THE EARTH PRIZE
PARTICIPANT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Table of Contents

Glossary of Terms

Adult Supervisor: Each team must have an adult Supervisor who is required to review and sign off on the Participants’ submissions in The Earth Prize Submissions Portal. Submissions cannot be changed after they have been approved by the team’s Supervisor.

Fresh Idea Canvas: A fill-in template divided into eight (8) different sections where The Earth Prize Participants can provide an overview of their Fresh Idea in a very visually clear way.

Fresh Idea: One of the two submissions required in The Earth Prize Submissions Phase. This is an extended version of the Fresh Idea Canvas, where Participants are required to provide a more detailed description of their proposed solution by elaborating on each of the eight (8) Canvas’ building blocks.

Social Media Engagement Campaign: One of the components of the Finalists Phase, during which teams are encouraged to create social media content to be shared through The Earth Prize social media channels, with the aim of raising awareness about their Final Idea.

Supporting Materials: Any information (facts, statistics, definitions, etc,) which can help develop and/or justify the team’s Fresh and Final Ideas.

Team: Any individual Participant or group of up to five (5) Participants registered together for The Earth Prize competition.

The Earth Foundation: The Swiss nonprofit organization in charge of planning and executing The Earth Prize.

The Earth Prize Adjudicating Panel: A group of world-renowned experts who will be in charge of judging Participants’ submissions to The Earth Prize competition and determining The Earth Prize Finalists, The Earth Prize Winner, and the three The Earth Prize Runners-up.

The Earth Prize Ambassador: An inspiring individual with a strong interest in environmental sustainability who will provide an assigned Earth Prize Finalist team with advice and guidance in a one-on-one call ahead of their final presentation to the Adjudicating Panel.

The Earth Prize Mentor: A university student passionate about sustainability and entrepreneurship tasked with answering The Earth Prize Participants’ questions on The Earth Prize online platform and providing advice and support on Participants’ submissions.

The Earth Prize Scholar: The Earth Prize Participant whose submission has reached outstanding standards according to the evaluation criteria set by The Earth Foundation team.

1. General Requirements

Language

All personal and submission information must be in English.

Submissions

Participants are required to enter all submissions (with the exception of the Social Media Engagement Campaign) through The Earth Prize Submission Portal. Incomplete or late submissions will not be accepted. All submissions (with the exception of the Social Media Engagement Campaign) will have to be reviewed and approved by each team’s adult Supervisor. Submissions cannot be changed after they have been approved by the team’s Supervisor.

Citations and References

All submissions must adhere to rigorous standards of citation and referencing for source material, fully acknowledging all data, research, and opinion that is not original, using a consistent system. Participants must follow the referencing standards set up specifically for The Earth Prize and described in The Earth Prize Referencing Guide section of this document (see Section 6).

2. Timeline Overview

3. Registration Phase

3.1 The Earth Prize Platform

Participants and Supervisors (teachers) are required to register for The Earth Prize using the online platform (www.theearthprize.org) by providing the following information:

• Name and email of the Participant
• Name and email of the Supervisor/Teacher/Tutor
• Date of birth (Participants only)
• School or Organization name and address
• City/Country
• Parent’s or legal guardian’s email address (Participants only)

For the registration to be approved, each Participant is required to provide their Supervisor’s email address, who will need to register on the platform too. The Earth Foundation will also notify each Participant’s parent or legal guardian that their child has registered for the competition. As soon as the registration is complete, Participants will have access to bespoke learning materials on The Earth Prize Learning Platform and mentoring by university students (“The Earth Prize Mentors’’) on The Earth Prize Mentorship Portal.

3.2 The Earth Prize Submissions Portal

The Submissions Portal can be accessed through the “Submissions” menu option on The Earth Prize website. Supervisors will need to (a) verify their teacher/administrator/tutor status by uploading their teacher ID (or other pertinent form of ID) as well as (b) confirm each team member’s student status at the given school/educational program, and (c) confirm that all the collaborators (students) are registered at the same school/educational program as the Supervisor and that their participation in The Earth Prize is endorsed by the institution.

