{"id":35247,"date":"2025-04-10T16:32:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/2025\/04\/ekologicka-olympiada\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T17:59:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T16:59:48","slug":"ecological-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/2025\/04\/ecological-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecological Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>\n
Fig.\u00a01. The\u00a0regional round director Val\u00e9rie \u0160tylerov\u00e1 launches the\u00a030th year of\u00a0the\u00a0Ecological Olympics in\u00a0the\u00a0TGM WRI cinema in\u00a0Prague<\/h6>\n

It has been 30 years since the\u00a0first round of\u00a0the\u00a0Ecological Olympics competition took place. Over the\u00a0past three decades, it has gradually spread from Wallachia to the\u00a0entire country and has become a\u00a0recognized competition, praised by many universities.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0the\u00a01990s, when the\u00a0competition was created, ecology and the\u00a0related environmental protection were already discussed not only in\u00a0professional circles, but also in\u00a0the\u00a0media, and this topic gradually became known to the\u00a0general public. At that time, Mr. Vlastislav Hu\u0161ka, a\u00a0professor at Nov\u00fd Ji\u010d\u00edn grammar school, decided to organize the\u00a0first round of\u00a0a\u00a0science competition, which he called the\u00a0Ecological Olympics. Ecology was not yet a\u00a0commonly taught subject then, so this competition became part of\u00a0the\u00a0promotion of\u00a0education in\u00a0the\u00a0field of\u00a0environmental protection.<\/p>\n

Miroslav Jan\u00edk, a\u00a0member of\u00a0the\u00a0basic organization of\u00a0the\u00a0Czech Union for Nature Conservation (\u010cSOP Kosenka), who sat in\u00a0the\u00a0jury at the\u00a0time, also participated in\u00a0the\u00a0organization of\u00a0the\u00a0first year. The\u00a0competition enthused him so much that the\u00a0following year, \u010cSOP Kosenka organized it in\u00a0Vala\u0161sk\u00e9 Klobouky. In\u00a0the\u00a0following years, there were several rounds until the\u00a0Ecological Olympics gradually became a\u00a0nationwide competition.<\/p>\n

Since its first year, the\u00a0Olympics has been unique in\u00a0its team spirit. There are not many other knowledge competitions in\u00a0which three-member teams compete. Another advantage is its direct connection with practice; in\u00a0each round, students solve a\u00a0real issue related to environmental protection in\u00a0a\u00a0given area, whether it is management of\u00a0an orchid meadow (the\u00a0first field task in\u00a0Vala\u0161sk\u00e9 Klobouky), or assessing the\u00a0plan to expand a\u00a0car park at Jizerka in\u00a0the\u00a0most exposed part of\u00a0the\u00a0Jizersk\u00e9 Mountains (task in\u00a0the\u00a021st national round). Students defend their proposed solutions in\u00a0front of\u00a0an expert jury, which also tests the\u00a0competitors\u2019 skills in\u00a0presenting their work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n
Fig.\u00a02. The\u00a0juror Ing. Jan Moravec with students<\/h6>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n
Fig.\u00a03. Students in\u00a0three-member teams solve the\u00a0botanical part the\u00a0\u201cidentification\u201d task<\/h6>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n
Fig.\u00a04. It included identifying the\u00a0sounds of\u00a0our birds and\u00a0frogs<\/h6>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fig.\u00a05. On the\u00a0second day of\u00a0the\u00a0competition, the\u00a0students defended their field practical task\u2026<\/h6>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n
Fig.\u00a06. … which was designing the\u00a0restoration of\u00a0the\u00a0\u00dan\u011btick\u00fd stream<\/span><\/h6>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n
Fig.\u00a07. The\u00a0three best teams of\u00a0the\u00a0Prague regional round; the\u00a0winning team (in\u00a0the\u00a0middle) advance to the\u00a0national round<\/h6>\n

