Leonardo 4 Children 2023: Climate, Equality & Peace
Award “Art & Science” by 13-18 years old teenagers
WINNERS
The top 10 winners of the Awards have been selected by the Jury and are invited to present their works at the Leonardo 4 Children workshop on 20 October 2023 at 9:30-12:30.
The winners nr 1-2-3 will be announced at the Concert and Award Ceremony in Brussels on 20 October 2023.
Top Winner on Climate: “The inner beauties and devastation of the ocean”
Topic: Climate
Authors: Jeannie Yu
Parent: Astrid Kuo
School: Taipei European School, Taiwan
In the past decades, plastic waste is becoming an increasingly horrifying issue. The beach and oceans are especially affected as humans constantly discard our wastes on the once beautiful attractions. As plastic waste devours the beach but by bit, it’s time we reflect and change. I believe the Leonardo 4 Children awards could integrate both art and sciences in
real life, by integrating them together to form projects that can benefit future generations and our home. We could explore issues occurring in different countries and bringing them to light through this competition. For example, micro plastics and waste water are both problems occurring in different parts of the world. Not only do they result in environmental devastations, they are also nearly impossible for humans to clean. Marine life are also constantly threatened by plastics lingering in their habitats, eventually disrupting the ecosystem as a whole. Even though we may not be able to solve these issues in the short term, I believe we can start with this competition, bringing the awareness of these global issues to children, encouraging them to create and develop solutions through art and science.
Top Winner for Equality: “Equality Balance”
Topic: Equality
Authors: Davide Belli, Fabrizio Pujia, Geremia Sasso
Teacher: Margherita Mesirca
School: Liceo scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
We chose the equality topic because we think it’s very important and current. The first idea that came to our mind is an equal-arm balance, which is its symbol (“par excellence” per eccellenza?). This object is an effective way to make equality (“stand up” saltare all’occhio?), thanks to the equilibrium of the two elements on the plates. Also, the balance is an image of physics and sciences in general, which in this way connect to our project. (Indeed), the weight force related to the two bodies’ mass attract them to the ground with the same intensity, making the structure in perfect balance.
As you can see, in this balance the weights are replaced with two paper (“silhouettes” sagome?) with the shape of a man of different colours, “white” and “black”, which having the same value, permit the building to stay balanced. We were really keen to create something original and new, interesting in the first place for us. Then, during the building we decided to film the process, so that we could share our work better and make it more attractive, as well as testifying it was made by us. Using an editing video platform, we merged all the videos together so that they can easily explain the job. We concluded the material part of the project in 6-7 days distributed in many months, but each of us did his job at home individually. During the first three days we managed to finish the preparation of the two pieces of wood, while in the remaining three we focused on assembling all the parts. Along the way, we encountered some problems, but we solved them pretty quickly, sometimes with the help of adults. We thought a lot about what objects to put on the plates, and in the end we chose two paper (“silhouettes”?) that, even if they can seem (“trivial” banali?), we believe are an efficient and simple option to communicate our idea.
Top Winner on Peace: “The inner peace”
Topic: Peace
Authors: Veronica Albizzati, Giulia Bossi, Sofia Iovino, Roberta Mentasti, Iacopo Nipote
Teacher: Margherita Mesirca
School: Liceo scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
We are happy to present our project, “The Inner Peace”, a project where we try to spread how fundamental peace with oneself is. A project where we address the problems that afflict human beings, still too underestimated. A project where with solid scientific foundations we try to explain that everything can be solved, and that no one will ever be left alone in difficulties.
Top 10 Winner: “(E)pollution”
Topic: Climate
Authors: Ofa, Paz; Vila, Bárbara; Gil-Ortega, Gonzalo; Ela, Reina; Reiter, Laura; Verde, Julia; Lan, Dina; Prieto, Alicia; Prieto, Martina; Blanco, Rocío; Tang, Shiyu; Gayoso, Laura; Martínez, Paula
Teacher: Elisabet De Pedro
School: SEK El Castillo International School, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
The students have elaborated four different fishes filled in with varied waste products and reused materials to represent how human beings pollute the oceans (plastic, oil, light pollution, fishing nets…). The title comes from putting together the words ‘evolution’ and ‘pollution’ to highlight how, ironically, the more human beings evolve, the more they seem to contaminate.
Top 10 Winner: “Objective 5”
Topic: Equality
Authors: MINEO MATILDE, POZZI LUCREZIA, SPANO’ GIULIA, MAZZALUPI LUCA
Teacher: Elisabetta Gazzillo
School: Liceo scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
Project Objective 5
Video available at the links:
Top 10 Winner: “Equality Cube”
Topic: Equality
Authors: FILIPPI VALENTINA, PAGGI CAROLINA
Teacher: Margherita Mesirca
School: Liceo scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
Video available at the link:
Top 10 Winner: “Ecopoly for the Planet”
Topic: Climate
Authors: AMODIO GABRIELE, PROVASOLI MATILDE, RINALDI PIETRO
Teacher: Margherita Mesirca
School: Liceo scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
We have chosen the theme of the environment because in our opinion it is the one that has and will have the most impact on the life and development of our planet. Our project is a board game whose gol is to transmit a message to both adults and children concerning the protection of the environment, in a nice and playful way, including real facts. As a name for the game, we thought of “Ecopoly” which takes its cue from the famous game “Monopoly”, but focusing on the theme of the environment. The peculiarity of this game is the presence of curiosity boxes, in fact when a player lands on one of these boxes, he must discover the window relating to the chosen habitat, in which numbers and statistics are discussed. The game board is divided into 6 roads and to each one of them is associated a habitat. Each road has 6 squares of the same color, on which there are positive and negative actions regarding the environment that allow you to move forward, backward, roll the die again or stop a turn during the game. Before starting the game, each player chooses the way to follow (there can be only one player for each path) and places the pawn (each ecosystem is associated with one) on the box where is represented the habitat. The game ends when one of the players reaches the final square, the world, with an exact roll of the die. Otherwise, after reaching the end, the player rolls back according to the missing points. The pawns were made using bottle caps that should have ended up in the trash, and would have taken hundreds of years to decompose. On each one is represented an endangered animal. An old shoe box was used to make the box that contains the game.
