THE EARTH PRIZE
PARTICIPANT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Table of Contents

Glossary of Terms

Adult Supervisor: Participants must have an assigned adult Supervisor (teacher/school administrator) for their team in order to successfully register for The Earth Prize. Your teacher will also be in charge of creating the team on The Earth Prize Submission Portal.

Final Idea: The Final Idea is an improved and refined version of the Fresh Idea which only the 10 (ten) Finalist teams are required to complete. It provides a more detailed description of the team’s proposed solution and contains three (3) additional elements that the Participants are required to fill out.

Fresh Idea: The Fresh Idea is the detailed description of the proposed solution students need to work on and submit during the Submissions Phase of the competition. It is structured in eight (8) building blocks meant to help the students elaborate on specific aspects of their project. Students can start brainstorming for their Fresh Idea using the Fresh Idea Canvas.

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 through The Earth Prize Submission Portal. Incomplete or late submissions will not be accepted. Submissions cannot be changed after they have been submitted.

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 (1st September 2023 - 30th November 2023 at 12h00 PM CET)

3.1 The Earth Prize Website

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)
• Gender
• School or Organization name and address
• City/Country
• Parent’s or legal guardian’s email address (Participants only)

Each Participant is required to provide their teacher's email address who will be invited to register as a Supervisor on The Earth Prize website. 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 online 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 “ My submission” (for the students) or “My Teams” (for the Supervisors) 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 and enrolment in the same school/educational program and the school’s/educational program’s endorsement of the students’ participation in The Earth Prize competition.

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 with their personal information.

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 November 2023 at 12h00 PM 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 Motivation Statement by the 30th November 2023, at 12h00 PM 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, gender, name and address of their school / educational program and country/city they live in.

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 Motivation Statement (one per team, in 50 words or less)

A short paragraph describing what motivates the student(s) to participate in The Earth Prize.

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

4. Submissions Phase (From Registration Completion to 31st January 2024 at 12h00 PM CET)

In the Submissions Phase, Participants are required to submit (i) their Fresh Idea, (ii) Supporting documents (optional), and (iii) their Favorite Mentor Vote

Participants will be able to start working on their tasks as soon as their registration is finalized:

4.1. Fresh Idea

The Fresh Idea is the detailed description of the proposed solution students need to work on and submit during the Submissions Phase of the competition. It is structured in eight (8) building blocks meant to help the students elaborate on specific aspects of their project. Students can start brainstorming for their Fresh Idea using the Fresh Idea Canvas.

1. Selected Problem (in 100 words or less)
   A short 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.

4.2 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

4.3 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 (29th February 2024 - 3rd April 2024)

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

5.1 Final Idea

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

1. Impact Metrics (in 300 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 300 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 300 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?

5.2 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

5.3 Pitch Video

The 10 (ten) Finalist Teams are required to submit a 90 second pitch video explaining their Final Idea and its expected impact. The video submission can be in the following format:

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

5.4 Presentation of the Final Idea to the Adjudicating Panel (29th Feb – 3rd April 2024)

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. Students are required to include in their presentation the role each team member played in the development of the Final Idea.

• 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.

5.5 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.

5.6 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.

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 linkExample: (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: URLExample: (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.

Plastic waste is one of the main environmental challenges of our time. The production and disposal of plastic is extremely harmful for the environment. (1) Moreover, most plastic does not fully disappear; it turns into tiny particles that can be swallowed by farm animals or fish and enter our food system. (2) Plastic waste ends up primarily in landfills and the ocean and causes severe damage to ecosystems. Shampoo bottles, an everyday plastic staple in most homes, greatly contributes to our plastic waste issue. Plastic shampoo bottles take an average of 450 years to decompose, and in the US, over 552 million shampoo bottles end up in our landfills annually. (5) Since our recycling efforts are ineffective, the negative consequences of shampoo bottles need to be tackled at the source in order to combat plastic waste.

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 Motivation Statement will automatically enter the Submissions Phase of the competition.

7.2 Submissions Phase

At the Submissions Phase, your Fresh Idea will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

At the end of the Submissions Phase, the top submissions (The Earth Prize Scholars’ submissions) will be forwarded to the Adjudicating Panel for the Finalists’ selection. The Adjudicating Panel will review the Fresh Ideas using the Fresh Idea criteria.

7.3 Finalists Phase

At the Finalists Phase, the ten (10) selected 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 (40%)

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

7.3.2 Presentation of the Final Idea to the Adjudicating Panel (25%)

Presentations will allow the Adjudicating Panel to gain a better understanding of each Final Idea. The panel’s evaluation will take into account the following aspects:

7.3.3 Live Q&A session (25%)

Each team is required to participate in a live Q&A session after the final presentation. The panel’s evaluation of the live Q&A will take into account the following aspects:

7.3.4 Pitch Video (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: