Leonardo 4 Children 2020

“Art & Science on Climate Action”

European competition for 13-18 years old teenagers

Winner nr 1: “Wild birds: we have a problem !”

Topic: Climate Action
Authors: Alexandre Andrade Brian, Marcos Bode, Robert Michael Bueno-Lowe, Carmen Felgueres, David Fuente, Iván Gutiérrez, Paula Gutiérrez, Orlando Helena, Mateo López, Alejandro Martínez, Pablo Pérez, Paula San Román, Sergio Sánchez, Arantxa Sánchez, Marcos Urueña, Ignacio Victorero
Teacher: Carlos Martinez
School: Colegio FEFC Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Ribadelessa (Asturias), Spain

Video available at the link: https://youtu.be/aeuFDMihlVs

Wild Birds is a musical project made by 16 students. We have created a song from scratch, following all the steps of the musical processes (creation, recording and diffusion). With our song, We Have A Problem, we want to raise awareness about climate change and the treatment that we give to our planet. This is how we have been creating our work, step by step !
Lyrics
Each of us wrote a four-verse paragraph on climate change, to raise awareness about human action in nature. Then, we put them together and adapt them so that they fit in with the music. On the other hand, we sought information about the dangers of global warming and we introduced it in the video accompanied by images.
Harmony
It is the musical accompaniment formed by linked chords, on which we will later form the melody. In class we chose through a workshop the musical chord that our song would have.
Rhythm
To make the rhythm we chose a 4 x 4 measure. Each student made her/his own figuration with musescore (application to create scores) or musiclab (website where you can create your own rhythms with different measures). Then we put it together and chose the tempo or speed.
Melody
It is the succession of notes that gives meaning to the song, its minimum unit is the interval. In class we created melodic bars with the Musescore application from which our motif came main melodic.
Tone
We chose the different instruments and effects that would sound in our song.
Recording
Once the work was created, we turned our classroom into a recording studio. We learned the track recording procedure and production work equalizing voices and applying effects to make the song sound its best.
After recording it, we decided to make a video clip that we could record at the school itself.
We also include pictures and real data on the effects that pollution and bad practices produce on our planet.
Diffusion
Among the whole class, we vote on a name for our group, a title for our single and we design a logo and a cover. The chosen ones are the ones shown at the top of the document. Our song was presented with a live premiere on social networks and our school’s website.
Our work will be available to listen and download for free for everyone who wants to hear it.

Winner nr 2: “Coral reefs”

Topic: Climate Action
Authors: Nikita Butylov, Erika Hrodel, Arina Sadovskaja, Valerija Sosunova, Karolina Zaksaite 
Teacher: Anastasija Kodsizova
School: Alexander Pushkin Gymnasium, Vilnius, Lithuania

Winner nr 3: “Green week logo”

Topic: Climate Action
Authors: Cherradi Jule, Ballerini Zoe, Araldi Sveva, Nilsson Sune Alessandro, Ravagli Federico, Calvi Luca, Georgiadis Nikolaos, Harrington Ella, Olieslagers Felix Nathalie Jan, Enokou Koutoua Ans Kenny, Quaglia Noemi, La Vista Caterina, Moens Elise, Fuga Francesco, Gallinelli Matteo, Lacrois Fançois, Fantone Flavio, Huichard Antoine, Huichard Jules
Teacher: Eleonora Zampiga
School: Scuola per l’Europa, Parma, Italy

Winner nr 4: “Harmony”

Topic: Climate Action
Author: Rozsa Voros
Teacher: Silvia Calzolari
School: Scuola per l’Europa, Parma, Italy

Through this mechanical tree I have chosen to represent the harmony between science and nature, which together seek to make the world a better place. This can be seen by the air filters towards the top of the painting. The light bulb and the sunrise in the yellow background represent the novelty of the future, therefore different ideas from the past.  Additionally, I chose to replace the leaves with various letters, numbers, symbols, and Ancient Greek and Latin letters which while falling down rearrange to form words, names, phrases and mathematical equations. This represents the knowledge of the past on which the future is trying to build on. Through this painting I tried to project my vision of the future, so that not only me, but everyone would be able to acknowledge it, to take part in it, because the future needs the help of all of us.

Winner nr 5: “The handcuffs of the planetary ocean”

Topic: Climate Action
Author: Vlad Mihai Pavel 
Teacher: Tina Elena Ene, Rozina Beatrice Nicolae
School: “Sfânta Vineri” Secondary School, Ploieşti, Romania

Winner nr 6: “Arte sostenible Green Castle: fuego, aire, tierra, agua”

Topic: Climate Action
Authors: Cecilia H., Juan R. G., Lucía G. G., Andrea E. L., Paula M.
Teacher: Elisabet de Pedro Fernandez
School: SEK El Castillo International School, Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid), Spain

Videos available at the links:    https://youtu.be/sWBStRHbwTI     https://youtu.be/eM7sTQG8Rl8

Winner nr 7: “Masculine femininity”

