Rewarding partnership
www.seedawards.org
The Seed Awards are meant to foster the idea that partnerships benefit communities. The bi-ennial awards (five to ten) will be given for innovative proposals. Winners will be supported to transform the proposal into an initiative. In this way, the awards hope to promote sustainable practices.
The first set of awards will be given in April 2005. Applications can be made through www.seedawards.org. A partnership should have at least three partners to be eligible; the proposal should show how the collaboration benefits people and the environment. The partnership can be between community groups, small and large businesses, national and international ngos and governments and un agencies. The project should be in the field of sustainable development. An example the awarding authorities have given is a collaboration between women slum dwellers in India, uk engineers and a French water company, that seeks to improve water delivery. Another is a consortium of European companies is working with the government and coffee farmers in Ecuador to ensure pesticides don't contaminate water supplies.
iucn, unep and the Stakeholders Forum conceived the idea for the awards in 2002 in order to achieve the goals contained in the Millennium Declaration and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. So, can't information on the awards be translated into local languages, to ensure greater outreach, and so a more global response?