Since its inception, the Ecological Olympics has also developed in the topics that it focuses on each year. In its early days, each regional and national round focused on its own topic, which was up-to-date in the location of the respective round of the Olympics. At present, every year, a single nationwide theme is announced, and each regional and national organizer adapts to it with their field practical task. This year\u2019s theme is Water in the Landscape and Adaptation to Climate Change. Thanks to this unification, students have the opportunity to\u00a0better prepare for the\u00a0competition. Since it is rarely a\u00a0topic that they would find comprehensively presented in\u00a0regular secondary school textbooks, we organize a\u00a0summer camp for them every year, and publish a\u00a0methodology focused on the\u00a0current year\u2019s\u00a0topic. A\u00a0similar methodology is also created for organizers to help them navigate issues that may not be so familiar to them.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0addition to the\u00a0practical field task, the\u00a0competing teams also compare their knowledge in\u00a0theoretical areas within\u00a0a\u00a0given topic, such as identifying natural objects or in\u00a0a\u00a0test. In\u00a0some regional rounds, teams also have \u201chomework\u201d to bring to the\u00a0competition, or they participate in\u00a0a\u00a0so-called mini-graduation exam, during which they discuss a\u00a0topic with an expert jury. Most regional rounds last two to three days, so there is plenty of\u00a0time for an accompanying programme, such as excursions, lectures, discussions, but also dance evenings or theatre performance prepared by the\u00a0participants themselves. The\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0regional round winners meet in\u00a0the\u00a0national round, which takes place for three to four days in\u00a0June of\u00a0the\u00a0given school year, each time in\u00a0a\u00a0different region. Its programme is similar to that of\u00a0the\u00a0regional rounds.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s regional Prague round took place on 20\u201321st March 2025 and was hosted by TGM WRI in Prague. A total of 52 students participated. The winning\u00a0team was from Gymn\u00e1zium Jana Keplera consisting of\u00a0students Naxerov\u00e1, Hromas, Kouck\u00fd, which received 128.5 points out of\u00a0a\u00a0possible 160. Second place was taken by the\u00a0team of\u00a0Arachne, z. s., with 116 points, and the\u00a0\u201cbronze\u201d medal was taken by the\u00a0second team of\u00a0Arachne, z. s. with 111 points.<\/p>\n

Over the\u00a0years, the\u00a0Ecological Olympics\u2019 popularity has grown, reaching a\u00a0steady level of\u00a0approximately 400 students taking part in\u00a0it each school year. Information about the\u00a0competition is also published annually in\u00a0the\u00a0Informative List of\u00a0Competitions (formerly the\u00a0Bulletin) published by the\u00a0Ministry of\u00a0Education, Youth and Sports. The\u00a0high level of\u00a0the\u00a0competition expertise has also attracted the\u00a0attention of\u00a0many universities, which take Olympics participation into account for those interested in\u00a0studying in\u00a0the\u00a0admissions procedure for related fields.<\/p>\n

We are currently working towards organizing the\u00a0Ecological Olympics at\u00a0a\u00a0school round level. Over the\u00a0past few years, there have also been discussions about the\u00a0possibility of\u00a0expanding the\u00a0competition to neighbouring countries and organizing an international competition.<\/p>\n

This year, we will have four regional rounds and one national round, which will be organized in\u00a0the\u00a0Central Bohemian Region by \u010cSOP Vla\u0161im.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0organizer of\u00a0the\u00a0Ecological Olympics is the\u00a0Czech Union for Nature Conservation (\u010cSOP), the\u00a0implementer is the\u00a0SMOP \u010cSOP, and the\u00a0co-announcer is the\u00a0Ministry of\u00a0Education, Youth and Sports.<\/p>\n

Details can be found on the\u00a0national website of\u00a0the\u00a0competition
\nwww.ekolympiada.cz, information directly related to the\u00a0Prague regional round at:
\nhttp:\/\/praha.ekolympiada.cz\/<\/p>\n

An informative article that is not subject to peer review.<\/p>\n

Authors of the photos:<\/p>\n

Bc. Kate\u0159ina Landov\u00e1, Al\u017eb\u011bta Dole\u017ealov\u00e1, Ing. Jan Moravec<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article about the regional Prague round of the Ecological Olympics, which took place on March 20 and 21, 2024 at the TGM Research Institute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":35038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3792,1484],"coauthors":[3746],"class_list":["post-35247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-world-of-water-management","tag-ecological-olympics","tag-tgm-wri"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35247"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35377,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247\/revisions\/35377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35247"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=35247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}