Deadline: 12 June 2024
Applications are now open for the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP) Youth Innovation Challenge 2024 . Are you aged between 15 and 30 and have an idea for protecting marine resources and resolving related issues at local, national or regional level? They want to hear from you! They are looking for solutions that you can implement on your own or in partnership with other individuals or organisations. Your solution should be aligned with one or more of the following priority areas and should also include an environmental education (EE) component.
In partnership with the Taiwan Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA), GEEP invites you to apply for the Youth Innovation Challenge (YIC) 2024: Advancing Marine Conservation! The YIC offers an opportunity for young people aged between 15 and 30 from around the world to share their innovative solutions for protecting marine resources. This year's challenge explores how we can address marine issues, including biodiversity loss, marine debris, lack of awareness and other related issues, and support people of all ages to be engaged stewards in supporting marine environments. YIC seeks solutions that are innovative, feasible and based on research.
About the Challenge
The Youth Innovation Challenge (YIC) is a programme of the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP), a vibrant and inclusive learning network designed to champion environmental education (EE) worldwide, in partnership with Taiwan's Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA). GEEP is a partnership between the US Environmental Protection Agency, Taiwan's Ministry of Environment and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), which acts as secretariat.
Benefits
A total of 15 YIC finalists will be selected and will receive the following benefits:
- An official YIC finalist certificate.
- Recognition through GEEP, NAAEE and other global partners' websites and social media pages.
- They will select 3 winners from the 15 YIC finalists. Each winner will receive a prize of US$ 1,000, in addition to all the benefits listed above, and will be invited to attend the YIC awards ceremony at the Taiwan Ocean Conservation Administration's marine debris conference in Taiwan in September 2024 (all travel expenses covered).
Eligibility
The Youth Innovation Challenge is aimed at young leaders and innovators aged between 15 and 30. Their innovative solutions should provide a solution to one of the following key areas, using environmental education as a key component:
- Marine biodiversity and conservation: Managing, protecting and/or restoring marine biodiversity for its ecological, cultural, economic and other values.
- Marine debris: Reducing and/or mitigating the effects of marine debris, including monitoring, cleaning and recycling marine debris, and educating communities on how to address these issues.
- Public-private collaboration: Collaboration between the private sector, governments and the public to protect marine environments. This can include ideas for cooperation between government and business to meet corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives, civic engagement opportunities for the public to get involved with government programmes and other initiatives that promote collaboration between the public and private sectors.
- Solutions must be submitted online via Submittable (only one proposal per person or team will be accepted).
- At this point, proposals will only be accepted in English. Your video presentation and written answers will not be scored based on your proficiency in English, but rather on the strength of your solution and your ability to communicate your ideas and vision to the judges.
Application
Entries must be submitted online via Submittable by Wednesday 12 June 2024 at 11.59pm US Eastern Time. Winners will be notified by September 2024.
