Environmental Projects — Atlântia STEM Olympiad

VISION & SCOPE

Category Vision and Scope

The ecological crises our planet faces demand more urgent, technology-driven and innovative interventions than ever before. This category aims to showcase visionary projects that meet modern society's needs within a sustainable framework while preserving nature's delicate balance. Our expectation from competitors is not merely to repair existing environmental damage, but to develop proactive, scientifically-grounded systems that solve problems at their source and can be integrated into real life.

FOCUS AREAS

Thematic Focus Areas

Innovative and applicable projects are expected in the following three core areas.

Waste Management and Circular Economy

Going far beyond simply collecting and sorting waste, this area should be approached as a process based on the "zero waste" philosophy and the circular economy. Participants may work on systems that convert organic, industrial or electronic waste (e-waste) into valuable raw materials through biochemical processes, next-generation biomaterials to replace non-biodegradable plastics, or AI-powered robotic solutions that make waste sorting autonomous.

Water Treatment and Management

Innovative mechanisms that can directly address the global clean water crisis are of great importance. Among the strongest topics in this area are nanotechnological systems that detect and filter microplastics from oceans and drinking water, low-cost biological filtration designs that purify industrial wastewater with minimal energy consumption, or convert seawater for agricultural use.

Air Quality and Emission Control

Projects aimed at improving air quality should focus on technologies that will make cities breathable again. Innovative modules for direct air carbon capture and storage (CCS), smart filters that convert toxic gases from industrial chimneys into useful byproducts, or IoT-based sensor networks that map urban air pollution in real time and enable intervention can be developed.

RULES

Participation Rules

Projects must meet the following basic conditions to be considered for evaluation.

Originality and Scientific Foundation

All submitted projects must be based on scientific foundations and be original. Projects that are direct copies of existing solutions will be eliminated.

Applicability and Integration

Projects must be simulated or prototyped to a level that can move beyond the laboratory environment and be integrated into industry, urban structures or agricultural areas.

Technological Integration

The use of modern engineering tools such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, IoT, biomimicry or advanced automation in projects is encouraged.

Sustainability

It is a fundamental requirement that the proposed system's own production and operating costs are also environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

Rules Booklet

SCORING

Evaluation Criteria

Projects will be evaluated out of a total of 100 points based on the following criteria.

Criterion	Weight	Distribution
Innovation and Originality	25 pts
Scientific and Technical Foundation	25 pts
Applicability and Scalability	20 pts
Sustainability and Environmental Impact	20 pts
Presentation and Defense Quality	10 pts
Total	100 pts

JURY PROCESS

Evaluation and Jury Process

STAGE 01

Preliminary Evaluation (Report Stage)

Detailed project reports containing teams' projects, scientific foundations and technical drawings/simulations are reviewed by the jury. Projects that pass the threshold score are invited to the EurAsia Championship. Teams that succeed at the EurAsia Championship are invited to the World Championship in Spain.

STAGE 02

Final Presentations and Defense

Finalist teams present their projects, working prototypes or high-resolution digital simulations to the jury. After the presentation, they are required to answer the jury's technical and applicability-focused questions.