Finalists of the Seed Awards 2005/6
Twelve Sustainable Development Partnerships Announced as Finalists for International Seed Awards
3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress, Bangkok, November 19th, 2004
The twelve finalists of the first biennial Seed Awards were announced tonight at a reception at the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress in Bangkok. The finalist partnerships were chosen for their outstanding potential to spur economic growth, promote social development and foster environmental stewardship at the local level.
The partnerships tackle a range of economic, environmental and social issues from malnutrition to water provision, conservation of medicinal plants to fishing stock depletion and are spread across the globe. What they have in common is their innovative and entrepreneurial approach – addressing challenges while creating jobs and improving livelihoods.
IUCN Director General Achim Steiner, speaking at a joint World Bank/IUCN reception, introduced the twelve finalist partnerships to an audience of several hundred including representatives from grassroots organizations, the private sector, and government ministers. Steiner stressed that "Conservation cannot succeed if pursued in isolation - it must go hand in hand with economic and social development. These outstanding Seed finalists demonstrate how partnerships can contribute to this integration."
The Seed Initiative is grateful to the finalist selection panel members, each acting in their personal capacity:
Malini Mehra, Centre for Social Markets
Ed Mitchell, RWE Thames Water
Paul Osborn, Consultant
Luiz Ros, World Resources Institute
Geneviève Verbrugge, French Environment Ministry
Edith van Walsum, ETC Foundation Netherlands
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The Seed Awards are an international competition to find promising nascent entrepreneurial partnerships. The inaugural Seed finalists were selected from a pool of over 260 entries from 66 countries and represent 1,200 organizations. They were chosen for their potential to advance sustainable development in their communities and contribute to international development goals. Finalists will receive individually-targeted support services designed to give their partnership every chance of success. As the first stage of this support, the finalists are currently engaged in a series of workshops and meetings at the Congress to build their capacities and broaden their networks. From the twelve finalists, five Seed Award winners will be selected early next year and announced during the 13th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in April 2005.
UNEP Executive Director, Dr. Klaus Töpfer, commented, “The twelve finalists and the hundreds of submissions to the Seed Awards only scratch the surface of the tremendous potential of entrepreneurial partnerships to contribute to sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals. The 1,200 organizations involved in the award submissions demonstrate the diversity of local level entrepreneurs that are eager to pool their energies, knowledge and resources.”
The Awards are only one aspect of the Seed Initiative’s efforts to support environment and development entrepreneurship. The Seed partnership is composed of IUCN–The World Conservation Union, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) along with Partnerships Central and the Global Public Policy Institute. The Initiative works closely with and is supported by the governments of Germany, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States.
