Samaya Chauhan of Amity International School, Pushp Vihar and Sanjana Chauhan of Amity International School, Noida have won the prestigious ‘Silver Award’, in the Climate Champion Profiles Challenge, a global story telling competition which is part of The Writing’s on the Wall project, organised in partnership with News Decoder and The Climate Academy. In addition, Sparsh Sahni of Amity International School, Gurgaon Sector 46, made it to the shortlisted eleven stories selected from entries sent in from across the world.       

Congratulating the winners, Dr (Mrs) Amita Chauhan, Chairperson, Amity Group of Schools and RBEF, said, “These young writers have brought to us inspiring stories of climate champions who are leaving no stone unturned to make the planet cleaner and greener. Journalism interwoven with education is the accelerating force for empowering young minds with creativity and a sense of responsibility. The Global Times, Amity’s student newspaper, is constantly pushing the envelope to nurture writers with passion and originality, and this award is a great validation of its success.”

The competition saw 40 entries shortlisted from 14 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, India, Montenegro, Poland, Republic of Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, Slovenia, and the United States. Teenagers from across the world were invited to profile a ‘Climate Champion’, someone who had created an impact through ‘moving the needle’ with one or more projects to save the planet. These were then assessed by a twelve-member international jury of environmental experts.

Samaya Chauhan won the award for profiling Ved Krishna, an Indian entrepreneur who has created a worldwide business in biodegradable cutlery and packaging made out of sugarcane harvesting waste. Sanjana Chauhan was awarded for highlighting the efforts of Sushil Vaishnav, whose company Ecoil transforms used cooking oil into biofuel. The story written by Sparsh Sahni showcased the work of Avani Mohan Singh who is the executive director of Haritika, and a pioneer in water management and water restoration in Madhya Pradesh. Samaya and Sanjana will receive cash awards and coaching for publication by News Decoder, a non-profit international educational news service.

“Our judges saw extensive merit in all these top stories, each with a different emphasis, so we decided to highlight this wide array of excellent work,” said Dr. Aralynn McMane, competition organizer and executive director, Global Youth & News Media, a France-based non-profit that helps news media and the young engage with one another.

“The entries were both inspiring and impressive. The contest fulfilled its purpose: to provide an opportunity for young people to tell us about the amazing people who are finding creative solutions to the climate change crisis,” said Marcy Burstiner, a jury member and Education News Director, News Decoder, a non-profit international educational news service.

 The Climate Champion Profiles Challenge is part of The Writing’s on the Wall project, in partnership with News Decoder and The Climate Academy. The project aims to help student journalists in their climate change reporting. All entries were by authors of age 14 to 19. The challenge was supported by the European Commission as part of its Erasmus+ program and by The New Earth Foundation.

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