The beginning of 2025 is special for Vilnius. The city is proud to be the European Green Capital 2025 and invites Vilnius residents and visitors to join sustainable lifestyle initiatives and help create an even greener, healthier, and more sustainable Vilnius.

‘Change the School, Change the City, Change the World!’ is the slogan of the Vilnius City’s initiative Green Challenge for School Students. The programme is aimed at school students in grades 5-12 in Vilnius, who are encouraged to become sustainability leaders and start green changes in their school.

School students are invited to form teams and choose an issue related to the school’s environmental impact or an area where they would like to strengthen environmental sustainability (e.g., waste reduction, creation of green spaces, biodiversity conservation). Teams are encouraged to come up with and implement ideas that would contribute to sustainability in the chosen area.

On this journey, school students will be accompanied by a digital guide and a dedicated team of mentors. Together with a team representative, they will guide the participants every step of the way, from choosing an area of interest to implementing the idea.

Ideas will be entered into a public competition, and authors of ideas with the most votes from the public and the panel will have a chance to win unforgettable experiences. School students in grades 5-8 can win a trip to the ‘Gamtos bičiuliai’ camp in Antalieptė, while school students in grades 9-12 can win a trip to the festival ‘Regeneration 2030’ in Åland, Finland, for young climate activists from the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions.

The Green Challenge for School Students will culminate in a final event in the spring with a one-day ‘Young Sustainability Leaders Festival’, which will include a fair of school students’ ideas, prizes for the winners, and many other fun activities related to sustainability and ecology.

Teams wishing to participate in the Green Challenge for School Students have until 30 January 2025 to register. Stay updated by following https://zaliasvilnius.lt/svietimo-programa/zaliasis-mokiniu-issukis/.

The event is organised by Vilnius — The European Green Capital 2025 and implemented by the research and design agency ‘The Critical’. The event is sponsored by Rimi Lietuva; its partner is the Vilnius branch of the Lithuanian School Student Union.