Feature Story
Nominate your favourite grass roots project for the World Challenge 2007
16/02/2007
The World Challenge, our collaboration with BBC World and Newsweek is back. Visit www.theworldchallenge.co.uk (opens in a new window) and find out how you can nominate the grass roots project of your choice and put it in the running for a US$20,000 grant from Shell.
The World Challenge is a call to action to the global community for products, programmes and ideas that benefit people while respecting the environment. It is also a forum for rewarding innovators and inspiring entrepreneurs – the winner receives a $20,000 grant and two runners-up win $10,000 each from Shell to invest in the future of their project.
Last year we received over 815 nominations from projects from 120 countries. From these, a judging panel of experts from BBC World, Newsweek and Shell, among others, selected twelve finalists as best examples of community based business, development or environmental projects - and more than 33,000 individuals logged on to vote for their favourite.
A Sri-Lankan company that turns elephant dung into eco-friendly paper won last year’s competition. Other finalists included Cards from Africa, a company that markets greeting cards made by a Rwandan community and a project that eliminates arsenic from the water supply in parts of Bangladesh.
The hallmark of World Challenge 2007 is viewer involvement, casting a global net for ideas from individuals who know of an example of best practice they want to be recognised. The nomination phase of the World Challenge competition runs from February 5 to May 6, 2007.
Each entry will then be judged by a panel of experts, who will announce the twelve finalists on 11 June 2007.
Between the months of July and September 2007 BBC World will film and produce profiles for each of the dozen finalists. These will air on BBC World and in the pages of Newsweek between September and November, so that the public can cast their votes for the winning entry before 9 November. The winner of this year’s World Challenge will be announced by Shell’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Roxanne Decyk at the Communications Museum in The Hague on 4 December 2007.
For more details visit the World Challenge web site at www.theworldchallenge.co.uk - opens in new window (opens in a new window).