Ambitious “Young Lions” competition: young talents tackle the challenges of forests and their conservation | Business

A chance to participate in the “Cannes Lions”

The young representatives of the advertising industry gathered at the creative session of “Young Lions” compete for the opportunity to represent Lithuania in the international arena in June – at the prestigious “Cannes Lions” festival.

During the creative workshop, which will take place on April 18-20, the pairs of contestants will have to create and present to the commission the most original and creative advertising solution – a print layout for advertising and a digital media idea.

During all creative workshops, the participants will be helped by the mentors of “The Atomic Garden” – school teachers Mantas Velykis, Renata Šarkauskaitė, Rimantas Stanevičius, Gabrielius Jucevičius, Giedrė Ona Šileikytė and Marius Poškus. At the end of the competition, on April 20, the mentors will choose the most surprising, original and best-representing advertisement.

The general director of “15min group” Tomas Balžekas encouraged the participants and wished them creative success, urging them to release their creative muses and not be afraid to be brave. “We have been working with Cannes Lions for 15 years, I have been to the festival 13 times, the only break was during the coronavirus. It is a source of inspiration for me personally. An opportunity to see the world, the creative world, which we will not really see here.

Imagine a gathering of 15,000 creative people, whom you will not meet anywhere else. You can communicate with them, discuss, share ideas. Some of you will be there, we will help you, accompany you so that you can feel the spirit of that event.

So, today your topic is an old one, really relevant in today’s world. Choose a muse, be creative, create great work, and we, as a media outlet, will do our best to make it visible. I believe that a great creative process awaits you”, he said 15min the director.

Lukas Balandis/BNS photo/Tomas Balžekas

Synthesis Consulting Group’s strategist Marija Bliuvaitė presented a formulated specific task to the Young Lions – they have to create an advertising campaign for the client 15min group, assessing its specifics – both online and press.

“Lithuanians react very sensitively to cases of deforestation and pollution of nature, but the wave passes in the social space and that’s usually the end of it. Your task is to highlight everyone’s responsibility to protect forests, not to get excited for just five minutes.

To educate the public regarding the importance of protecting forests and to remind everyone of the duty to do it daily and continuously”, said M. Bliuvaitė briefly.

Forest and its protection – why?

This year, the contestants will delve into the topic of forests and their preservation and will look for a creative solution to strengthen public awareness of the importance and future of forests. The head of “Sengirės fondo” Rimantė Paulauskaitė-Digaitienė presented to the participants of “Young Lions” in detail the problem that they were invited to solve in the creative workshop.

“What is an old-growth forest – a forest of various ages and species untouched by man, constantly renewing itself. It has a large, unique and very specific variety,” R. Paulauskaitė-Digaitienė began with a simple definition. The fate of many animals, biodiversity and even man and his activities and discoveries depends on the life of old and large trees, their ability to live the entire cycle.

The problem is that today in Lithuania there are very few old-growth forests, where nature might develop, live at its own pace and regenerate naturally, untouched by humans, and only patches of old-growth forests are counted. Only 1.2 percent are completely protected from logging in Lithuania. forests, while old forests make up only 0.0009 percent. That tiny percentage includes forests that are regarding 200 years old, and none that have survived more than 300 years.

R. Paulauskaitė-Digaitienė pointed out that sometimes it is believed that old forests are considered garbage dumps and sabbaticals, but this is a very wrong opinion. Because precisely such forests are a paradise for beetles, lichens and other ecosystems, where real life flourishes.

Over 15,000 species of life are found in ancient forests: “Our scientist took a small piece of the log and studied it in the laboratory, and we realized that even 30% we do not know what we have found in it. Scientists say that we recognize only ten percent of mushrooms in the world, so we can only imagine what we don’t know and what we lose the opportunity to learn if we destroy them.”

The head of the “Sengirė Foundation” finally emphasized that we should look at the protection of old forests more broadly, because the ecosystems that develop in them are closely related to many processes of human life: “Everything is very closely related. It is important to understand that a forest is not just a collection of trees – it is an ecosystem formed over millions of years. They take one card out of the house and it all starts to fall.

Ecosystems are almost impossible to restore or it would take a very long time. For example, it has been calculated that it would take almost a million years to restore the ecosystem of Madagascar, which is considered extremely unique and is currently losing a lot.”

Lukas Balandis / BNS photo/”Young Lions” competition: young talents solve the challenges of forests and their preservation

And how is it in Lithuania? Although we are named as one of the greenest countries in the world – we have 33.5% of forests, but according to R. Paulauskaitė-Digaitienė, a large part of them are young forests, where ecosystems do not even have the conditions to develop as they should. The average age of a tree in Lithuania is approximately 53 years, which clearly shows that we have almost no mature forests.

Finally, the head of the “Sengirė Foundation” gave a very vivid example so that we might imagine the situation of today’s forests: “Let’s talk regarding the life cycle of a pine tree. A hundred years is already considered maturity for us when we start crossing. This means that we cut down pine trees and lose the opportunity to become a home, food for many species and to return naturally to nature.

After all, its entire life cycle might last up to 400 years. Now let’s compare this to a human. If we cut off his life at the age of 20 and say – enough”, R. Paulauskaitė-Digaitienė asked rhetorically.

She invited the participants of “Young Lions” to think boldly regarding how we can protect what we have and what we probably cannot restore. He pointed out that Europe has a plan until 2030. countries to completely protect at least 10% from logging. forests, which in Lithuania today amounts to only 1.2 percent.

And finally, to find suggestive, creative and original solutions, how to invite the public to get involved in this matter, to help understand the problem and its significance. R. Paulauskaitė-Digaitienė assured that the problems discussed are of global significance, so it is very nice that it will also travel to international waters – in June, the winners will be presented at the prestigious “Cannes Lions” festival.

The winners of the “Young Lions” competition will be chosen on April 20, following the creative session has ended and the commission has evaluated all the participants’ works.