All teachers, pupils, and students can join the national competition and win great prizes
On September 18, the 2024 edition of Bulgaria’s largest educational GIS competition – Exploring the World with GIS – was officially launched. The competition is organized under the GIS in School program, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and Science, and in partnership with over 30 leading academic, industry, and media organizations. It aims to encourage teachers, pupils, and students at all educational levels to explore and apply the vast capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Thanks to the intuitive and easy-to-use ArcGIS apps, even beginners can create interactive lessons and present topics of interest using the universal language of web maps.
Everyone interested can register for the competition until October 10, 2024, in one of the following four categories: Teachers, Pupils, School Teams (comprising teacher/s and pupil/s), and Students (including PhD students). Project topics can be highly diverse – from education, history, and science to ecology, environmental protection, tourism, civic engagement, and many more. Each entry must include at least one 2D or 3D web map.
Competition projects must be submitted by October 31, 2024, to the following email address: schools@esribulgaria.com. All entries will be evaluated by a highly qualified expert jury. Winners in each category will receive numerous monetary and material prizes, specialized training, and more.
All eligible GIS projects will also be featured in a virtual exhibition marking the 25th GIS Day in Bulgaria – the country’s largest event in the field – which will take place on November 20, 2024.
Learn more and register today on the Exploring the World with GIS webpage.
The competition is supported by:
Sofiyska Voda AD, part of Veolia, and Ciela Norma.
Partners of the competition include:
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Faculty of Geology and Geography at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, the University of Mining and Geology “St. Ivan Rilski”, the University of Forestry, New Bulgarian University, the University of National and World Economy, the National University Center for Geoinformation Technologies, the “G. S. Rakovski” Military Academy, the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, the Higher School of Telecommunications and Posts, South-West University “Neofit Rilski”, Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”, the University “Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov” – Burgas, Shumen University “Bishop Konstantin Preslavski”, University of Ruse “Angel Kanchev”, Veliko Tarnovo University “Sts. Cyril and Methodius”, Az-buki Publishing House, EduTechFlag, Teacher.bg, the Educational Initiative Space School, Uchi.bg, the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Cartographic Association, the Bulgarian Geographical Society, Move.bg, SCGIS Chapter Bulgaria, BAGIS, National Geographic Bulgaria, Dir.bg, bTV Media Group, Digitalk, Bulgarian National Radio, and The City Media Group.
About “GIS in School”
Since 2021, Esri Bulgaria, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science and Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” has been running the GIS in School program, which provides free GIS software to all Bulgarian schools. The program’s website offers guidance, ideas, ready-to-use lessons, applications, and many other resources to support teaching across different subjects. As of now, nearly 390 schools with diverse profiles have joined the program. More than 1,330 teachers and over 14,449 students from across the country have free access to Esri’s GIS platform.
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