Topic: Gender Equality
Author: Chiara Ventura Linnemann
Teacher: Silvia Calzolari
School: Scuola per l’Europa, Parma, Italy

Not only is the female gender considered inferior but also everything that women or girls do, everything related to them. As a result, this affects anybody who has effeminate features and this perception restricts our choice as a person. Wearing makeup is feminine, wearing crop-tops, heels, long hair is determined to be feminine and that is why a person is going to be looked down upon and criticized for this kind of behaviour. Because everything that is related to women is going to be defined as weak, inferior and judgeable.
If men were given the opportunity to embrace their femininity and no longer felt oppressed by society and forced to always be manly, not only oppressed women and genders would benefit from it, but also men themselves. They can decide to express themselves, without any filter.
This is what I wanted to express in my drawing, a femininity that has always been suppressed and which finally explodes. In a world controlled by the white man and the patriarchy (hence the dark blue background), where a man usually needs to erase his colours to be part of the uniformity of the ideal man to fit in.

Winner nr 8: “The beach belongs to everyone”

Topic: Climate Action
Author: Juan Daniel Rojas Leon, Madrid, Spain

A 13-year-old boy had a problem, he threw the garbage from what he ate on the beach. They told him not to do it, in the sea there are living beings that die because of pollution, this boy did not care if he kept throwing garbage into the sea.
When he got into a canoe to go beyond the shore he had an accident, the boy collided with something and the canoe sank with him. He could last up to 10 minutes underwater. He realized that there were beautiful fish on that beach. But there was something other than fish, garbage, the place was the place where more garbage accumulated, he realized that almost all the garbage that was in that place was the garbage that he threw, he felt bad, he began to clean the sea, with a barrel that was found, a base was made where all the garbage would be put.
If you are one of the people who litter on the beach, in the lake or in a public place, remember the living beings that inhabit that place as they can suffer thanks to you.

Winner nr 9: “Leonardo’s help for the Earth”

Topic: Climate Action
Author: Alessandro Larivera
Teacher: Claudia Rago
School: Liceo scientifico A. Volta, Foggia, Italy

The work of art tries to communicate a rather incisive message to the viewer: the planet is dying.
Glaciers are melting, natural habitats are disappearing and the desert is advancing at a faster and faster pace. All this is due to the selfish action of man who thinks of his own enrichment made of polluting industries, uncontrolled urbanization, exploitation and destruction of natural resources, such as arsons decimating forests, the lungs of the Earth.
These horrendous habits have obstructed man’s gaze at Mother Nature that is represented in the work of art “La testa di fanciulla detta La scapigliata ” by Leonardo da Vinci (The head of a young girl known as La scapigliata), found in the artist’s head studies. This head is enveloped and dragged along by the surrounding vegetation, made by Leonardo as well (it is the decoration of Sala delle Asse in Castello Sforzesco in Milan), characterized as a huge flowered mulberry tree, the symbol of wisdom.
However, the work also offers concrete solutions contained in the thoughts of Mother Earth, which will be heard hopefully. At the basis of everything there is love for nature followed firstly by education, fundamental to understand how to achieve a more and more sustainable development; secondly by peace all over the world, an indispensable pillar in order to build an eco-friendly future without attacks or wars leading to the production of mass destruction weapons, damaging to both the environment and the mankind; and finally by the use of renewable sources, such as the wind and the sun, by the recycling of materials and the conscious use of such means of transport as bicycles, towards a completely green way .
In the collection of his “Pensieri” (Thoughts) it was found the following “Leonardo’s help for the Earth” :
“Nessun effetto è in natura sanza ragione; intendi la ragione e non ti bisogna sperienza” (No effect is without a reason in nature; listen to reason and you will not need experience). It must be recognized the reason for natural effects, which in this century is translated into the reason for the effects of this climate change, that is man. “Chi taglia la pianta, quella si vendica colla sua ruina” (If you cut down a plant, that plant takes revenge by destroying you). This quotation by Leonardo da Vinci, which seems to be written in the present day, tries to highlight what the true reality of the facts is:
The Earth is your home and if you keep ruining it, it will inevitably collapse on your head.

Winner nr 10: “Fix your course on a star and you will nagvigate through any storm”
“Fija tu rumbo a una estrella y podrás navegar a través de cualquier tormenta”

Topic: Gender Equality
Author: Rocío Rodicio González
Teacher: Olga Maria González Guisande