Students will be invited by their Supervisor to collaborate in a team on The Earth Prize Submission Portal. Each Participant will be required to complete a student verification form consisting of (a) age verification and b) school verification.

As soon as the teams have been created and verified, the Participants can start working on their submissions.The deadline to create a team is the 30th of November 2021 at 23h59 CET.

3.3 Registration Confirmation

By the end of the Registration Phase, Participants must confirm their participation in The Earth Prize competition by submitting (i) their Student Verification Form, (ii) their Problem Definition and (iii) a Team Motivation Letter by the 30th November 2021, at 23h59 CET. The aim of this step is to encourage Participants to reflect upon their interests and motivations.

3.3.1 Student Verification Form

Participants are required to confirm their personal information, including full name, date of birth, and name and address of their school / educational program.

3.3.2 Problem Definition (one fill-in form per team)

The Participants are required to answer a series of questions on the environmental problem the team has worked on, or will be working on, using a fill-in form available on The Earth Prize Submission Portal.

Questions:

• What category does your problem fall into? (Ocean, air, land use, pollution, deforestation, climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, over consumption, etc.)
• Is the problem you are trying to solve local, national, or global?
• Is this problem directly affecting you and your community? (Yes or No) If yes, does it affect your health, landscape, or finances? access to food?
• Do you live in an urban, suburban, or rural area?
• How did you learn about the problem? (It affects me directly; it affects me and my community; I heard about it at school; I read about in the news; I watched a documentary/film about it; through social media; Other)

3.3.3 Team Motivation Letter (one per team, in 300 words or less)

This document describes why the Participant(s) is/are interested in this problem and why it is important to him/her/them.

At the end of this phase, all registered teams who have successfully submitted their Problem Definition and Team Motivation Statement will be automatically invited to the Submissions Phase.

4. Submissions Phase (From Registration Completion to 31st January 2022 at 23h59 CET)

In the Submissions Phase, Participants are required to submit (i) their Fresh Idea Canvas and (ii) their Fresh Idea.

Participants will be able to start working on these two submissions as soon as their registration is finalized:

4.1 Fresh Idea Canvas

The Fresh Idea Canvas is a fill-in template which Participants will use to describe their Fresh Idea. The Participants are encouraged to use the canvas as a drawing board before filling in the Fresh Idea forms on The Earth Prize Submission Portal.

The aim of the Canvas is for the Participants to provide a visual overview of their Fresh Idea in a very clear and structured way. Participants can draft their answers using a bullet-point style with a maximum of 70 words per box to explain each building block of their Fresh Idea.

4.2. Fresh Idea

This is the extended version of the Canvas. For each section, Participants are required to provide a more detailed description of each of the eight (8) building blocks of the Canvas. The Participants can use short sentences to fill in each element. Please note that the maximum word count is merely for guidance purposes and the Participants will not be marked down for not reaching the suggested word count.

