Around 100 million tons of food is wasted annually in the European Union. Wasting food is not only an ethical and economic issue, but it also depletes the environment of limited natural resources. Participants of the 2016 edition of our Secondary Schools Competition had to write an essay on what concrete policies would they propose to be taken at the EU, national and local level to tackle this problem.
22 winning students, 11 teachers/parents and 8 journalists took part in the two days event in Brussels on 15 and 16 June 2016. The winners were given a tour of the Committee of the Regions and had the opportunity to officially meet the members representing their regions. They were welcomed by EA President Stanisław Szwabski, who provided them with an introduction about the EA group, the CoR and the European institutions while the students, on their part, presented their own schools and regions.
A visit to the European Parliament was preceded by a photo opportunity where the students could have their photo taken with the CoR member representing their region. The winners also attended the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions where they met the CoR President Markku Markkula, followed by a group picture. A number of students had the opportunity to meet with Commissioners Bienkowska and Hogan. After the plenary session, the students had the opportunity to visit the Parlamentarium. Before leaving Brussels, the winners encountered some of the beautiful places in Brussels, during a bus tour around the city.
Participating schools:
- Räpina Co-Educational Gymnasium (Räpina, Estonia)
- Mohill Community College (Mohill, Ireland)
- Fondazione Liceo Linguistico (Courmayeur, Italy)
- Johaneso Bobrovskio Gimnazija (Pagėgiai, Lithuania)
- Panevėžys vocational centre (Panevėžys, Lithuania)
- Gimnazjum nr 1 (Lubicz Górny, Poland)
- Zespół Szkół w Polkowicach (Polkowice, Poland)
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Adama Mickiewicza (Białystok, Poland)
- Liceul teoretic “Petru Cercel” (Târgovişte, Romania)
- Eastwood High School (East Renfrewshire, Scotland)
- Stredná odborná škola drevárska (Vranov nad Toplou, Slovakia)