UNEP Painting Competition

Aspiring young artists were invited to demonstrate their vision for a greener future by putting paint to paper in the 21st International Children’s Painting Competition, organised by Bayer and the United Nations Environmental Program.

The prizes included US$2000 and fully paid trips to the Tunza International Children’s Conference for the children and their guardians.

The theme for the 2012 competition was Green Communities, and children were asked to paint a picture based on these questions:

• What don’t you like about our environment – our communities, cities, forests, oceans and atmosphere?
• How would you like to see our environment – our communities, cities, forests, oceans and atmosphere?

Joerg Ellmanns, CEO of Bayer Australia and New Zealand hopes the competition will encourage our future generations to consider the environment around them and understand we need to work together to protect it.

“This painting competition offers a great opportunity to keep the kids entertained over the school holidays whilst educating them and potentially offering them the opportunity of a lifetime. Kids see things differently and I’m looking forward to seeing their visions of our future communities.” he says.

The annual competition aims to highlight the importance of the environment to children all over the world and is run by the UNEP with support from Bayer. The painting competition has run since 1991 and received 3 million entries from children in over 100 countries in 2011.

The Tunza International Children’s Conference provides a unique opportunity for children to present their environmental projects, inspire each other with their environmental work, become active environmental citizens and contribute towards the future of our planet.

Simon Cherriman, Australian Geographic 2010 Young Conservationist of the Year added: “This competition offers an excellent opportunity for kids to think about the environment they are living in and make a decision about what we need to do to ensure it remains a wonderful place. I love working in this area and feeling like I am making a difference. I wish all the young artists the best of luck!