1. Problem Statement (in 200 words or less)
   A descriptive explanation of the environmental problem the team is addressing or has addressed. The team should be able to provide background information that defines the problem as clearly as possible. The team’s answer should address the following elements:
   • What is the environmental problem your team is trying to solve?
   • Is it a local, national, or global problem?
   • Who is affected by it and how?
2. Proposed Solution (in 200 words or less)
   A detailed description of the proposed solution, including an outline of how it is supposed to address a clearly defined environmental challenge. The team’s answer should address the following questions:
   • What is your proposed solution?
   • How will it help solve the environmental issue?
3. Implementation (in 200 words or less)
   A detailed description of the steps the team would need to take to implement their Fresh Idea, or that other people could take in order to replicate their Fresh Idea in a different context. The team’s answer should address the following questions:
   • How will you implement the idea?
   • What are the key activities required to implement the idea?
4. Resources (in 150 words or less)
   An explanation of the resources the team would need to move their project from an idea to a tangible realization. This includes:
   • Physical Resources: Any tangible items which can be used for the project, such as raw materials, facilities, equipment, supplies, etc.
   • Human Resources: Any individuals, organizations, or entities which can provide knowledge and assistance towards the project, such as a chemist, a technician, a researcher, etc.
5. Financials (in 100 words or less)
   A descriptive explanation detailing the most important monetary aspects of the proposed Fresh Idea. Here the team should think about:
   • What will be the main costs of the proposed Idea?
   • How will the team finance it?
   • Will the proposed idea make any profit?
6. Stakeholders (in 200 words or less)
   A descriptive statement explaining the different stakeholders involved in the project. Here the team should think about who will be interested in their project and how they will engage. Examples include:
   • Partners: The strategic relationships Participants will build with different organizations, companies or individuals.
   • Beneficiaries: The organization(s), community(ies), and/or individual(s) who will benefit from the idea.
   • Customers: The type of organization(s) or individual(s) who will use, buy, or otherwise interact with the idea.
7. Communication Plan (in 150 words or less)
   A description of how the team will engage the public in supporting its project and proposed solution. For example:
   • Will the team reach out to the public via social media, by email, or through newspapers?
   • How costly are these measures?
   • How will the team promote their idea to grow it into a wider solution?
8. Expected Impact (in 150 words or less)
   An explanation with references to facts, figures, and data describing the expected impact the team thinks the idea could have, or the impact the already-implemented idea has had.

4.3 Supporting Materials (optional)

Each team is allowed to submit a maximum of three (3) supporting documents (with up to six (6) pages each) that provide additional information (i.e facts, figures, data, graphs, maps, etc.) and that might allow the reviewers to better understand the team’s idea. The supporting materials can be in the following format:

• PDF (.pdf)
• MS Word (.doc)
• MS Word (docx)
• MS Excel (.xls)
• MS Excel (.xlsx)
• Powerpoint (.ppt)
• Powerpoint (.pptx)
• .png
• .jpg
• .jpeg

4.4 The Earth Prize Mentor of the Year Vote

At the end of the Submissions Phase, Participants will also be asked to cast their vote for The Earth Prize Mentor of the Year award.

5. Finalists Phase (14th February – 11th March 2022)

The top 10 teams will be selected and invited onto the Finalists Phase, where they will continue to receive the support of The Earth Prize Mentors and an assigned Earth Prize Ambassador to complete their Final Idea. During this phase, Participants will work on the elements listed below.

5.1 Social Media Engagement Campaign

In the Finalists Phase, teams will be asked to create engaging audiovisual content for one social media post to be shared across The Earth Prize social media profiles in order to drive interest in their project. Each team will create material for one (1) original post (a carousel of pictures, a video, etc.) which will be shared on The Earth Prize Instagram account to promote its Final Idea. This includes any audiovisual content to be shared and any other accompanying details such as captions, hashtags, locations, etc. At the beginning of the Finalists Phase, Participants will receive a Social Media Guidelines E-book with tips and resources that will help them with their content-creation process. The results of the engagement campaign will not impact the final score of the teams.

5.2 Final Idea

Teams will continue working on and improving their Final Idea Canvas and Final Idea submission, which will include the three (3) new elements.

1. Impact Metrics (in 150 words or less)
   Impact Metrics are used to measure and track the change that has or will occur as a result of the team’s proposed solution. The team’s answer should address the following elements:
   • How will you measure the positive impact your Final Idea will create?
   Grading Scale
   • Describe as precisely as possible how you have measured the impact of your implemented Final Idea.
2. Scaling Potential (in 150 words or less)
   Here, the the team should think about the following elements:
   • How do you plan to grow your Idea?
   • How can the Final Idea be replicated on a bigger scale?
3. Negative Impacts ( in 150 words or less)
   In every new project, it is important to think about the negative consequences that an idea might have. The team’s answer should address the following questions:
   • Does the Final Idea have any negative environmental, social or human impacts?
   • Are there solutions to address the possible negative impacts?

