WOODLAND, CA (MPG) - The Yolo County Community Services Department’s Sustainability Division, in collaboration with the Yolo County Library and the Yolo County Youth Commission, is excited to host a calendar art contest open to K-12th grade students in Yolo County. Winners will receive a Certificate of Achievement, prizes, and their submissions will be featured in a 2024 Back-to-School Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) Awareness Calendar. Student artists are asked to illustrate their response to one of the following prompts:

What does a healthy planet Earth look like to you? What wild animals would you like to see stay in Yolo County? What can people do to help stop climate change? What does a healthy Yolo County look like to you? What does climate action in Yolo County look like to you? How do you like to protect the environment?

Winners will be chosen from four grade categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-8, and 9-12, with three winners selected in each category. The winning artwork will be featured as monthly pages in the 2024 CAAP Awareness Calendar. All other submissions will be compiled into a collage to be displayed in the calendar. All entries must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 1, 2024. Participants can submit their illustrations at the front counter of all Yolo County Library Branches and at the Yolo County Department of Community Services Building.

In 2020, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors set the goal of achieving a carbon-negative footprint by 2030, with a focus on equity and justice. The CAAP is a roadmap that outlines the actions Yolo County will take to meet this greenhouse reduction goal and help our community be more resilient to climate change. Driven by extensive public input, the CAAP will include recommendations for reducing emissions, safeguarding natural resources, increasing renewable energy adoption, supporting the flourishing climate resilient agricultural practices already established in Yolo County, and more.

Yolo County youth are driving local climate action in our community, serving as leaders, agents of change, and innovators. This art contest is an opportunity to highlight their inspiring visions of what it means to live on a healthy planet, how to protect the environment, and ways Yolo County can thrive as a sustainable, resilient, and climate aware community for generations to come.

For more information, including complete contest rules, registration forms, and drop-off locations, visit the Sustainability Division’s website at www.YoloCounty.org/CAAPArtContest or connect with the Division on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/YoloCountyClimateActionandSustainability/) and Instagram (@yolosustainability). Please email questions and inquiries to [email protected].