Children's inventions call on people to join the fight against global warming and to preserve Estonian nature 27.06

On Sunday, 28 June, another winning entry from the children’s invention competition will be opened in Lotte Village, which teaches children to care for the forest and nature. The full-scale work will become a permanent exhibit at the Lotte Village theme park, and will be complemented in 2020 by a performance designed especially for it. The author of the winning work in the invention competition is Emili Matyushenko, an 11-year-old girl from Ida-Viru County.

Out of the ten finalists and the more than 130 entries for the 2020 invention competition, the invention ‘Save our planet’ proved to be the favourite of both parents and children. Taking into consideration that almost every other work this year was related to the topics of climate change, environmental protection and rubbish clean-up, Emili’s work summed up the main message of the invention competition – children sense what is taking place in nature and are trying to think about ways to improve the situation.

Second place in this year’s competition was won by the three-year-old Kermo Kleen, from Järva County, with his ‘Machine for Drawing Inventions’ and third place was won by Magnus Erik, a four-year-old from Tallinn, with his ‘Lamp of Strong Dreams’. All three winners and their families will be able to fly to London, Berlin or Copenhagen, with the support of SEB and airBaltic, after the end of the emergency situation.

Emili Matyushenko, winner of the invention competition: ‘There are many problems facing our environment right now – some of which seem to be very large and complex – such as plastic mountains in the ocean or acid rain. So it can be the case that a child may be left with the feeling that there is nothing he or she can do. However, the opposite is true: each child can clean up after themselves and plant trees or other plants, take care of them and, if necessary, water them’. Now you can also take an envelope with seeds home with you from Lotte Village, from which you can sow a tree. The invention, built with the help of the State Forest Management Centre, provides guidance on how and where to sow spruce or pine seeds. A sample area introducing forest trees of different ages has been established next to the invention.

‘For the third time, Lotte Village is set to receive an attraction where children are the authors of the idea. The invention competition shows us how precisely children see the problems that have arisen around us, and thanks to the competition they are also able to express their concern and support. While the aim of the sweet opener invented during the first year was the conscious consumption of sweets, last year we had an invention related to maintaining mental health. This year, nearly half of all the entries were aimed at solving environmental challenges, which is a sign for both Lotte Village and parents that the topic needs to be discussed with children’, commented Margit Toodu, CEO of Lotte Village theme park.

The SEB and Lotte Village invention competition, which lasted from January to March 2020, received more than 130 works. Invention projects came from all over Estonia, works were submitted in both Estonian and Russian, and primary school children were most actively involved in inventing. The youngest participant in the competition was a three (3) year old inventor. Several inventors submitted as many as five works to the competition.

The ending of the competition and the festive unveiling of the grand prize winning work will take place on 28 June, in the Lotte Village theme park. On 28 June, every child who brings their invention along with them may enter the park free of charge. You can take part in the invention competition’s awards ceremony, which is being hosted by the best inventors from Gadgetville.

For the third year in a row, SEB, in cooperation with Lotte Village, is organising a children’s invention competition, the aim of which is to spread the values of innovation and entrepreneurship among Estonia’s children.

Further information:
Margit Toodu
CEO of Lotte Village
E-mail: margit@lottemaa.ee
Telephone: +372-522-8228
www.lottemaa.ee