GREEN CROSS INTERNATIONAL
AND GREEN CROSS ITALY

with the
High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic; the
patronage of the Italian Presidents of Senate, Chamber of Deputies and
of the Council of ministers; of the President of Senate of the Czech Republic;

the patronage of the Italian Ministries of Public Education, of Environment,
of Foreign Affairs, of Arts and Culture, of Social Solidarity and of Industry;
of the Argentinean Ministry of Culture and Education and of the Argentinean
Secretariat of Natural Resources and for Sustainable Development; of the
Ministries of Burkina Faso of the State, of the Environment, of Water,
of Energy and Mines, and the Ministry of Public Instruction and Alphabetizing;
of the Ministries of the Ivory Coast of Environment and Forests, of Education
and of Basic Training, of Energy, of Mine Resources and Petroleum and of Family
and Women Promotion; of the Ministry of Environment of Czech Republic;
of the Korean Ministry of Environment; of the Hungarian Ministry of Environment;

the patronage of the ANPA (Italian National Agency for Environmental Protection), of the Hungarian Hydrological Society and of several private institutions.

in collaboration with
FAO, UNESCO
Red Cross International

in the frame of the initiatives that are being carried out for the
EARTH CHARTER
supported by the EARTH COUNCIL and GREEN CROSS INTERNATIONAL

LAUNCHES
the second international edition of the Annual Contest
IMAGES FOR THE EARTH
For the school year 1998-1999

Reserved for all the pupils of primary, secondary and high schools, private and public, for the school year 1998-1999.
This initiative gives the teachers the chance to plan educational multidisciplinary paths to deepen the environmental issues provided by the ministerial programs. This edition's theme is:

ENERGY

1. CLASSES AND SECTIONS OF THE CONTEST
Three classes have been established for the contest:

1. primary school pupils;
2. secondary school pupils;
3. high school pupils.

2. CONTEST ADMISION
All the pupils of private or public schools, of every order and grade, may take part in the respective age group of the contest with an individual or a group work.

3. PARTICIPATION MODALITIES
It is possible to participate with drawings that can be realized with any technique and material will be able to use up to 5 plates of the size of maximum 50x70cm. Captions are admitted, (anyway, we suggest using natural and/or recycled materials).

IMPORTANT: All the information that allows to identify the participants must be enclosed to the works: the school, the entire address, name and surname of the teacher that has coordinated the work, the subject teached, the list of the students that have taken part in the work.

4. PRESENTATION DEADLINES
The first three winners of each national category must be sent to the following address:

Green Cross Italy
"Images for the Earth" Contest
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 251 - 00186 Roma

The final deadline for forwarding works is fixed on June, 30, 1999.
Works delivered after June 30, 1999 will not be considered.

5. EXAMINATION OF THE WORKS THAT REACHED US
All works will be examined by a commissions made of experts chosen by Green Cross Italy. The examining Commissions' decisions are unquestionable.

6. NATIONAL PRIZING
The national prize ceremonies and national prizes are organized by the national Green Crosses.

7. INTERNATIONAL PRIZING
The international prize ceremony will take place within November 1999. All information concerning the participation to the ceremony will be communicated to the interested persons.
Prizes consists in $5,000 for first place winners, $3,000 for second place winners and $2,000 for third place winners.. All winnings must be allocated in projects of environmental preservation and recovery, concerning the winners' territory and possibly linked to the annual theme of the contest.
Presented works will not be returned. A certificate will be assigned to each winner. All rights on works are reserved by our organizations. In case of use, concerned persons will be previously informed.

8. THEME

8.1 ENERGY
The Earth may be considered as a big energy system. The sun sends its energy throughout lightwaves, and the Earth reflects the shining energy and irradiates the thermal energy. The energy flux is the main renewable resource of the planet. Many transformations from one type of energy to another happen inside this system. Earth does not gain or waste energy, but preserves an energy balance.
Throughout history, humans have used energy sources fulfill their needs, but the main source, the Sun, has never been fully utilized.
Instead, other types of energy have been developed from non-renewable sources, such as wood, coal, natural gas, petroleum.
If Human activities have always affected the environment, yet since the industrial revolution, the increase in fossil fuel use has had a deep impact on the planet's ecosystems and climate balance.
Humans has changed the natural cycle of many substances producing and releasing in the environment compounds that do not exist in nature. The use of combustible fossil fuels on a large scale, for example, has directly affected coal and sulfur cycle. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and sulfur protoxide (N2O) are some of the gasses whose natural cycles have been widely modified by human activities; all these gasses contribute to the "greenhouse effect", intensifying a natural phenomenon, that creates the conditions necessary for life on our planet in an unsustainable way.
The idea of an economic development based on constant and heavy investments in the area of non-renewable energy resources makes the climate stabilization even more difficult.
The most sensitive parts of global community are aware of the need to take action to change the development path and its principles.
Changes in the supply and transformation of primary resources processes, funding for researches and for the use of alternative and renewable sources, stimulation of production of goods that require low energy intensity for fulfillment and functioning are necessary. Policies of energy efficiency must be carried out and people's right to clean and low cost energy for their development must not be denied.
The common goal must be to make the right decisions for present and future generations. A big debt towards future generations is maturing as the available capital of resources is being depleted and the natural and social environment people would like to live in is being deteriorated.

8.2 EARTH CHARTER
This contest is in the frame of the initiatives that are being supported by Green Cross for the fulfillment of the Earth Charter, aspired by all civil society since decades, that will contain the regulating principles of the relationships between states, communities, individuals and Nature.
At the present Green Cross is working on a big international consultation campaign so to draft a text that will collect consensus in various circles and in different cultures.
This text, that is supposed to absorb all new knowledge on the interactions between environment and development, will be submitted to the general Assembly of the United Nations for approval, so to make it an integral part of their company chart.