Schools championing intelligent energy education in Europe unveiled at U4energy’s European Award Ceremony in Brussels.

The first cycle of U4energy, the first pan-European school competition on energy efficiency, has come to an end with the celebration in Brussels of the final winners and of their inspiring projects.
Winning schools were awarded during a high profile European Award Ceremony in the presence of the EU Commissioner for Energy Mr Günther OETTINGER. The Ceremony took place on 22 November at 17.00 CET at the Concert Hall of the Musical Instruments Museum, a landmark building in the heart of Brussels.

The first generation of European U4energy winners originate from seven different countries - Croatia, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and . They have been selected among numerous national finalists by a Grand Jury chaired by Ms Silvia-Adriana ŢICĂU MEP , and composed of pedagogical as well as energy experts. Thanks to their commitment, hard work and imagination, the seven European laureates have managed to make it all the way to Brussels, since the launch of the competition in September 2010.

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Winners and runners-up of the 2010/2011 edition of the three U4energy award categories are:

Category A: Best energy efficiency measures

Winner		Save Energy – Main Concern, St. Francis Primary (Malta)
Runner-up		Escola + Amiga do Ambiente, Agrupamento de Escolas Cidade de Castelo Branco (Portugal)

Category B: Best teaching actions on efficient energy use

Winner		Energy Work Bike, I.I.S. "Alessandrini-Marino" (Italy)
Runner-up		USO EFICIENTE DE LA ENERGÍA EN LA ESCUELA, CEIP Manuel Bartolomé Cossío (Spain)

Category C: Best school campaign on energy efficiency

Winner		Goga4energy, High School of "Octavian Goga", Sibiu (Romania)
Runner-up		"Budi in, smanji plin! Svijet spasi, struju ugasi!", Osnovna škola "Đuro Ester" Koprivnica (Croatia)
Runner-up		ENERGIJA JE V NAŠIH DLANEH, Osnovna šola Šmartno pri Slovenj Gradcu (Slovenia)

EU Commissioner for Energy, Mr. Günther Oettinger the finalist schools invited to Brussels.

The Ceremony, hosted by Ms Olivia Freijo Lloyd (RTVE journalist), was opened with an inspirational speech by Lars Suddman, entrepreneur and twice speaker at TEDx, the powerful online movement of Ideas Worth Spreading with 500 million views.

Teachers and pupils were invited on stage to be awarded and congratulated by an audience of key stakeholders in the fields of energy efficiency and energy education, spanning European, national and regional government, industry, civil society and the media.

U4energy’s main objectives are to raise awareness on the importance of energy efficiency among the young generation and to grant recognition and visibility to the efforts of pioneering teachers and pupils, while inspiring others to follow suit.

The second round of the U4energy competition is now open: schools across Europe are invited to submit their entries until May 2012.