Deadline: 5 April 2019
Applications are open for The 2019 Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Youth Innovation Challenge with an aim to engage North American youth in the work of the CEC, increase awareness of shared priority sustainability issues among Canada, Mexico and the United States, and facilitate communication and collaboration between North American youth on entrepreneurship, innovation and partnerships for green growth with a focus on communities.
Theme
The theme for this year’s challenge is Sustainable Innovations for Communities. The Council invites Youth to propose innovative and entrepreneurial sustainability ideas aimed at advancing sustainability solutions for communities across North America, addressing challenges and opportunities at the local level, including green growth and trade, environment, ecosystems and health. These ideas and concepts may include technology, systems, resource efficiencies, applications and education, recapture and use of waste streams, partnerships across sectors and many others.
Prizes
The individual or team lead (on behalf of their team) for the top three proposals will receive C$5,000 each in seed funding to get their initiative off the ground. This funding may be used to develop a prototype, travel to pitch meetings, cover the cost of design and layout for fundraising or other promotional materials, or other expenses approved in advance by the CEC. This money may not be used to purchase equipment. A signing authority will need to be identified for each winning individual or team submission and a contract signed in order for the C$5,000 to be disbursed. The C$5,000 will be disbursed in one payment, with a midterm reporting requirement six months after disbursement and a concluding report requirement one year after disbursement. Reports will be sent to a representative at the CEC Secretariat.
Eligibility Criteria
- Participants in the Youth Innovation Challenge must be 18 to 30 years old on the date they upload their idea to the ideation platform. The idea may be uploaded by an individual or team of submitters.
- Participants must be residents of Canada, Mexico or the United States.
- Participants must demonstrate that their idea responds to one or several of the sustainability challenges facing communities in North America through innovative green growth science, technology or business solutions.
- Participants must demonstrate the innovativeness of their approach or solution (i.e., respond to one or several of the innovation-focused driving questions).
- By submitting an idea, participants confirm that they are the sole author or have obtained written permission from all team members who contributed to developing the idea before uploading it to the ideation platform.
- Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) staff, Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) members, CEC and JPAC immediate family members, and Youth Innovation Challenge judges or immediate family members of judges (siblings, children, grandchildren) are not eligible to enter.
How to Apply
Applicants can apply via given website.
For more information, please visit https://cec.ideascale.com/
