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The winning schools in the Eden Challenge 2009 contest are getting firmly involved in the design and development of the special exhibits stand where their winning entries will be built up and displayed at the forthcoming Riffa Views Bahrain International Garden Show 2009 (RVBIGS09).
The Riffa Views Eden Challenge team visited all four schools to talk about how the winning entries will be shown on the stand and to get the pupils' feedback and ideas as to how they can be actively involved in the build-up to, and during, the show.
The children say they are thrilled to see their hard work coming to life and welcome the chance to be able to play an active part in developing some of the elements that will be displayed.
Matthew Rushton, one of the judges, said: "There is a great sense of ownership and pride that came through in the way that the four project teams and their teachers discussed how their entries fitted into the overall stand design.
"The level of detail they had obviously put into their project was very apparent as they raised very specific points as to the materials, colours and positioning that would be used to bring their projects to life on the stand."
There was also a good deal of 'healthy' competitiveness that came through in the various discussions. All four schools are undoubtedly proud to have been judged as one of the four Eden Challenge category winners for 2009 and all have good, strong ideas as to how the monetary prize can be spent to further expand their environmental academic programme. But, there is no doubt that they are all keen on becoming the Eden Challenge 'Overall Winner', which will be judged and announced at the RVBIGS09.
The four age-group winning schools were Amena Bint Wahab Primary Girls School - Junior (6-9 years of age); Um Al Qoora Primary Intermediate Girls School - Junior Primary (10-12 years); Intermediate (13-15 years) - Al Qayrawan Intermediate Girls School; and Secondary (16-18 years of age) - Khawla Secondary Girls School.
The Eden Challenge Exhibits stand will display a water sculpture which resembles the vibrancy and activity of life demonstrated by stylised figures of two children performing a dance or play, with the central feature being a sphere of floral origins; a decorative water mosaic composed predominantly of mineral material and Delmon seals; and a water mobile depicting the Delmon figure. All of these exhibits will be harmoniously integrated within a water conscious garden which is a refinement of the original winning entry submitted by the Khawla Secondary Girls School.
The stand will also have a 'Story-Board' to provide visitors with more information on the stand and how the students came up with and developed their winning project entries. The schools will be actively involved in putting a story-board together, they will also be active during the show, as each school will have a team at the stand throughout the three days to demonstrate and explain their entries to an undoubtedly fascinated public.
The Eden Challenge Exhibits stand was a great hit with visitors to the show last year and provided a fitting conclusion to what had been an amazing first year of the competition. Based on the standard of all entries this year and the initial view of the design for the display of the winning entries, there is no doubt that the Eden Challenge Exhibits stand will once again attract a large number of visitors as it will clearly demonstrate the passion, imagination, and understanding that the students of Bahrain have on environmental issues.
Richard Browning, CEO of Riffa Views, said: "The Eden Challenge has developed far beyond what was envisaged when Riffa Views first sat down to develop the idea; the number of schools that have taken part in the two years of this initiative, the efforts shown by the quality of the entries and the 'healthy' competitiveness between the schools demonstrates that the environmental challenge is one that the students are keen to take on; it proves that investment by corporate bodies in the Kingdom's children will provide sustainable results and so protect their future." The Garden Show will be held from April 17 to 19 at the Bahrain Convention and Exhibition Centre.
