Today marks the end of the “Connectivity for all” Youth Video Contest organised in the frame of the ConnectGREEN project. 26 short films were submitted by youth of various age groups from Romania, Serbia and Slovakia, all of which centred on the wild animals that coexist alongside us, how this close proximity can be very dangerous for wildlife, and what we can do to help.

The winners of the movie contest, as well as the other submissions, can be viewed here.

The entrants of the video contest were youth attending primary school, secondary school or university in one of the ConnectGREEN participating countries and were tasked with creating a short film of up to 2 minutes in length that shows their view of the impact of our human activities and lifestyles on animals and their migration habits and what we could do to help. The contest rules placed no restrictions regarding the format of the video, giving the contestants the opportunity to let their imagination run free.

The Video Contest was officially launched on the YouTube channel of ConnectGREEN on 30. April 2021. Contestants then had a 2-week period to gather the highest number of ‘likes’ for their video before the contest ended on Friday, 14. May. While the winners of the primary and secondary school age groups were chosen based on the popular vote, videos submitted by university students were viewed by a panel of judges who selected the winning short film.

The authors of the films opted for a wide array of different styles to bring their message across, some going for stop-motion films of clay or paper figures, some choosing animated slideshows, while still others submitted live recordings from out in the field. No less diverse is the wide array of animals featured in the movies, ranging from smaller species like squirrels and frogs all the way to the largest species in Danube-Carpathian region: red deer, wolves and bears.

Across the board, the short films represent beautiful, charming and moving reminders from the region’s younger generations of the value of our natural heritage, the threats it faces due to human activities, and the solutions at hand to arrive at a harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.