Near 800 students from upper secondary schools in Rogaland participated in Vår Energi Challenge 2024. The finals took place at the Vår Energi office in Forus.

Vår Energi Challenge is a collaborative project between Vår Energi and Junior Achievement (Ungt Entreprenørskap Rogaland), where the ambition is to create engagement among young people for technology, innovation, sustainability and problem solving.

Vår Energi Challenge is organised as an innovation camp, where students are asked to address one or more of the UN’s sustainability goals, and solve a problem by creating a concept, a service or a product.

The final contest in Vår Energi Challenge is normally carried out at the beginning of the year, when the finalists present and pitch their solutions to the jury, and also in connection with an interview with the judges during the actual event. The winners are selected following the jury’s evaluation and announced at the end of the day.

Prize money is awarded to the class for the groups that take first, second and third places in the competition.

The Litus Pro group was one of this year’s finalists, composed of Håvard Lauvås, twin sisters Lena and Anna Lye and Andreas Hauge, representing Tryggheim Upper Secondary School during Vår Energi Challenge 2024. They presented a drone that will be able to pick up trash along beach zones using innovative new technology.

Group photo of Litus Pro from the Vår Energi Challenge finals at Forus.

This is what they had to say about taking part in the Challenge:

It was nerve-wracking and thrilling to present our actual pitch, but overall really great. What’s most fun about working with entrepreneurship and innovation is thinking outside the box. You can be creative with no limitations, and the sky’s the limit.

We can develop something entirely new, that might just be really useful for society someday. As students in upper secondary and then higher education, we have to complete an education first – before we can really get out there and make a difference. This competition gives us an opportunity to do that right now.

Another thing is the sense of achievement. We’ve come up with something that may never have been done before. We’re also helping to inspire others to develop ideas, and to prove that this is possible.

The Vår Energi Challenge 2024 winners:

  1. Havets Smultring, Akademiet Sandnes
  2. Gutta Krutt, Dalane videregående skole
  3. Clean Evolution, Sandnes videregående skole

Ungt Entreprenørskap Rogaland (Norwegian website)