With this contest, we want to encourage children and adults to think about nature through its own eyes. Their works will show us the perspective of our youngest, primary school students, youth, and adults. The goal of the contest is to encourage children, youth and adults to put themselves into nature’s shoes and present their views and feelings. We want to encourage the participants to understand that animals and nature are our co-beings who have their own needs and behaviors (speech, thought, movement, habits). 2300 children, youth and adults from all over Slovenia are participating; they are also joined by adults from different professions. The contest started on September 1st 2017 and will end on April 15th 2018. All of the works will be published on the www.ana-meeting.com website. The three most original works from each institution will be awarded a special prize: experiencing the “Young guardian of animals and nature – Ranger” program. We will carry out the program for the prize winners during the congress, on May 5th and 6th 2018. The winners and their mentors will also receive thanks from the Animal Ambassador International® president, Linda Tellington-Jones. All the participating institutions will receive more detailed instructions by March 15th. PARTICIPANTS: CHILDREN:
Kindergartens
Special education kindergarten groups
Primary schools
Special education primary schools
High schools/vocational schools
Occupational activity centers
Institutions, centers and associations who work with people with special needs
Individual children who wish to participate in the project
ADULTS:
Guides of therapy animals
Zookeepers in public and private ZOOs
Vets and veterinary technicians
Children and youth create their works under the mentorship of their teachers. For the written works, the project mentor in the kindergarten, school or institution leads a discussion about the suggested topic – “A view through the eyes of Nature”. The children then think about the topic on their own and write down their thoughts. If they don’t know how to write yet, their thoughts can be written down by a teacher.
The artworks include all art techniques (painting techniques: drawing, painting, collage, graphic arts, etc.; and sculptural techniques: papier mache, clay, wood, waste material, etc.). The deadline for submitting these works is March 30th 2018.
Research papers can be submitted by high school/vocational school students, students who live in institutions and adults who will participate in the contest. The paper should be at least 10 pages long, but there is no upper limit. The participants must cite their sources, which should be as recent as possible. The topic of all research papers will be “Through the eyes of Nature”. The deadline for submitting these works is April 15th 2018.
Guides of therapy animals will write down their thoughts in essays called “A therapy animal’s day through the animal’s eyes” which will be no more than 750 words long. The idea is to put themselves into their animal’s shoes and think about therapy animals’ priorities, why they react to things in certain ways, how they perceive their surroundings, which senses they use, how therapy work affects them, do they find it tiring, … The deadline for submitting these works is April 15th 2018.
Zookeepers in public and private ZOOs will write down their thoughts in essays called “A ZOO animal’s day through the animal’s eyes” which will be no more than 750 words long. The idea is to put themselves into the shoes of an animal in their care and think about that animal’s priorities, why they react to things in certain ways, how they perceive their surroundings, which senses they use and how they use them, … The deadline for submitting these works is April 14th 2018.
Vets and veterinary technicians will write down their thoughts in essays called “A visit to a veterinary clinic through the animal’s eyes” which will be no more than 750 words long. The idea is to try to put themselves into the shoes of a sick animal in their care and to think about that animal’s priorities, why they react to things in certain ways, how they perceive their surroundings and their current conditions, which senses they use and how intense they are, what calms them down and helps them the most when they’re ill, … The deadline for submitting these works is April 17th 2018.
