To kindle more interest in science and technology, ROSATOM has launched its 6th Annual Online Video Competition for African youths.
A statement explained that the competition which is open to students and young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35 encourages the youth to explore nuclear technologies and how these technologies could be utilized to benefit their region.
The competition, which has been running since 2015, has “already inspired hundreds of young people across the continent to explore the benefits of nuclear, some of whom have now begun their own careers in the nuclear industry“.
According to Ryan Collyer, Chief Executive Officer of Rosatom Central and Southern Africa, nuclear technologies are at the heart of many innovations that Africa can benefit greatly from.
“ROSATOM strongly believes that the youth need to play a vital role in achieving the United Nations Sustainability goals and more specifically in the fight against climate change. Rosatom puts a great deal of resources into supporting youth to foster their talents and share their views and ideas. We are confident that nuclear can help to archive the UN Sustainability Goals in Africa, not only through clean and affordable energy, but also through life saving medical procedures and technologically advanced agricultural practices. Through this competition we hope that the youth will educate themselves and their peers on the immense benefits that nuclear technology has to offer” concluded Collyer.
The competition details states that the participants are encouraged to post their videos on Facebook, following the formal guidelines set out below and submit their applications to the email atomsforafrica@rosatom.com or by the link to online submission form https://tinyurl.com/RosatomAfrica.
The top three winning videos will be selected by an independent expert panel observing various criteria including original content and creativity, overall quality of the video and content, accuracy and relevance of technical content, as well as ability to clearly communicate the content to an audience. The makers of the top three videos will be rewarded with an all-expenses paid trip to Russia, where they will get the opportunity to visit several of the country’s world-renowned tourist attractions as well as various nuclear institutions and advanced nuclear facilities.
Jury includes representatives of nuclear enterprises such as ROSATOM, Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA, Egypt), media practitioners like Influence Communications (Egypt) and regional nuclear NGOs Women in Nuclear South Africa (WinSA), African Young Generation in Nuclear (AYGN) and Nuclear Corporation of South Africa (NESCA).
The submission deadline is 31 January, 2021, and potential topics for video production (not limited to):
ü How can nuclear technologies assist in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) in Africa or your country?
ü How can Nuclear technologies help developing countries industrialize?
ü How can non-power related nuclear science and technology benefit your country or community?
ü Nuclear in our everyday lives.
ü Myths and fears about nuclear and how to overcome them.
The formal guidelines for competition participants:
· An individual or a team 1-3 people are allowed to submit one application
· Video duration must not exceed 75 seconds
· Video narration language is either English or features English subtitles
· Both professional and smartphone videos are acceptable, but the video quality must be at least 720p HD quality
· Video can be live-action or animation
· Name(s) of the creator(s) and the name of the university (if so) must be written in the first frame of the video
· The video must be published on Facebook with no restrictions on its visibility for any Facebook visitors
· The post must tag @RosatomAfrica and @RosatomMENA Facebook page and contain hashtags: #Nucleardoesntwastetime, #AtomsforAfrica, #RosatomCompetition.
· No copyright violations (all videos should be compliant with Copyright and Rules for posting Content set up on Facebook)
· No harmful or offensive behavior, discrimination of any kind. Be friendly and polite.
Over 5 years of running the competition, 51 winners received awards and prizes and one-third of them visited Russian nuclear facilities in Moscow, Obninsk, Tomsk and Voronezh. The competition was selected by IAEA for its technical meeting on using social media for public communication and stakeholder involvement for nuclear programs and was featured in international and regional media such as Reuters, The Guardian, AllAfrica, ESI Africa, Engineering News, The Citizen, Business Report and many others.
