Schools from seven Autonomous Communities move on to the semi-final of the 2nd Efigy Technology Competition organised by the Naturgy Foundation
Students in their final year of secondary education have reached the semi-finals of this competition, which aims to promote technological vocations and energy efficiency among young people.
As a new feature this year, the public can vote for their favourite project on the Naturgy Foundation’s social media profiles until Sunday.
A total of fourteen projects from schools all over Spain are competing for the prizes in the different categories, which will be announced during an online gala on 21 May.
From today until Sunday, the videos of the semi-finalists’ projects will be available on 2nd Efigy Technology Competition, where the public will be able to vote for their favourite during the first phase. The competition panel will take into account the result of this vote, in addition to its own professional and technical assessments of the projects.
Around 400 students from 30 Spanish schools were invited to take part in this new edition of the competition, which will conclude with a gala on 21 May at 5.30 pm, presented by the renowned science educator Luis Quevedo. The event will be available on the Foundation’s website.
This final event will be virtually attended by the semi-finalists and representatives of the Foundation, as well as members of the panel, formed by Paloma Domingo, general director of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), dependent on the Ministry of Science and Innovation; Marina Villegas, institutional delegate of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC); and Nieves Cifuentes, corporate head of the Environment and Sustainability at Naturgy. The panel may ask the students to expand on the explanations given in the project videos.
The Naturgy Foundation has decided to hold the final of this competition online, as it cannot take place in person due to the health emergency caused by COVID-19. It has also increased the amounts of the prizes.
The health emergency, a challenge and an opportunity for the competition
The managing director of the Naturgy Foundation, María Eugenia Coronado, who will also participate in the gala, has expressed her satisfaction at having been able to reach this stage of the competition. “We felt it was our duty to carry on with the competition and reward the efforts that many students had made throughout the year,” she explains. “We also saw the opportunity to encourage networking, which has allowed them to develop new technological skills and their ability to communicate. The result has been very positive based on the projects and video presentations we have received,” adds Coronado.
For many children, this school competition has represented their first opportunity to develop an unprecedented project related to energy, technology and the environment. “Many professions in the next few years will pass through these key sectors and, with the Efigy Technology Competition, our aim is to generate spaces where as much talent as possible can be developed in order to successfully overcome the challenge of the energy transition,” says Coronado.
In September, the Naturgy Foundation launched the second Efigy Technology Competition. Over the school year, a total of 65 groups of 3rd and 4th year secondary students have worked on the projects together with their teachers at around thirty schools located in 11 Autonomous Communities: Aragón, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Catalonia, Madrid, Region of Valencia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, La Rioja and Navarre.
To take part in the competition, students had to find the solution to a challenge that would help improve the planet through energy efficiency. This educational activity aims to motivate and raise awareness and interest in energy, strengthen the research ability of young people and inspire curiosity and creativity, while developing teamwork and communication skills.
The Efigy Technology Competition is part of the Efigy Education programme, which the Naturgy Foundation uses to provide students and schools with an extensive educational catalogue in the field of climate change and new energy technologies. In light of the health emergency, these resources have been made available for free online on the Efigy Education digital platform.
The work of the Naturgy Foundation in education is recognised by and has the collaboration of leading institutions in the fields of education and research, such as FECYT and CSIC, as well as the Department of Education of the Community of Madrid, the Departament d’Educació of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Consellería de Educación, Universidades e Formación Profesional of the Xunta de Galicia, among others.
Share