UJEP invites the public to an exhibition featuring the art contest “Green and Blue—Good for School”
J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem invites the public to an exhibition of entries by elementary and high school students participating in the art contest “Green and Blue—Good for School.” The exhibition will be on view from June 10 to 30, 2026, in the CPTO building on the UJEP campus and will showcase works by young artists who have depicted schools enriched with elements of greenery and water in their creations. Both the competition and the exhibition are part of the RUR project—“Region for the University, University for the Region.”
The goal of the competition is to familiarize elementary and high school students with the importance of so-called blue-green adaptation measures and to show how natural elements can help improve the quality of life in cities and school environments. The competition brief encouraged participants to reflect on what their school might look like if it were enhanced, for example, with trees, rain gardens, ponds, green roofs, or other elements that promote better water management and a more pleasant climate.
The exhibition features 32 artworks from both the fall and spring editions of the competition. It includes the winning entries and other selected works from the pilot round, in which three schools from Lovosice participated, as well as new works from this year’s edition, which involved two schools from the Teplice district. It offers a cross-section of the most interesting competition entries—ranging from collages and tempera drawings to mixed media works using transparent paper—and illustrates how the younger generation perceives the transformation of the school environment in the context of climate change.
“The works we’ve received showcase not only the students’ creativity and artistic talent, but also their ability to think about the design of the places where they spend a significant part of their lives. It’s inspiring to see the ideas and solutions young people propose for their schools, and I really hope that one day most school environments will actually look like this,” says competition organizer Štěpánka Truhlářová from the Faculty of Social and Economic Studies at UJEP.
Among other things, visitors will also be able to view the results of the competition’s pilot round, which, based on an evaluation questionnaire, show a shift in students’ attitudes and perceptions regarding water and green spaces in both the city and the school environment. The exhibition thus offers a unique opportunity to view the topic of adaptation measures through the eyes of children and adolescents, while also demonstrating that environmental education can be successfully combined with creative activities.
The exhibition is open to the general public free of charge in the lobby of the Center for Natural Sciences and Technical Fields (CPTO) every weekday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The next edition of the art competition will take place in the fall of 2026 in other selected districts of the Ústí nad Labem Region.