Kids’ collaborative art competition

As part of the programme of activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the European Patent Convention, the European Patent Office (EPO) is running a collaborative art competition for primary schools on the topic of sustainability, technology and innovation.

Being creative and thinking about new solutions to problems are precious skills that need to be nurtured among young children. They are also key skills that every inventor requires to come up with new inventions and contribute to building a more sustainable world.

The current competition is an opportunity to raise children’s awareness of sustainability in a playful way. They can express their dreams about the world in which they want to live and portray solutions that could help achieve a better quality of life on Earth. Every spark of creativity and imagination is welcome!

Any primary school located in any EPO member state, extension state or validation state can enter by submitting a photo of an artwork created by a group of at least five children. In addition to an image of the school’s artwork(s), each entry must include a short proposal for an educational initiative that raises children’s awareness of sustainability further still. The artwork itself should be kept by the school. Thank-you gifts will be sent to all participating schools.

A shortlist of the best artworks will be created by the artist Bernard Boissel, in collaboration with the taskforce of EPO staff volunteers who designed this year’s programme of activities to celebrate 50 years since the founding of the European patent system. Boissel, who is based in Munich where the EPO is headquartered, has extensive experience of leading collaborative art projects in schools.

Shortlisted entries will then be presented anonymously in a virtual gallery accessible to all EPO staff members, who will vote for their favourite artworks. Based on the three artworks with the most votes, three different schools will each receive 3 000 EUR to fund their educational initiative.

We look forward to receiving entries from all EPO member states, extension states and validation states, so please do spread the news among primary schools and teachers as well as your networks more generally, including by sharing the social media posts below. Entries can be submitted until 15 April 2023.