5.3 Supporting Materials (optional)

Each team is allowed to submit supporting documents that provide additional information (i.e facts, figures, data, graphs, maps, etc.) and that might allow the reviewers to better understand the team’s Final Idea. The supporting materials can be in the following format:

• PDF (.pdf)
• MS Word (.doc)
• MS Word (docx)
• MS Excel (.xls)
• MS Excel (.xlsx)
• Powerpoint (.ppt)
• Powerpoint (.pptx)
• .png
• .jpg
• .jpeg

5.4 Video Submission

The ten (10) Finalist Teams are required to submit a recorded video presentation of up to five (5) minutes highlighting the key aspects of their Final Idea or initiative in a clear and engaging way. The video submission can be in the following format:

• .avi
• .mp4
• .mov
• .wav
• YouTube
• Vimeo

5.5 Presentation of the Final Idea to the Adjudicating Panel (14th – 18th March 2022)

Finalists will be required to make a virtual presentation of their Final Idea to The Earth Prize Adjudicating Panel. All information provided during the presentation must be in English. Use of translation devices or translator services is not allowed.

• Supporting presentation materials: The presentation of the Final Idea can be supported with audiovisual materials (i.e. photos, videos, slides, a live demonstration of a prototype, etc. - all formats accepted) at the discretion of the Participants. Please note, the Adjudicating Panel will focus on the Final Idea; supporting materials will only act as an aid.
• Time: The presentation of each Final Idea is limited to ten (10) minutes.
• Presenter: The team is free to choose the number of presenters from their team. Team Supervisors and external individuals are not allowed to take part in the presentation.
• Notes: The use of paper, electronic notes, and cues during the presentation is allowed and will not influence the final grade of the presentation.

5.6 Live Q&A Session

The presentation will be followed by a live Q&A session. The team is free to choose the number of representatives who will answer questions on behalf of the team. Team Supervisors and external individuals are not allowed to take part in the Q&A session.

• Time: The live Q&A session will last 20 minutes.

6. The Earth Prize Referencing Guide

Submissions to The Earth Prize must adhere to rigorous citation and referencing standards, properly acknowledging external data, research, and opinions in order to avoid plagiarism. Source referencing on The Earth Prize Submissions Platform must follow a particular footnote-based referencing standard specific to The Earth Prize competition.

6.1 Footnote referencing guidelines

Footnotes will be indicated in numerical order and in parenthesis after the content (paraphrased sentence, quote, data, etc.) to be cited. At the bottom of the submission’s page, Participants will find a box where they can list all their references, according to the corresponding footnote number. Each reference should include key information about the source such as the author, date of publication, title of the source, where to find it, etc. All sources included on the references’ list must match a footnote in the text. If Participants need to reutilize a source, they should simply use the same footnote number. These referencing guidelines will be available to Participants on The Earth Prize Submissions Platform as well. Below are more detailed explanations of how to reference each type of source.

