Young entrepreneurs to help make sustainable living commonplace

A new international awards programme designed to inspire young people around the world to tackle environmental, social and health issues has been announced by Unilever and the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL). The overall winner will receive the HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize.

Entries are now being invited for the Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneur Awards, a competition hosted on the Ashoka Changemakers platform. Open to anyone aged 30 years or under, the awards are looking for innovative but practical, tangible solutions to help make sustainable living commonplace. A total of more than €200,000 in financial support and individually tailored mentoring is on offer to help entrepreneurs develop and scale‐up their initiatives.

Seven finalists will take part in a four-week on‐line development programme followed by a two-day accelerator workshop in Cambridge, UK, at which expert help and professional guidance will be provided to help them develop their ideas. This will be followed by a pitch to a panel of judges in London, drawn from the worlds of business, sustainability and entrepreneurs.

The Awards are looking for scalable and sustainable solutions in the form of products, services or applications that enable changes in practices or behaviours in one or more of seven categories: water, sanitation and hygiene; nutrition; water scarcity; greenhouse gases; waste; sustainable agriculture; and helping smallholder farmers.

Applications must be submitted on‐line at www.changemakers.com/SustLiving by the closing date of 1 November 2013. Finalists will be announced in December 2013 with the Cambridge accelerator workshop and final judging in January 2014. The winner and finalists will attend a prestigious dinner in London on 30 January at which the HRH The Prince of Wales Prize will be present.