Winners of Kids’ collaborative art competition announced

5 June 2023

To mark the
occasion of World Environment Day and the pursuit of a more sustainable world, the
European Patent Office (EPO) is pleased to announce the winners of the Kids‘
collaborative art competition.

A highlight of
the EPO’s exciting programme to celebrate 50 years since the signing of the
European Patent Convention, the competition was open to any primary school
located in any EPO member state, extension state or validation state. We would
like to thank all 56 schools, in 19 countries, that entered the competition. Each
participating child will receive a thank you gift as a
token of our appreciation.

The competition aimed to nurture
creativity, collaboration and problem solving among young children, skills that
every inventor requires and that are crucial to building a more sustainable world.
In total, more than 3 600
children participated by creating artworks that express their dreams and ideas about
how innovation can help improve life on Earth for generations to come.

From the 110
submissions received, 50 artworks were preselected with the support of the
Munich-based artist Bernard Boissel. EPO staff were then invited to cast their
votes for their favourite pieces.

At the end of the voting phase, two schools had received
the same number of votes. As a result, we are pleased to announce that the
competition has four, rather than three, winners:

Each of the four schools
is to receive 3 000 EUR funding for their proposed educational initiative to
raise children’s awareness of sustainability in connection with art, innovation
and technology. The initiatives
include community clean-up efforts; an upcycling programme; a school garden;
education on recycling and waste management; and the installation of a small wind
turbine and solar panel. The EPO is pleased to support these creative,
collaborative and hands-on efforts to engage young minds on the topic of
sustainable action.