6.1.2 Reference formatting

• Book
  • Author’s last name, initials. (Year of publication). Title of Book: Subtitle of the book. Location of publication: Publisher. URL: URL link (if applicable).
    Example: (1) David Attenborough and Jonathan Hughes.(2020) A life on our planet: My witness statement and a vision for the future. New York: Grand Central Publishing.
• Book chapter
  • Author’s last name, initials. (Year of publication). “Title of the chapter” in Last name and initials of the author/s. (Ed./s) Title of the book: Subtitle of the book. Location of the publication: Publisher.
    Example: (2) Vietz, G. J. and Finlayson, B. L. (2017) “Geomorphological effects of flow alteration on rivers” in Horne, A. C., Webb, J. A., Stewardson, M. J., Richter, B. and Acreman, M. (Eds.) Water for the environment: From policy and science to implementation and management. London: Academic Press.
• Peer-reviewed article
  • Author’s last name, initials. (Year of publication) Title of the article. Name of the journal, volume number, pp: pages (if applicable).
    Example: (3) Matthews, C., Moran, F., and Jaiwal, A.K. (2021) A review on European Union’s strategy for plastics in a circular economy and its impact on food safety, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 283.
• Online newspaper article
  • Author’s last name, initials. (Year of publication) Title of article. Name of Newspaper. URL (if applicable)
    Example: Sheriff, L. (2021) The scientists fighting to save the ocean’s most important carbon capture system. Washing Post. URL:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/07/05/kelp-forests-destroyed-sea-urchins/
• Website
  • Author’s last name and initials. (Year of Publication) Title of Article. Title of Website. [Online] URL: URL link. (Accessed: date when the website was accessed)
    Example: (5) Toy, R. (2021) A legendary Arizona river is under threat. National Geographic. [Online] URL:
    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/a-legendary-arizona-river-is-under-threat/ (Accessed: July 19th, 2021)
• Video (Youtube, documentary, etc.)
  • Author’s name. (Publication date) Title of the video. Title of the website. URL: URL link
    Example: (6) National Geographic. (28 August 2017) Causes and effects of climate change. Youtube. URL:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4H1N_yXBiA/
• Podcast
  • Host last name, initials. (Host). (Date of publication). Episode title (No. Episode number) [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast name. URL: URL
    Example: (7) Figueres, Christiana (Host) (July 3rd, 2021) Climate, fossil fuels and the future of Shell with Ben van Beurden. (No. 108) [Audio podcast episode] In Outrage + Optimism. URL:
    https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9vdXRyYWdlYW5kb3B0aW1pc20ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M/episode/ZTE1ZGI3NDUtYjgzYy00NTA5LWE4MTAtYTFlYWNlYjNlODE5?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjA08GA2-7xAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ/

6.1.2 In-text footnote example

This is an example of how the in-text footnote referencing style would look.

7. The Earth Prize Evaluation Criteria

The Earth Foundation is committed to ensure that the submissions’ evaluation is fair, open, unbiased and aligned with our vision and mission. All successfully submitted ideas will be reviewed by The Earth Foundation team and subsequently by The Earth Prize Adjudicating Panel, a group of highly renowned experts with backgrounds in corporate sustainability, academia, entrepreneurship, conservation, and communications. The evaluation process will take place in three (3) different stages. The evaluation criteria for each stage of the competition are outlined below.

7.1 Upon Registration

All teams that have successfully submitted their Problem Definition and Team Motivation Letter will automatically enter the Submissions Phase of the competition.

7.2 Submissions Phase

At the Submissions Phase, the (i) Fresh Idea Canvas and the (i) Fresh Idea will be evaluated individually.

7.2.1 Fresh Idea Canvas Screening

Each submission will be rated on a 5-point grading scale as outlined below. All submissions that score above the minimum score defined by The Earth Foundation will automatically enter the Fresh Idea review.

7.2.2 Fresh Idea Review

Each Fresh Idea will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

At the end of the Submissions Phase, the top 20-30 submissions will be forwarded to the Adjudicating Panel for the Finalists’ selection. The Adjudicating Panel will review the Fresh Idea Canvas and the Fresh Idea using the Fresh Idea criteria only.

7.3 Finalists Phase

At the Finalists Phase, the ten selected (10) Finalists’ submissions will be evaluated by the Adjudicating Panel. Each of the four (4) submissions will be evaluated using specific criteria and weighting.

7.3.1 Final Idea (50%)

The selected submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

7.3.2 Presentation of the Final Idea to the Adjudicating Panel (20%)

Presentations will allow the Adjudicating Panel to gain a better understanding of each Final Idea. The presentation will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

7.3.3 Live Q&A session (20%)

Each team is required to participate in a live Q&A session after the final presentation. The live Q&A will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

7.3.4 Video Submission (10%)

The videos must be the students’ own work, in the students’ own words, and may include personal experiences and thoughtful observations. Videos must reflect that the student has carefully examined and thought through their Final Idea. The video submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

7.3.5 Social Media Engagement Campaign

The Earth Foundation team will present The Adjudicating Panel members with an overview of each team’s campaign. No weighting will be given for the Social Media Engagement Campaign. However, it might be taken into consideration in case of a tie between two or more Finalist teams. The posts will be evaluated based on (i) engagement and (ii) content. The final score for each team's Social Media will be determined by adding up the points from the two (2) evaluation criteria.
For detailed criteria, please see below.

Engagement:

Content: