The Earth Prize is the world’s largest environmental competition and ‘ideas incubator’ for young people, empowering 13-19 year olds with mentorship and $100K funding. This year, seven Regional Winners (Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania) will be chosen by a jury, with one Global Winner via public vote. Each Regional Winning team will receive $12.5K to develop and implement their idea.

—

Today, The Earth Prize officially opens registrations for its global environmental sustainability competition and ‘ideas incubator’ for young people aged 13-19 years. Designed to empower the next generation and reduce widespread youth climate anxiety, The Earth Prize supports applicants with all the tools they need to develop their eco solutions for real life impact, including 1:1 mentoring, learning resources and funding to scale up. 

The Earth Prize, an initiative of The Earth Foundation (a Swiss non-profit based in Geneva) was born after founder Peter McGarry witnessed thousands of students rallying during a school strike for the climate in 2019. Climate anxiety is a widespread reality for young people today, with a recent study showing that 59% are very or extremely worried about the environment. 

“Environmental anxiety is very real because of how prominent it is in the news, how everyone’s always talking about it. It’s very easy to become kind of scared of the future, of just how bad things could become… but I do think The Earth Prize is making a difference in the sense that it gives some hope. It gives the possibility of making an impact, because otherwise someone who’s 16 or 17, has no chance of really making much of a change if they aren’t given an opportunity”, explained Rajas Nandas, 2024 Finalist alongside his team MycoFlo, who invented a fungi-based water filter.

Since 2021, The Earth Prize has offered over 10,000 young people across 154 countries and territories the opportunity to make a difference. Teams have invented pioneering tech-based solutions (such as team FloodGate’s flooding prediction and warning system) to unique physical inventions (like team CocoMellow’s banana-based eco diapers). These young changemakers’ ideas have garnered global media attention in outlets such as EuroNews, Positive.News and UN Today, and continue to be scaled up even after the competition has ended. For instance, team Delavo (Winners of The Earth Prize 2023), who invented a cutting-edge filter that recycles up to 90% of toxic laundry waste water, have since applied for a patent and built a partnership with a national manufacturer to make their solution a reality. 

This year’s edition brings exciting changes, shifting even more power to the people. For the first time, Seven Regional Winners will be chosen by an expert adjudicating panel from around the globe to level the playing field, across Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, Middle East, Northern America and Oceania. What’s more, applicants will get access to 1:1 mentoring from the moment of registration, and each of the final seven Regional Winning teams will be empowered with $12.5K to scale up their eco inventions into real-life impact. Finally, one Global Winner will be chosen from the seven Regional Winners through a public vote, designed to engage as many people as possible in amplifying solutions for our planet.

More on the topic: The Earth Prize 2024: Meet the Winners

17-year-old Sumedh Kotrannava (2024 Winning team FloodGate), explained how The Earth Prize empowered them to develop their idea and make a difference: “One way to describe The Earth Prize is unparalleled. The opportunities that you’re going to get from competing in this competition are just going to drive your passion and your project to the next level. I think our generation is starting to really spark change and innovate new solutions, and I’m really excited to see in the next twenty years or so what we are going to do.”

Peter McGarry, Founder of The Earth Foundation, added: “After three years of running The Earth Prize, we’ve introduced changes I believe will truly excite both new and returning participants. Having seven regional winners will transform the competition, and I can’t wait to see the incredible ideas that emerge from each region! Offering 1:1 mentoring from the moment of registration will be an enormous value addition for every student who enters. And finally, involving the public in the vote for the overall winner is beyond exciting—we want The Earth Prize to be something everyone engages with and is inspired by!”

If you know a young person aged 13-19 years who is passionate about the environment, encourage them to register for The Earth Prize, before 30 November 12:00pm CET, at www.theearthprize.org. 

The post Young Changemakers Invited to Compete for $100K in The Earth Prize to Tackle Eco Challenges appeared first on Earth.Org.

This year’s Winning team FloodGate (US) has created a revolutionary flood prediction and warning technology to protect communities worldwide. The three pioneering Runner-up teams are CocoMellow (Vietnam) who created banana-based diapers to fight single-use product waste; Ceres (Türkiye) who are protecting crops from climate events; and Pebble (UK) who are pooling computer power to reduce energy use. One Educator of the Year and three Mentors of the Year were also awarded.

—

On Earth Day, April 22, the Winning team was announced for The Earth Prize 2024, a global competition spotlighting the teenagers aged 13-19 who are innovating to save our planet. This inspiring competition, now in its third year, has attracted over 10,000 young people from over 2,000 schools, across 154 countries and territories. The applicants’ inventions have covered topics from plastic waste to climate change, and have been featured in media such as The Irish Times, Positive.News, Independent.ie and UN Today.

This year’s Winning team is FloodGate, a team of four students (North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, US), who took the top spot for their groundbreaking flood prediction and warning technology. Motivated by the increasingly commonplace flooding in their state, they came together to create a solution which could be scaled up for global use. Their technology, which will soon become an easily accessible app, allows governmental organisations, agencies and individuals to plan for flooding events, reducing damage and potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.

The Runners-up this year included Team Ceres (Bahçeşehir Koleji Diyarbakir, Türkiye), who are using innovative plasma technology to protect crops worldwide from environmental damage, Team CocoMellow (i-IVY, Vietnam), who are fighting single-use product waste with their revolutionary design for eco-diapers made from coconut coir and banana fibers; and Team Pebble (Eton College, UK), who are tackling energy consumption with a pioneering software that pools computer power. The Earth Prize was started by The Earth Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization based in Geneva, as a way to empower and educate young people to tackle environmental challenges.

It is the world’s largest environmental competition for teenagers, having awarded $500,000 to the top teams and their schools for their planet-saving ideas. Since 2021, it’s reached over 10,000 students, across 154 countries and territories. 

A recent study showed that 59% of youth and young adults are very or extremely worried about climate change, and more than 45% said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning. The Earth Prize offers young people a path towards positive proactivity, supporting their remarkably bright ideas, and nurturing tomorrow’s (or even today’s) change-makers.

Every year, The Earth Prize also gives out three additional awards: one Educator of the Year award, and three Mentor of the Year awards.

This year, the top Educator spot was awarded to Aashna Saraf (founder and CEO of CreatED innovation hub in Mumbai, India), for her extraordinary efforts during the competition. The mentors were chosen after a tough nominations process, in which the students voted for 50 mentors representing 34 countries, finally selecting Elham Ashrafizadeh (University of Toronto, Canada), Francisca Majala Mwaila (Kenyatta University, Kenya), and Yoong Sze Yeong (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore). 

Bryce Coon, EarthDay.org’s Director of Education, who gave out the Educator of the Year award, explained why initiatives like The Earth Prize are key for young people today: “I was a classroom teacher for 11 years – during this time, I could see that my students were eager to learn more about the climate crisis, and they were showing signs of climate anxiety. Climate education allows us to motivate students and address their concerns.”

Peter McGarry, Founder of The Earth Foundation, commented on this year’s competition: “Amid the growing environmental concerns and widespread anxiety, it’s truly inspiring to see young people from around the world tackling these issues head-on. The Earth Prize provides a stage for these innovative minds to demonstrate their creativity and the power of collaborative effort. Their solutions never cease to amaze me, and I hope they inspire you as well!”

Angela McCarthy, CEO of The Earth Foundation, added: “The Earth Prize is much more than a competition. It galvanizes the world’s youth to act in a positive way on behalf of the environment. Every year, and within the span of 5 months, the innovative minds of young people worldwide produce remarkable solutions to specific environmental sustainability problems. Given the critical challenges facing our planet, their contributions couldn’t be more pertinent. Through initiatives like The Earth Prize competition, we prioritize listening to the voices of youth, fostering a world where their ideas can shape the future.”

17-year-old Sumedh Kotrannavah, from the Winning team FloodGate, explained how their generation serves as an inspiration: “One way to describe The Earth Prize is unparalleled. The opportunities that you’re going to get from competing in this competition are just going to drive your passion and your project to the next level. The things that people our age are creating across the globe is just wonderful – seeing other people pursue these types of ideas are also changing the way we think about our project, pushing us to make edits and make our project even better. I think our generation is starting to really spark change and innovate new solutions, and I’m really excited to see in the next twenty years or so what we are going to do.”

Featured image: Winning team FloodGate. From the left: George Cheng, Larry Myers (team supervisor), Reichen Schaller, Shubhan Bhattacharya and Sumedh Kotrannavar. Photo: The Earth Prize.

—

Find out more about The Earth Prize 2024 Winning team and three Runners-up teams on the website, and re-watch the video recording of the Live Stream reveal on YouTube. And if you’re aged 13-19 years old and are inspired to pre-register for The Earth Prize 2025, you can do so here.

The post The Earth Prize 2024 Winners: Meet the Inspiring Teenage Climate Activists Predicting Floods, Saving Energy, Creating Eco-Diapers & Protecting Crops appeared first on Earth.Org.