Deadline: 6-May-21
The Zayed Sustainability Prize, the UAE’s pioneering global award for rewarding impact, innovation, and inspiration, has officially announced that the 2022 edition is now open for submissions.
The Prize fund comes from the Abu Dhabi Government as a way to honour and continue the sustainability and humanitarian legacy of the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Established in 2008, the Prize has grown from an ambitious, UAE leadership-driven initiative that sought to encourage global action on the development of renewable energy solutions, into one of the most significant and globally-renowned awards for affecting positive human and sustainable impact.
Categories
The Zayed Sustainability Prize awards 5 categories:
- Health: This category recognises organisations that can demonstrate innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of health that include, but are not limited to:
- Ensuring access to essential and affordable healthcare
- Ensuring access to maternal and new-born healthcare
- Ending epidemics (AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis etc.)
- Preventing and treating water-borne, communicable and non-communicable diseases
- Reducing illness from pollution, hazardous chemicals and contamination
- Food: This category recognises organisations that can demonstrate innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of food that include, but are not limited to:
- Decreasing hunger and malnutrition
- Increasing agricultural or other food processing productivity
- Enhancing sustainable food production
- Energy: This category recognises organisations that can demonstrate innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of energy that include, but are not limited to:
- Ensuring access to affordable and reliable clean energy
- Increasing production of clean energy
- Improving energy efficiency
- Introducing new forms of clean energy or other technology innovations
- Water: This category recognises organisations that can demonstrate innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of water that include, but are not limited to:
- Ensuring access to safe and affordable drinking water
- Ensuring access to sanitation and hygiene
- Increasing water use efficiency
- Improving water quality
- Global High Schools
- The Global High Schools category recognises high schools or secondary schools, from six global geographic regions that propose innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability projects in the areas of health, food, energy and/or water. The proposed project could be in one area (e.g. water) or a combination of areas (e.g. energy, water, food, and health). The application must be submitted by the students and supported by the school management. The projects must:
- demonstrate how they meet the three criteria: impact, innovation, inspiration; as explained in the Evaluation Criteria section of this page;
- be able to be implemented and operational within one to two years;
- benefit the school community and/or their local/regional community for several years
- In each of the following six global regions:
- The Americas
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Middle East & North Africa
- Europe & Central Asia
- South Asia
- East Asia & Pacific
- The Global High Schools category recognises high schools or secondary schools, from six global geographic regions that propose innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability projects in the areas of health, food, energy and/or water. The proposed project could be in one area (e.g. water) or a combination of areas (e.g. energy, water, food, and health). The application must be submitted by the students and supported by the school management. The projects must:
Prize Information
The total prize fund is USD 3 million, distributed as follows:
- Health – $600,000
- Food – $600,000
- Energy – $600,000
- Water – $600,000
- Global High Schools – $600,000 – (divided amongst 6 Schools, awarding each up to US$100,000)
Eligibility Criteria
The Zayed Sustainability Prize is open to all entrants other than:
- Board members and employees of Masdar; and
- Anyone who has been involved in organising, promoting or judging the Prize.
- Masdar, the Selection Committee and the Jury reserve the right and have full discretion to reject or not select any submission for any reason that may, in the sole opinion of the Selection Committee, the Jury or Masdar, damage the reputation of the Prize, the UAE, Abu Dhabi or Masdar, or bring the Prize, the UAE, Abu Dhabi or Masdar into disrepute. The decision of the Selection Committee, the Jury or Masdar shall be final and no follow up correspondence shall be replied to.
Evaluation Process
The evaluation of each submission to the Prize consists of a robust, three-tier process.
- First Stage: A reputed international research and analysis consultancy firm conducts due diligence on all our submissions received. These independent consultants ensure that each entry meets the submission standards and then scores the entries against the criteria set out for the Zayed Sustainability Prize.
- Second Stage: A Selection Committee, sub-divided per category by the member’s technical specialty and/or knowledge, evaluates and scores the shortlisted candidates. They then pass on the list of finalists for the final review stage.
- Third Stage: The Jury meets, in person, to deliberate the entries and elect the winner in each category. The final decision must be unanimous. The Jury members are typically comprised of former world leaders, UAE government ministers, leading international business people and, occasionally, high profile international celebrities.
How to Apply
If you would like to apply for the Prize, the following steps will guide you through the submission process.
Preparation: Before starting your application, it is advisable that you identify an award category most suited to your organisation. Reading the Frequently Asked Questions can offer more details to help you get started.
Creating an Account
- The submission portal may be accessed here.
- To participate in the Zayed Sustainability Prize, you will need to create an account using your email address. After an account is created, you will receive an email to validate your email account. You must verify your email address before submitting your entry.
- You may also create an account using your Facebook, Twitter or Google account.
Completing the Online Application Form
- After you have created an account and verified your email address, please login to access the application form.
- To ease completion of the application, the form is divided into sections. You must complete ‘Account Information’ and ‘Category’ sections before proceeding.
- Complete the questions in the order presented.
Submitting Your Entry
- You will be guided through a series of questions and there will be opportunities to attach documents to support your submission. Please ensure you read carefully which file formats and file sizes are accepted. Non-supporting files or sizes cannot be uploaded, nor can they be sent separately (i.e. emailed) outside of the online portal’s upload options.
- You are not required to complete your application in one sitting. For your convenience, you may save your progress at any stage and return to complete it later (as long as this falls within the submissions phase).
Please note: We will not be able to process your entry until you have provided all the required information and it is officially submitted via the online portal. Incomplete entries or registrations not converted into full submissions will not be counted as an official entry.
Acknowledging Your Entry
- In acknowledgement of your submission, you should receive a confirmation email of its receipt. This will be in the form of a “no reply” email and no further correspondence will be entered into, unless the Prize administration team contacts you directly.
For more information, visit https://zayedsustainabilityprize.com/en/about/zayed-sustainability-prize