July 22, 2002 -- In August, some of the brightest young people in the world will join nearly 1,000 other water leaders in Stockholm during the annual World Water Week. What distinguishes this group of 45 young men and women is that they are all under the age of 20 and will be competing to win the prestigious Stockholm Junior Water Prize.
The competition, in which winners of national water prize contests compete with their projects in Stockholm for the coveted blue crystal sculpture and $5,000 scholarship, culminates in Stockholm on August 13 at 19.00 when HRH Crown Princess Victoria presents the Prize during an awards ceremony at Nybrokajen 11.
Students from 22 countries will be represented in the final, reflecting a broad spectrum of cultures and disciplines. Participating countries include Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United States (see full list below).
Since 1995, the international Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition has worked to raise awareness and develop scientific, research, and analytical skills in young people. These future leaders in science, engineering, politics, medicine, business and other professions will be among those working to supply safe clean to the billions of people currently lacking it.
"This Prize has established itself as 'The World Championship' on water research for youth," says SJWP Committee Chairman Dr. Johan Rockstrom. "This is a great achievement, but more importantly it is filling an enormous gap. There are simply far too few arenas for tribute of young excellence in managing our finite and precious natural resources, such as water."
Throughout this school year, thousands of contestants in national events competed for the right to represent their country in the international finale in Stockholm. The winning national projects cover a diverse range of water-related subject areas (see reverse). In addition to competing with their projects, the young people will meet top water experts, participate in seminars, visit research and technical facilities and attend cultural and social events.
The international nominating committee reviews the projects and selects the winner based on creative ability, scientific procedure, subject knowledge, and presentation. The competition has been sponsored globally by ITT Industries since 1997. National sponsors and organizers support the event in each country. Click here for a list of national contact persons for each country.
The Finalists, Countries, and Project Titles
Argentina: Mercury and Chromium in River: Water and Social Responsibility, by Ainelen Roselina Delgado, Anahi Maria Lovato, Emilce Araceli Mandel, and Maria Teresa Zapata
Australia: Breeding and Releasing Edelia vittata, the Native Western Pygmy Perch, by Vanessa Megan, Hollis Nathan Sawyer and Andrew Leslie James Shaw
Canada: Chironomid Communities as Water Quality Indicators in Trout Lake, North Bay, Ontario, by Richard Miron and Alex Omiccioli
Chile: Cultivation of River Shrimp of the North of Chile, Cryphiops caementarius, Using a Water Recirculation System, by Bruno Alexander Olivares Cortes and Sergio Danilo Julio Galleguillos
Denmark: Cleaning of Waste Water Using a Root Zoning System, by Kenneth E. Ostergaard
Estonia: The River Emaj?gi and Water Use and Treatment in Tartu, by Timo Uustal
Finland: The Effect of Ammonium Nitrate on the growth of Lemna minor, by Susanne Salovius
Germany: Heavy Metal Accumulation and its Correlation with the External Phosphate Concentration in Lemna minor, a Representative of the Lemnaceae (Duckweed), by Thomas Bottcher
Israel: Contamination of Groundwater in the Coastal Aquifers of Israel, by Gilad Berman and Michael Goldish
Japan: A New and Simple Assay of Endocrine Disrupters, by Takashi Hatano, Mitsutoshi Kumagai and Midori Kumagai
Latvia: Water Pollution in Riga HES Reservoir, by Lauris Klavins and Reinis Vasarietis
Lithuania: The Impact of Minor Hydro Power Stations to the Local Environment, by Jurate Beniusyte, Gintare Eidimtaite and Ugne Meskyte
Mexico: Elaboration of Biosensors for Pollution Detection in the Water of Rivers, by Carolina Jimenez Santillan, Juan Luis Morales Juarez and Felipe Soto Flores
Nigeria: An Investigation of the Causes and Effects of Flooding in the Lagos Area, Nigeria, by Elizabeth Atang, Chigozie Chukwe-Ike and Master Akintunde Sodeke
Norway: Environmental Research of the Stream Unnebergbekk. Is it Also Ending Up in Pipes?, by Magnus Aaroe, Jon Fredrik Hvaal, Kristina Krohn, Hang Phan, and Benedicte Riise Sorensen
Poland: Pollution by Surface Runoff of Water Reservoirs in Warsaw, by Sylwester Janda, Aneta Lipka and Lukasz Slowak
South Africa: A Satellite Dish with a Difference With a Unique Method for Water Conservation from the Bottom of Africa, for Now and the Future, by Antonio Dixon, Zainodeen Isaacs and Tracey-Kim Petersen
Spain: Natural Purification in Torrellas Stream, by Eddie Rodriguez Carballo
Sweden: Measuring Occurrence of Algae with Delayed Fluorescence Excitation Spectroscopy, by Karin Sandberg
United Kingdom: Automated Bathtub, by Geoffrey Jones
Ukraine: Research Radon in Artesian Water in Kiev, by Irina Burdejnaja
USA: Cleaning the Chesapeake Bay with Oysters, by Katherine F. Holt
For more information, visit http://www.siwi.org.