Let’s save the world while playing and learning together!
Top 10 Winner: “Recycleworld”
Topic: Climate
Authors: CAPELLINI ELIA, PIGNATIELLO TOMMASO
Teacher: Margherita Mesirca
School: Liceo scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
Top 10 Winner: “Ecolife”
Topic: Climate
Authors: Luca Cavalli, Leonardo D’Ambrosio, Giacomo Ferrari and Matilde Simonetto
Teacher: Elisabetta Gazzillo
School: Liceo scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
Top 10 Winner: “Progress or Regress: Leonardo’s way of awareness”
Topic: Climate
Authors: Alessandro Larivera
Teacher: Claudia Rago
School: Liceo scientifico “A. Volta”, Foggia, Italy
The art work shows the most crucial moment of mankind’s existence: the present. At this moment, a human being is asked to make a choice by looking at his/her whole history. On the one hand there is one’s individual, shortest history, starting from one’s own mother’s womb, on the other hand there is one’s universal history, originating from one’s very first appearance on Earth. These two histories together and in parallel can change the destiny of our Planet. The man in the centre of the world, who has always been considered the most powerful among
the living beings, is questioned for the first time and is aware that his measurements are no longer the same as those of the Planet. On the contrary, he has changed them through his selfish action, overwhelming the ones of his land. That land which generated him has suffered from the greatest betrayal it can receive. In the background the redundancy of the bands marking the last two centuries from left to right is dominant and almost disturbing. A cold blue colour, which stands for hope, turns into a hot red one, which stands for despair. It is shown how the average global temperature has been rising for just a few decades, without any signs of improvement. All this data, analysed and extraordinarily shown in this way by the latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), in particular the one of 2021 in collaboration with the University of Reading and the climatologist Ed Hawkins, offers a clear view of reality. The two extreme sides are respectively the causes on the left and the solutions on the right. The causes range from the exploitation of energy from polluting sources to the use of plastic, from deforestation to the endless production of weapons of destruction. Whereas the solutions, which are concrete and realistic, range from the use of renewable energy sources to the adoption of healthy lifestyles, based on sustainable transport, recycling and respect for Nature. In the middle there is the main scene and the Earth takes centre stage. The emblem is thus explained through the works by Leonardo da Vinci, starting from the ”Uomo Vitruviano” (‘Vitruvian Man’), in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, who is now the defendant, already considered guilty, in a trial that lays all his actions bare. From this trial, however, he has the chance and the hope of reducing his penalty on one condition: to act immediately to remedy his sins! If this is not done in time or if his change is only apparent, he will be condemned to despair from which he will not be able to find salvation even in his own conscience. On the other hand, the detail of the “Bambino nel grembo materno” (‘Child in the Womb’) was extracted from Windsor Codex, Leonardo’s collection of studies on geography and anatomy. It focuses on the singularity of the individual who, from birth onwards, has the possibility of changing the reality around him, starting from his mind, represented by a dove, which is nother work by Leonardo taken from the “Codice sul volo degli uccelli” (‘Codex on the Flight of Birds’) in the Royal Library in Turin. The reconstruction of that dove is nothing but the construction of a peace overcoming the perpetual hatred that has never left the human being so far. Peace, therefore love, overcoming conflicts and wars, which are causes of retrograde, individualistic and greedy thinking. It is this mentality of the child, based on building and acting, that will lead this individual to feel himself the protagonist of progress. It is only through the synergistic and sustainable action of these two lives that we can hope for a different future that puts reciprocal respect for both Nature and human beings at the centre of attention.
Special Award by the Jury: “No limits”
Topic: Equality
Authors: CASTELLANI CAMILLA, MILANA GIOELE, SPEDINI MATILDE, TORTORELLA SIMONE
Teacher: Margherita Mesirca
School: Liceo Scientifico “G. Ferraris” Varese, Italy
Video available at this link
Summary
“Art & Science on Climate, Equality & Peace”
for teenagers aged 13-18 years old
open from 1 November 2022 until 31 May 2023
to apply please fill in the Application Form
For winners, please fill template to apply for the Talent Development programme.
The award allowed teenagers aged 13-18 to use their creativity and their artistic and scientific skills to create their own original project integrating art and science to interpret one or more of the following topics:
- climate action and environmental sustainability
- social equality including gender equality
- peace between people
addressing the problem and possibly proposing a solution.
Results
|
Participating teenagers aged 13-18 (number): |
281 |
| Submitted works (number): | 56 |
| Countries: | EU: Belgium, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Outside the EU: Montenegro, Serbia, Taiwan, Ukraine |
Jury
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, Giuliana Santambrogio, 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, equality and/or peace; (ii) creativity, originality and innovation; (iii) ability to inspire people; (iv) integration of art & science; (v) multicultural dimension and team activity.
AWARDS
The authors of the works with the 10 best scoring will receive an award, consisting in:
- talent development programme, with a budget for each winner of € 300 (top 3 winners) / € 200 (4th-10th winner) to develop their skills in art & science, for instance with workshops, courses, meeting with experts, visits and material;
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publication on “Leonardo 4 Children” book used or raising funds and as donation to children in need;
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presentation at workshop and award ceremony; promotion on website, social media and promotional material, at public events, institutions or public places including famous museums, and during concerts and events;
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“Leonardo 4 Children” award certificate.