Maria was a teenage girl from such a small town in Spain, which did not even appear on the maps.
She lived alone with her mother since her father had abandoned them when their mother got pregnant, leaving them in a situation precarious. He lacked sufficient financial resources to run a life comfortable, because the only income was from the work of his mother. But in his small rental apartment, he was not lacking the affection and love since his mother strove to give him all the best to the girl.
She was happy and went out of her way to learn and know, through the books, the World, discoveries, Science. He tried very hard in his studies, even though he had dyslexia and attention deficit, which made the precision and fluency of the study difficult and it took him to work hours and hours to achieve his goals. I weighed to it, he did not give up, and he knew that the effort was worth it. I spent a long time lying looking at the sky, the flight of the birds, observing everything carefully and contemplating the stars, constellations, imagining shapes, drawing delusions. His hobbies were illustrating stories, creating characters, Painting and Drawing. I went to a small institute in town, I was very restless and awake, she was busy reading and studying any magazine, book, article, … that fell into his hands on Anatomy, Astronomy … and he spent hours and hours drawing what his imagination dictated.
Although her professors and professors encouraged her to train and they believed in it was not always an easy task. Given your high marks in academic tests, he was teased by a group of boys of their class who couldn’t stand a girl being smarter than them. She simply explained that she did not have to be inferior to them for the fact of being a girl, because dreams did not understand gender and were made for whoever fought for them.
He had as an example in his house, his mother, his reference, his friend … that despite the economic hardships, she was raising her daughter and without anyone’s help, she was able to do it. On his 18th birthday, his mother kept a very special surprise, which was going to change the course of his life. You delivered a package that his maternal grandfather, Leo, of Italian origin, had prepared for his favorite granddaughter and that he made promise to would deliver Maria on that date. She very nervous opened it with much pampering and care. It was a book about the life of his admired Leonardo de Vinci and had a very special dedication “Because the dreams do not understand social class, gender or age, struggle for them and you will get them. Leonardo was a genius and you will not be less “. He was enthusiastic about reading it and understanding his studies of Anatomy and its model of the perfect human form, based on the proportions proposed by Vitrovius, his desire to fly, his hobby shared by Astronomy … Leonardo’s book contained investigations of his fantastic mind, of how he understood the real functioning of the bodies of humans and how animals flew by flapping their wings and kept in the air. I passionately read his writings and tried to understand his lessons … Among its pages was a letter with some forms where some documents were attached where he was showed that she was the heir to her grandfather’s savings, deposited in an account, to start his studies university students.
His mother was unaware of the existence of that money and although it was a lot, it was a start to move forward with his dreams. A higher he achieved, given his high academic grades, a scholarship to study at a prestigious University of Italy Aeronautical Engineering career. Said scholarship served once more to show their peers than with work, study, and effort, several awards and recognitions were being obtained despite his young age. During the years at the University he continued to study, training, attending master’s degrees in various European countries and America and getting several awards and recognitions despite his young age.
Maria kept investigating Leonardo’s mind and trying improve your theory of the actual workings of bodies and how the The flapping of the wings kept them in the air. I reread the writings where explained how it was unlikely to attach wings to arms humans worked since the muscles were not sufficiently strong and … he came up with a great idea that he thought would change the world: build a machine that had flapping wings like a bird taking detailed measurements and looking for a solution to take off problem.
Years later at the head of a group formed, mostly by female researchers like her, she achieved many of the challenges earrings of the great Leonardo, thus showing once again, that with work, effort and dedication, there were no limits to dreams and that we can fly as high as we want.
With study and effort she managed to become one of the best researchers in the world.

​The competition allowed teenagers aged 13-18 across the European Union to use and further develop their creativity and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) skills, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s example, to address a global issue such as climate change or gender equality. 

Object:

The “work” submitted for the competition is an original creation by one or more participating teenagers integrating art & science.

“ART & SCIENCE ON CLIMATE ACTION”: the competition requires participating teenagers to create an original work integrating art & science to interpret the issue of climate change and environmental sustainability, addressing the problem and possibly proposing a solution.

“ART & SCIENCE ON GENDER EQUALITY” : the competition requires participating teenagers to create an original work integrating art & science to address the topic of gender equality and possibly proposing a solution.

Timetable:

• Open from 1 November 2020 until 31 May 2021
• Announcement of winners: 15 June 2021
• Award ceremony in Bruxelles: 1 October 2021

Scoring criteria:

• Ability to address the issue of climate change and environmental sustainability;
• Creativity, originality, and innovation;
• Ability to inspire people;
• Integration of art and science;
• Multicultural dimension and team

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

APPLICATION FORM

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The Members of “Leonardo 4 Children” Juries are professionals and experts in children’s education, art, music, science, innovation, philanthropy, with international and multicultural experience.

The Jury for the competition included the following members: Jane Adams, Marina Calamai, Lucia Scoca, Ann Start, Nancy von Breska, who with great enthusiasm and competence have carefully assessed the participating works and scored them on the basis of the following criteria: (i) ability to address the issue of climate change or gender equality; (ii) creativity, originality and innovation; (iii) ability to inspire people; (iv) integration of art & science; (v) multicultural dimension and team activity.

The authors of the works with the 10 best scoring received an award, consisting in:

• publication on “Leonardo 4 Children” book and as part of the “Leonardo 4 Children” toolkit for raising funds and as donation to children in need;

• presentation at public events, institutions or public places, during concerts and events;

• “Leonardo 4 Children” award certificate;

• publication on website, social media and promotional material.

Partners and sponsors offered special awards, which would consist in special experiences related to art and science, such as for example:
visit accompanied by experts to art or science site;

• meeting with a famous personality or an expert in art or science;
• workshops on art or science.