and their solutions in the "Eco Diary," divided into three days, and briefly describe the idea in text. The "Eco Diaries" must be submitted to the IDEA Public Union by September 25.

The submitted "Eco Diaries" will be evaluated by a jury consisting of representatives from IDEA, the Heydar Aliyev Center, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, UNESCO, "Panasonic Marketing CIS," media, and NGOs. Twenty participants (10 from each age group) who qualify for the final stage will be awarded. One of the finalists will be declared the national winner, and their "Eco Diary" will be sent to the international jury of the project. The best "Eco Diaries" will be selected from the national winners of all countries.

It should be recalled that last year, 3,032 schoolchildren participated in the national stage of the competition. Fuad Soltanov, an 11-year-old student of Baku European Lyceum, was selected as the national winner.