For the first time ever, Poland will host the International Invitational of the World Creative Olympiad, and the city has the honour of organizing this event.
From March 16 to 19, 2017 the historic Centennial Hall complex will become a great laboratory of creativity. Polish and foreign teams of children and teenagers will present creative solutions to the chosen challenges.
"Nothing is more important than imagination," mayor of Wrocław, Rafał Dutkiewicz comments the importance of this event in a video inviting the participants of the Olympics to Wrocław.
Learning key skills of the 21st century
The programme Destination Imagination (DI) has been operating in our country for 11 years. It is implemented in schools around the world in the form of extra-curricular classes, in which the participants solve the so called "Challenge," selected at the beginning of the school year. Every year children and young people can choose between technical, scientific, engineering, arts, improvisational and social challenges. There is also a challenge for preschoolers, the so called Rising Stars. The participants ranging in age from 4 to 26 years search for innovative solutions, and then present the results at national competitions, within their age groups. The main goal of the DI is to equip young people with the twenty-first century skills, such as the ability of creative and critical thinking, the ability to communicate and collaborate in a group, learn creative problem solving, as well as flexibility and perseverance.
The most creative flock to Wrocław
So far, the challenges of Destination Imagination were taken up by 1.5 million young people from 42 world countries. Each year the program involves 150 000 participants. The best teams, selected at their national Olympiad, meet every year in the US - at the DI World Creative Olympiad. At this year's Olympics, Wroclaw was represented by as many as five teams: Moon Brothers with Junior High School No. 13, Scheme Busters with School Complex No. 5, Smart Kids with Primary School No. 63, the Magnificent Seven with the Economic and Administrative School and Asimo Team with Junior High School No. 13. The latter - the team from Junior High School No. 13, won the gold medal.
For several years, DI has involved yet another kind of international creative competition - the International Invitational. This is the International Creative Olympiad, which is open to all teams from all over the world.
Next year, the honour of organizing the International Invitational goes to Poland. The fact that the capital of Lower Silesia has been selected by the global authorities of Destination Imagination as the host of this event came as the "big news" during the opening ceremony of the National Creative Olympiad on April 1, 2016 in the Orbita Hall.
"This is one of world's largest educational events, and certainly the most creative one, and therefore Wrocław can be proud of this nomination," explains Małgorzata Jastrzębska, director of the DI programme in Poland. "Even now we are preparing for hosting dozens of foreign teams," she adds.
So far, teams to have announced their participation are: Albania, China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Canada, Germany, the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom. In total, the event will be attended by nearly 3,000 participants.
Because of the scope and importance of the event, you can venture to say that in March 2017 Wrocław will rise to the rank of "world's creative capital."
300 teams from 200 schools in 50 cities
In Poland, the DI program covers nearly 200 schools from more than 50 cities. The effects of work of each team of seven students are presented at the National Olympiad, which will be held in early spring in Wrocław for the third time now. See what went on during the 11th National Olympics in Wrocław!.
Please note that as many as 15 teams from Wrocław went down in the history of the Creative Olympics as its winners. As many as five creative teams (runners-up) will be able to take part in the Asian Creative Olympics in China in early December.
Next year the event will take place from 16 to 19 March and will be held, as the International Creative Olympiad, in the Centennial Hall complex. The organizers expect up to 300 teams of children and teenagers from all over Poland can participate in the 13th National DI Olympiad.
"The interest in the program grows continually, and sign up for trainings to prepare teachers to work in the program closes a few days after the announcement date. This means that more and more children and young people from different parts of Poland have a chance to experience educational adventures in our program," says Malgorzata Jastrzębska, director of the DI program in Poland.
Photo: the organizer.
