Last week, a special award ceremony at the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Science in Zagreb marked the end of the second contest that was part of the interdisciplinary project "Sea is Alive", implemented by our company and the PAKS Society in institutions of pre-primary and primary education all over Croatia, through workshops teaching children about the importance of preserving and protecting the Adriatic Sea and its seabed. This year, no less than 1370 students from 65 Croatian primary schools participated in the contest.
Younger primary school students demonstrated their knowledge by creating compelling paintings on the topic of "sea meadows on the bottom of the Adriatic Sea", while older schoolchildren showed impressive knowledge of the Adriatic flora and fauna. Nevertheless, determining the winner of the knowledge contest proved to be a significantly easier task than selecting the most gifted painter - the commission comprising PAKS President Maja Novosel, PhD, academy-trained painter Diana Sokolić, as well as academy-trained painter and chair of the committee Dino Trtovac singled out top twelve paintings depicting beautiful sea landscapes.
The significance of the "Sea is Alive" project has once again been acknowledged by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports by issuing a positive expert opinion through the Education and Teacher Training Agency. This year the top-ranking students were once again awarded valuable prizes and recognitions. Older winners will be able to enjoy a visit to the Monaco Oceanographic Institute and Marineland near Nice, where they will get to know the diverse marine flora and fauna of the Cote d'Azur. The younger ones will take a trip to Pula, accompanied by their parents, for a three-day workshop on marine biology called "Blue School" at the Pula Aquarium. Second-best students received an interesting book on Adriatic sea life as prize, and those that ranked third best were awarded JGL packages.