News
It was held from 22 to 31 July 2015 in typical karst areas of North Bulgaria. The team was of 35 participants, representatives of 7 countries (Bulgaria -21, Albania – 1, Germany – 2, Latvia – 2, Russia-Tatarstan – 3, Montenegro – 4, Czech Republic – 2). Besides the winning authors in the Third edition of the International competition “Karst under protection – gift for the future generations”, other 11pupils participated, as well as teachers, University students and graduates with proven interest in karst.
Along the route of the Traveling school 9 karsts caves were visited, 4 natural parks with karst territories (“Vratsa Balkan”, “Ruse Lom”, “Shumen Plateau”, “Golden sands”), a number of karst landscapes and natural attractions, cultural and historical monuments in karst areas (including National historical-archaeological reserves “Ivanovo Rock Churches” and “Madara”, registered at UNESCO as World Heritage sites), paleo-karst disclosures, marine karst sites, etc. Interesting working meetings were held with representatives of the local communities. The lecture part included presentations and field demonstrations with research equipment. All members in the Traveling school of Karst received original certificates for participation.
Despite of the very high July temperatures, the team atmosphere was fresh, friendly and with positive emotions. The contacts established among participants are a prerequisite of further fruitful cooperation.
More information and original impressions of participants, as well as photographs please expect at the Forum site
The experimentally conducted Traveling school of karst with participants from various age, educational, professional and national groups proved beyond doubt the need and perspective of this form of training about karst. The results will be summarized and presented in a report at the International scientific-practical Conference "Protected karst territories - education and training" (Sofia, 23 to 26 September 2015).
The international 9-member Jury (Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Japan) ranked the competition works on 6 set criteria and determined 42 awards (9 First prizes, 16 Second prizes and 17 Third prizes) in 12 competitive categories. Other 24 works received Encouragement awards, they will be included in the exhibition of the competition and their authors will receive honorary diplomas.
The Grand Prix for original creative achievement was awarded to 17-year old high school students Dajana Motika-Raonic and Anja Pjesivac (from Zabljak, Montenegro) for their project “Karst of Durmitor” (Category “Work with natural materials”).
Official presentation of the Competition results and Award ceremony is scheduled for September 23, 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria during a solemn session of the International Scientific-practical conference "Protected karst territories - education and training." An exhibition of the winning works will be opened.
Winners of the Grand Prix and First Prize of the respective categories will receive an official invitation to participate in the Travelling Summer School of Karst (UNESCO), which will be held from 22 to 31 July 2015 in attractive karst regions in Bulgaria.
We would like to thank to all contestants for their good performance and emotion-compelling works. We remain hopeful that whatever the results in rating, they will retain their interest in karst and its secrets and karst will continue to inspire them.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all members of the International Jury for their responsible work and professionalism in rating of the competition works.
On behalf of the Competition Organizing Committee –
Petar Stefanov
Complying with the request of some of the participants in the Conference, the Organizing Committee extended the deadline for applications and abstracts until June 28, 2015.
June 1, 2015A hundred sixty-one (161) authors from 7 countries participated: from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Montenegro, Russian Federation and Japan. The list of participants is published on the Competition web site: http://www.prokarstterra.bas.bg/competition/en/news.html. They presented 142 competitive works in total. After checking for compliance with the competition rules, the Organizing Committee submitted them to the attention of the International Jury for evaluation. Results and rating will be published on the Competition and Forum web sites on June 12, 2015. Winners of the Grand Prize and First Prize of the competition categories will be invited to participate in the Traveling Summer School of Karst (UNESCO), which will be held from 22 to 31 July 2015 in attractive karst regions in Bulgaria.
We would like to thank all participants for their interest and their original impressive works. We wish them success in their rating!May 15, 2015