PITTSBURGH, PA, Nov. 14, 2012 -- Bayer Corporation and the United Nations Environment Programme’s Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA) are calling on all six- to 14-year-olds in the United States and Canada to express their creativity and environmental awareness by participating in the 22nd annual International Children’s Painting Competition (ICPC) on the Environment.
“Our longstanding partnership with UNEP RONA allows us to reach today’s students with that important message while, at the same time, fostering their science education, science literacy and their sense of social responsibility.”
With this year’s theme, Water: Where Does It Come From?, the students’ artworks are expected to focus on the responsibility we all share in helping to ensure a healthy, secure and sustainable water supply.
Bayer’s ICPC partnership with UNEP RONA is part of the company’s national award-winning Making Science Make Sense® initiative that advances science literacy across the United States through inquiry-based, hands-on science learning, employee volunteerism and public education.
“There is no better way to protect Earth’s most precious resource -- water -- than to help develop the next generation of environmentalists who understand their responsibility to nurture and sustain it,” said Lauren Trocano, manager of corporate social responsibility, Bayer Corporation. “Our longstanding partnership with UNEP RONA allows us to reach today’s students with that important message while, at the same time, fostering their science education, science literacy and their sense of social responsibility.”
Amy Fraenkel, director of UNEP RONA, added, “Water is a priority issue for UNEP, because reliable sources of clean water are essential for human health, development, and the global food supply. Without this precious resource, there would be no life on Earth -- plant, animal or human. Through ICPC, UNEP and Bayer are providing young people the opportunity to express their concerns about the environment through art, and also to learn about the role water plays in our lives.”
The free-style artwork for the ICPC must be submitted on either letter- or legal-size paper and can be created using crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, oils, etc. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2013. Submissions must be received by the UNEP RONA office by that date. For complete entry rules and conditions, please visit www.BayerUS.com/MSMS.
This year, the ICPC North American first-prize winner will receive two fully-paid trips. The first trip will be on June 5, 2013, to the World Environment Day North American host city (to be named) to help unveil the sixth annual North American ICPC exhibition. The second trip will be to the 2013 TUNZA International Children’s Conference to be held during the summer (city to be named). TUNZA is UNEP’s global youth forum that brings together young people from all over the world to discuss environmental issues and share their experiences.
About Bayer Corporation and Making Science Make Sense®
Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international health care, nutrition and high-tech materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. As an inventor company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. The company’s products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. The Corporation is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its role as a socially and ethically responsible corporate citizen. Economy, ecology and social responsibility are corporate policy objectives of equal rank. In North America, Bayer had 2011 net sales of EUR 8,177 million ($11,366 million) and employed 15,800 at year-end. For more information, go to www.bayerus.com.
Making Science Make Sense® (MSMS) is Bayer’s company-wide initiative that advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science education, employee volunteerism and a public education campaign. Currently, 12 Bayer sites around the U.S. operate local MSMS programs, which together represent a national volunteer corps of more than 1,000 employees.
About United Nations Environment Programme and World Environment Day
Established in 1972 following the United Nation’s Conference on the Human Environment, UNEP’s mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates world-wide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. With thousands of events in the six UNEP regions, World Environment Day is considered the largest environmental event of its kind.
About UNEP Regional Office for North America
The mission of UNEP's Regional Office for North America (RONA), which is located in Washington, D.C. and comprises Canada and the United States, is: to build support in the region for UNEP's work; to promote effective responses to international environmental challenges; and to foster cooperation on environmental issues between North America and the broader international community. To achieve this mission, RONA’s strategy is to promote collaboration between UNEP and all sectors of North American society, including U.S. and Canadian governmental institutions, the private sector and civil society groups, and to provide UNEP with North American perspectives. For more information on UNEP RONA, go to: www.unep.org/rona.
About Bayer and UNEP
Bayer AG is the first company in the world to forge a long-term partnership with UNEP in the area of youth and environment. The partners first began cooperating on youth environmental projects in Asia in the late 1990s. In 2004, Bayer and UNEP signed a framework agreement to globalize this partnership. The partners have jointly organized a dozen environmental projects for young people around the world, including the TUNZA International Youth and Children’s Conference, regional youth networks, the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program, the International Children’s Painting Competition, the photo competition Ecology in Focus in Eastern Europe and TUNZA Magazine. In addition, Bayer Corporation in the United States supports UNEP’s World Environment Day activities in North America. Further information on the partnership between UNEP and Bayer is available on the Internet at: www.unep.bayer.com.
Find more information at www.BayerUS.com.
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