Schoolchildren meet French and German astronauts in run up to the opening of Esch2022.

In preparation for the opening of Esch2022, 350 pupils met astronauts Claudie Haigneré and Reinhold Ewald as part of a drawing competition for schoolchildren with a passion for space.

Under the patronage of the Luxemburg Minister for Education, Children and Youth, the Chancellor of the French Grand Est Academy, together with the Luxemburg Space Agency (LSA) and the Luxemburg Science Centre, Esch2022 invited schools in the Pro-Sud municipalities and the CCPHVA to participate in the ”creative Competition – Youth Ideas for the Future of Space”. The award ceremony took place on Monday 29 November in the Grand Auditorium of the Maison du Savoir in Esch-Belval. The children's creative ideas will play a major role in the REMIX Opening, the official opening of the European Capital of Culture on 26 February 2022. The drawing competition was aimed at young schoolchildren and space enthusiasts aged 6 to 12. Each student who won a prize was awarded to his/her entire class. 19 classes were awarded prizes, representing approximately 350 pupils.

“The Creative Competition is part of our ambition to unleash reative energy through collaboration, exchange, dialogue, active participation and co-creation. We are very proud of the children's creative spirit and each drawing will contribute in its own unique way to the REMIX Opening to Esch2022. The spotlight will be on co-creation, an extraordinary, participatory experience in living together”, said Nancy Braun, Managing Director of ESH 2022.

The importance of involving adolescents and young people in the launch of the Esch2022 events.

Young people, schools and youth associations will be playing a major part in the official opening of the European Capital of Culture festivities. The ESCH2022 team does not just want to offer an opening ceremony that would please young people, it seeks to go much further and co-create a participatory experience that showcases the creative ideas of tomorrow's adults. In this way, Esch2022 hopes to inspire the younger public to discover culture in its many forms and stimulate en intergenerational dialogue about the future of their region.

Pupils from both sides of the border excelled in their reativity

Many schools in the Esch2022 region took part in the competition. The winners of the competition, which was open specifically to the 12,000 children aged 6 to 12, came from Esch-sur-Alzette, Bettembourg, Differdange, Dudelange, Kayl/Tétange, Esch-Lallange, Mondercange, Sanem (all in Luxemburg) and Audun-Le-Tiche and Aumetz (both in France).

The pupils who brought victory to their forms were:

• Lucie from the Dellhéicht Primary School, Esch-sur-Alzette ;
• Martim from the Bruch Primary School, Esch-sur-Alzette;
• Jade, Leila and Leni from the Primary School Lallange, Esch-sur-Alzette;
• Maria from the Primary School Reebou-Schoul, Bettembourg;
• Mahé from the EIDE École Fondamentale Internationale, Differdange;
• Juliana from the Primary School Differdange, Differdange ;
• Dario from the Oberkorn Primary School, Differdange ;
• Guilherme from the Strutzbierg Basic School, Dudelange;
• Joy, Santiago and Mariana from the Primary School Kayl Faubourg, Kayl/Tétange;
• Timo from the Pontpierre Primary School, Mondercange.
• Luis from the primary school Kanner Campus Belval, Sanem;
• Anaëlle and Sacha from the J. J. Rousseau Primary School, Audun-Le-Tiche;
• Jade and Jules from the Marie Curie Primary School, Aumetz;

The award ceremony took place in the presence of H.R.H. the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the Director General of Esch2022 Nancy Braun, the Scientific Director of the Luxembourg Science Center Guillaume Trap, the CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency Dr. Marc Serres, the French astronaut Claudie Haigneré and the German astronaut Reinhold Ewald.

The winners met the astronauts Claudie Haigneré and her counterpart Reinhold Ewald

The 350 school children were welcomed in the Grand Auditorium of the Maison du Savoir in Esch-Belval, together with their teachers and sometimes their parents, and had the opportunity to meet Claude Haigneré, the first European astronaut to fly on the International Space Station, and her counterpart Reinhold Ewald, former director of the German space agency. The two astronauts trained together for their adventures in space. In addition to accepting their awards, the children were given the opportunity to take part in fun and interative science experiments relating to the physical properties of space and enjoyed a taste of the REMIX opening to the European Capital of Culture festivities.

The first prizes consist of an educational day at the Euro Space Center in Transinne in Belgium. The six second prizes include tickets to the Luxemburg Science Center and a fragment of a real meteorite. The seven third prizes will allow them to discover the brand new planetarium at the Luxemburg Science Center, the home of the ESERO Luxembourg team.

The opening night of the European Capital of Culture, which will take place on Saturday 26 February 2022.

Esch2022, a rich programme for children and young people

Esch2022 brings together around 160 projects; almost half of them have a dimension that is particularly relevant to children or teenagers, and offer this age group many exciting events to discover. The "Creative Competition - Youth Ideas for the Future of Space" is part of the REMIX Festival. To raise awareness of digital science and technology among young people, teenagers and adults, Esch2022 has set up an educational space: SKIP. This meeting place will host workshops, concerts and events linked to the Esch-Belval exhibitions and will offer a space made of objects, books and games dealing with the arrival of digital technologies in our contemporary societies. During the European Capital of Culture, SKIP will be a place dedicated to exchange, dialogue and learning for our audiences.

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