"Green offsetting" gathered hundreds of young environmentalists in Moscow

As part of the All-Russian Green Offset competition for young ecologists, participants found out how to save rare plant species and make reservoirs cleaner. So, 72 thousand participants, hundreds of finalists and just one chance to prove that the future of the planet is in safe hands.

At the same time, they have their own Olympics: instead of a relay race, they monitor the water quality, and replace the projectile with a helium pen. The "inquisitive minds" of the country gathered in Moscow to participate in the "Green Competition". At the competition, high school students and students first solve problems in geography, biology, geophysics and chemistry, and then they can ask the experts any questions.

To score 100 points in the competition, it was also necessary to solve many tasks, such as relocating toads or calculating the nitrate level in the lake, which are not included in the school curriculum.

"According to the organizers, any high school student can handle the test part. Whereas the practical one will make even an experienced ecologist sweat. For example, in the task it is necessary to determine the total indicator of soil pollution. To do this, we need to find dangerous chemical elements and summarize them," said Leonid Klimenchuk, a correspondent for Izvestia.

The last frontier of testing was a creative task. In the essay, it was necessary to write a story on behalf of an endangered plant or animal. The winner of the competition, first—year student Andrey Shlykov solved the problem creatively - in verse he told about the Red Book flower, which he met while clearing the shores of his native Baikal from garbage.

"I wrote on behalf of the venus slipper. He started writing poetry. But then I realized that I wouldn't make it in time. I took it, wrote an epigraph, a small poem," said Shlykov.

72 thousand people participated in the remote tour of the "Green Score". According to the results of the selection, more than 550 finalists met in the face-to-face round.

"It's very important for us that the guys don't just take some prizes there. And so that they can continue to enroll in institutes, not give up this field and become real professionals — defenders of our nature. As they said, "If you protect nature, you protect your homeland," said Dmitry Kobylkin, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

It is noted that some of the winners were inspired to become environmentalists. After the competition, the Compass Foundation introduces the winners and prize-winners to the state resource on talented students. This gives school graduates extra points upon admission, and opens the door for students to internships in the best companies in the country.

"No Olympics considers such tasks. And it was very interesting. Something new. I can absolutely say that somewhere in the future you will see me in the field of ecology," said Evgenia Degterenko, the winner of the Green Competition.

On February 26, Alexey Nechaev, head of the New People party faction in the State Duma, noted that people who show interest in everything related to nature have become participants in the Green Offset contest. The head of the faction added that the beginning of the second stage of the Environmental Olympiad shows the attitude of Russians to what is happening in the country and the world. He also spoke about the positive dynamics of the competition in terms of the number of participants compared to the period last year.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.