PRESS RELEASE - Winners of the International YRE Competition 2023

Discover the results of the International Jury and the winners of the 2023 Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) International Competition!

This year, the YRE programme received more than 230 entries from 37 countries are part of the YRE International Competition. This high level of participation allowed for a competition with a wide range of topics, approaches, and solutions. From member countries, international schools, and Scouts around the world, it is a great pleasure to present the winners of this year's competition.

Bakeries, billboards, menstruation, algae, floods, mines, birds, surfing, roses, and zombies! The inventiveness of this year's participants is to be applauded! Click here to explore the articles, photos and videos created by Young Reporters from all over the world and find below the list of winners of the different categories.

 
 

This year’s International YRE Jury

This year’s International Jury meeting occurred online on June 20, 21 and 22nd of June, 2023. The Jury assessed each shortlisted entry thoroughly, and awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes, as well as Honourable Mentions, based on the technical quality, level of investigation, originality, and dissemination of each submission. The International Jury represents expertise across a broad spectrum of fields and consists of professionals in environmental journalism, corporate social responsibility, and Education for Sustainable Development.

YRE Jury members:

·       Sasha Karajovic – President of the Jury

·       Anne Vela-Wagner – MARS Wrigley Foundation

·       Bernard Combes – UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization)

·       Carina Mutschele – UNEP

·       Christopher Slaney - Journalist and Editor

·       Cynthia Pugelj Marquez – Director of Global Initiatives at World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM)

·       Mark Terry – Youth Climate Report

·       Nick Nuttall – We Don’t Have Time

·       Selen Unal – YRE Alumni from Türkiye

Find detailed information about each Jury Member here.

All entries competing in the YRE International Competition have been awarded 1st place in their respective countries’ National YRE competitions earlier this year. The articles and video entries are divided into three age groups (11-14, 15-18 and 19-25). The photos categories are not split into age groups but into three types: reportage, campaign and photo story of 3-5 photos. There is also a special category for International Collaboration.

All entries have been uploaded on the YRE Competition’s Exposure page.

The winners of the competition will receive diplomas and will be published in different international media, forums, environmental conferences and sessions.

DISCOVER THE 2023 INTERNATIONAL YRE COMPETITION WINNERS

ARTICLE: 11-14 years

1st Place

Title: Our Fight Against Plastic Pollution

Country: Singapore

2nd Place

Title: Plastic Pollution on Nonsuch Island, the Home of the Endangered Cahows

Country: Bermuda

3rd Place

Title: The Rose's Secret: A Gift of Carbon Dioxide

Country: Slovakia

ARTICLE: 15-18 years

1st Place

Title: I am scared!

Country: Montenegro

2nd Place

Title: Young people: the key to resolving global problems

Country: Switzerland

3rd Place

Title: Plastic Pollution: What can we do about it?

Country: Malaysia

ARTICLE: 19-25 years

1st Place

Title: Isére massifs : over-visitation of natural parks threatens an emblematic bird

Country: France

2nd Place

Title: Peat-free Gardening: Protecting the Climate

Country: Slovakia

3rd Place

Title: Environmental DNA: Invasives Species Under Investigation

Country: Portugal

SINGLE PHOTO REPORTAGE: 11-25 years

1st Place

Title: The northern drought

Country: Mexico

2nd Place

Title: Nature Finds a Way, but at what cost?

Country: Malta

3rd Place

Title: What a risky way to begin my day

Country: Israel

SINGLE PHOTO CAMPAIGN: 11-25 years

1st Place

Title: We don’t care do you?

Country: Iceland

2nd Place

Title: Grey World

Country: India

3rd Place

Title: The Trash Traveller, the German who fights to save the Portuguese coast

Country: Portugal

PHOTO STORY OF 3-5 PHOTOS: 11-25 years

1st Place

Title: Recycling Embrace, no disgrace

Country: Montenegro 

2nd Place

Title: Reading Without Comprehension

Country: Slovakia

3rd Place

Title: Vertical Gardens: a response to climate urgency

Country: Portugal

VIDEO: 11-14 years

1st Place

Title: Food Waste Cafe

Country: New Zealand

2nd Place

Title: The Ballad of 65 Billboards

Country: Slovakia

3rd Place

Title: My Green Land

Country: Israel

Honourable Mention

Title: My Plastic Pandemic Story

Country: Malaysia

VIDEO: 15-18 years

1st Place

Title: Think about it

Country: Sweden

2nd Place

Title: Black City

Country: Czechia

3rd Place

Title: They Contaminate the Soil and Foul the Environment

Country: Slovakia

VIDEO: 19-25 years

1st Place

Title: Zero Waste Berlin

Country: Belgium

2nd Place

Title: Sustainable Menstruation

Country: Argentina

3rd Place

Title: A Poisoned Paradise

Country: India

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

1st Place

Title: Tweeting Trouble: Climate Change. Are We Silencing Our Birds? - Article

Countries: Türkiye & Slovenia

2nd Place

Title: Under the Surface: the unknown importance of Wetlands - Video

Country: Portugal - Slovenia

3rd Place

Title: We cannot prevent natural disasters, but we can preserve urban biodiversity - Article

Country: Portugal - Türkiye - Japan

PHOTO OF THE YEAR

1st Place

Title: The Seventh Continent

Country: Belgium

Congratulations to all winners of 2023!

The YRE team is impressed by the quality of the projects, and wishes to congratulate the winners of the 2023 competition!

The winners will be invited to a webinar in early September to celebrate together.

Get ready, information is coming soon!


About YRE: Founded in 1994, the YRE programme empowers young people to research and report on local environmental issues and promote solutions through investigative reporting, photography, and video journalism, giving them a sense that they can really make a difference in the world