A Window on the World”: Our Students Win First Prize at Giovani digit@li

Last year, our students set out to understand sustainability in a different way.
Instead of studying diagrams or memorising definitions, they built something real: a smart greenhouse that could measure, monitor, and respond to its environment.
As one student recalled, “It was amazing to see our greenhouse grow from ideas on paper into something real we built with our own hands.”

And today, we are thrilled to share that our students won 1st place in the Primary School category with their interdisciplinary project “A Window on the World.”
The ceremony took place on Friday, 28 November, in Verona, during the award ceremony of the “Giovani digit@li” competition, promoted by AICA in collaboration with the Regional School Office for Veneto.

From global issues to hands-on exploration

The project began with essential questions: How do plants respond to environmental changes? How can we use digital tools to observe and understand sustainability?

Exploring topics such as climate change, the greenhouse effect, and food sustainability, students moved between research, design, construction, and analysis, transforming a global challenge into a shared, meaningful learning experience.

During the experimentation phase, the children quickly realised the power of data-based decision making.
One student explained: “When the Microbit showed us that the soil was still moist, we understood that we didn’t need to water it, I learned that data matters more than impressions.”

And as digital tools became allies in understanding nature, another commented with enthusiasm:
“It’s extraordinary to see digital technology applied to nature!”

A recognition that reinforces who we are as a school

For us as a school, this award carries a deeper meaning.
It affirms the value of an approach where students learn by building, experimenting, questioning, and connecting digital skills with real-world challenges.

Seeing our learners confidently present their process, explaining how they transformed ideas into a functional, data-driven system, reflects the kind of education we believe in: active, interdisciplinary, and grounded in curiosity.

We are incredibly proud of their work, not only for the final result, but for how they collaborated, persisted, and took ownership of their learning. As one student put it,
“This victory gave me great satisfaction, but only thanks to our teamwork.”

Achievements like this remind us why we invest in hands-on, future-focused experiences: they empower students to understand the world and to imagine ways to improve it.

A special thank-you goes to Ruggero Cortese and Annalisa Sartor for guiding and supporting the students throughout the project, and to the entire team at H-FARM International School Rosà for creating the environment that made this work possible.