SPAR Austria has launched the second round of its SPAR Diversity Award. The award invites prospective Austrian high school graduates to submit their pre-scientific work on the topics of biodiversity and species conservation, and an expert jury will assess the work. The overall winner receives a KlimaTicket, which allows the use of all transport services in a specific area for a year. In addition, the three best projects per federal state will be rewarded with vouchers and SPAR-branded products.

Preservation of diversity

Through its initiative ‘Let’s preserve diversity together’ SPAR Austria, experts, suppliers and customers, are campaigning for the diversity of species and varieties.

This includes the promotion of the bee population, the preservation of old breeds, the banning of glyphosate, and the continued expansion of organic products. The SPAR Diversity Award addresses many of these issues and gives young people the chance to provide input.

“It is obvious that we need to learn from the younger generations. Young people understand the importance of our environment and the conservation of our biodiversity and species,” said SPAR Austria Board member Markus Kaser.

“I am pleased that prospective high school graduates are given a voice through the Diversity Award and thus become a significant part of our initiative,” he continued.

Expert jury

The SPAR Bee Council, established in 2021, offers scientific support and acts as the jury for the Diversity Award.

Consisting of scientific and industry experts, the Bee Council advocates for the bee population as well as for topics related to soil health and the conservation of biodiversity in general.

Young researchers

The pre-scientific paper is the first of three pillars of the school-leaving examination at general and vocational secondary schools. The students systematically work on a topic of their choice, focusing not only on research and source analysis, but also on documentation and critical examination of the material.

The Diversity Award is announced annually, enabling students to plan their pre-scientific work to present the following year. This year, students can submit their work up to 11 May 2023 using the dedicated SPAR Austria website. The announcement of the winners and the award ceremony will be held in June.

Source: SPAR Austria

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About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed the brand in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade in 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade. It maintained this leadership position in 2021.