Day 5.

On the fifth day of the Olympiad, the participants completed the tasks of the team stage of the theoretical round. It is drastically different from the individual stage. Instead of a set of tasks on various topics, the participants received one large case study. The participants had to distribute the work within their team and work out the problem comprehensively. The participants had to distribute the work within their team and work out the problem comprehensively.

The case study was suggested by the Rosa Khutor resort and concerned the chestnut, one the bear’s key food sources which is actively degrading and therefore causes food chains disruption. The teams had to design a solution for preserving the food base of the wild animals. Besides, it was important to take into account the interconnection of climatic, biological, and socio-ecological factors.

"The special feature of such tasks is that they are open-ended. During assessment, one may find that participants propose solutions different from those already in existence — and sometimes such ideas turn out to be very rational and interesting. That is why the Olympiad not only gives children new knowledge, but can also become a source of fresh ideas for the organizers and partners," says Elizaveta Krestyannikova, a research specialist at the International Research Centre for Ecology and Climate Change at the Sirius University of Science and Technology and Secretary of the Olympiad jury.

The task covers several subject areas at once: biodiversity, soil science, biology, geography, and general ecology. Moreover, the task has an important background: the preliminary work was conducted this summer at the Big Challenges program of scientific and technological projects. Now schoolchildren from 14 countries have joined in the comprehensive solution of the problem. The organizers emphasize the value of comparing different approaches and seeing what strategies the participants propose and what experience they bring.

"We've remembered the team stage primarily because of the scale of the task. We had to not just answer questions, but propose our own plan for solving an environmental problem. I study ecology because I want to understand what is happening in the world now and what awaits the planet in 10−20 years. What interests me most are anthropogenic factors: how human activity affects nature," says Lasha Sinyavsky, a participant from Abkhazia.

"While solving this task, we had to dive deep into the topic. And we truly reconsidered our view of the interconnection between climate change, the state of ecosystems, and the well-being of wild animals. The theoretical round became truly significant for us," says Ahmed Hani Mohamed Ahmed Hussein from Qatar.

For the participant from Nigeria, the Olympiad became a great experience and an important contribution to the future.

"I dream of becoming an environmental engineer, because I am good at physics and mathematics, and I want to apply this knowledge to nature conservation," says Muhammad Idris Yahya from Nigeria.