OPPORTUNITY
Call for entries for the All India Environmental Journalism Competition 2015, Indo-German Environment Partnership
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Environmental degradation is an issue of grave concern for India, and demands urgent action with a multi-pronged approach. Public involvement and ownership are among key factors to enable positive change and undo the damage inflicted upon the environment. To steer the common public and other stakeholders towards the path of sustainable development, media plays a crucial role by raising public awareness. Media can provide a realistic picture of the environmental status, and offer critical analyses. Regular media coverage can thus contribute significantly to more environmental friendly behaviours of individuals and society thereby promoting sustainable lifestyle.

Against this backdrop, to encourage environmental journalism in India, GIZ along with IFAT India, and under the patronage of the German Embassy, has been organising the All India Environmental Journalism Competition since 2013. The third All India Environmental Journalism Competition 2015 is being organised in association with IFAT India, ICLEI South Asia, The Third Pole, Asian College of Journalism and Deutsche Welle Akademie.

The overall purpose is to encourage and inspire journalists to report on a wider range of environmental issues at various levels like local, state and national. Entries on vernacular languages that promote awareness/public education about local issues are encouraged.

Topic

The entries should focus on urban and industrial issues of environmental protection and management. Entries related to water, waste and wastewater – and presenting positive examples, possibilities and solutions - are encouraged. Taking into account, the renewed focused of Government of India on initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) and Clean Ganga Mission, we encourage stories linked to these initiatives.  All entries must be clearly associated to India.

Eligibility Conditions

  • The entries should have been published/ broadcast between 15th April 2015 and 15th August, 2015.
  • Entries are invited under print, internet and video categories.
  • Entries can be in any language. Entries in languages other than English should be accompanied by an English summary of about 500 words.
  • The entries should not have been awarded by any other competition or institution before.
  • The quality of work must be in line with journalism ethics and standards.
  • This competition is open to each and every person except employees of GIZ, ICLEI, the Asian College of Journalism, The Third Pole, IFAT India and DW Akademie and their families or anyone else associated with the organisation of this competition.
  • The participants can be of any nationality and reporting from any location in the world – as long as the focus of the entry is India.
  • In case a winning report is by more than one participants, the prize will be shared equally among them.
  • Participants should submit only one entry per category.
  • Participants must warrant that the medium they are submitting is their own work and that they own the copyright for it.
  • Copyright for all entries submitted for this competition remains with the respective participants. However, by sending their entries, each participant grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual licence to the organisers to feature any or all of the submitted reports in any of their publications, their websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition.
  • Short-listed applicants will be asked to submit an endorsement letter from the editor/news editor of the media house in which the respective report has been published. Reports published in personal web-blogs are not eligible.

Deadline

The last date for submitting entries is August 15, 2015 (midnight Indian Standard Time). Winners will be notified by the end of September 2015. The decision of the jury will be final.

Awards and Jury

There will be a first and second prize in each of the three categories - print, internet, and video. The first prize in each category is Rs 50,000 and the second prize Rs 30,000. The jury reserves the right not to award a prize in any category if none of the entries is up to the mark.

The award ceremony will be held in Mumbai on October 13, 2015 as part of the IFAT fair, India’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, refuse and recycling, where GIZ is the knowledge partner.

The six-member jury will consist of journalists, technical experts and representatives of the organising institutions. They are

  • One well known independent journalist
  • One representative of GIZ
  • One representative of ICLEI
  • One representative of ACJ
  • One representative of The Third Pole
  • One representative of the Deutsche Welle Akademie

Method of submission

To submit the entry the participant should visit the GIZ-IGEP webpage. Once the participant accepts the terms and conditions by clicking on the “I accept” button, s/he will be able to upload the entry or provide the respective link.

We recommend that the participant uses Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox as Google Chrome user may find some difficulty.

For any questions, please write to journo-comp@igep.in

Data Protection

The participant agrees to have his/her individual data stored, evaluated and forwarded to third parties to the extent necessary for the organization and administration of the All India Environmental Journalism Competition. In particular, without limitation, GIZ is entitled to include the participant on the mailing list used to contact the all participant for information on other activities and events. The participant can unsubscribe from the mailing list at any time by sending an email request.

Organisers

GIZ: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is an enterprise owned by the German Government. GIZ implements sustainable development through international cooperation, on behalf of Germany and other partners. With a global footprint in over 130 countries, GIZ leverages its regional and technical expertise for local innovation. GIZ India has a team of over 300 staff. To address India's need for sustainable and inclusive growth, in partnership with stakeholders, GIZ’s key focal areas are Energy, Environment, Sustainable Economic Development and Skill Development.

ICLEI South Asia: The South Asian arm of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI South Asia) aims to build and serve a regional network of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in regional and global sustainability through local initiatives. Over nine years, ICLEI South Asia has emerged a strong and vibrant local government association with a membership base of almost 60 cities. ICLEI South Asia works on climate change adaptation and mitigation, energy, and environmental sustainability initiatives with cities in the region with funding support from various national and international partners.

Asian College of Journalism: The Asian College of Journalism is a premier institution of journalism education in India and South Asia and is administered by the Media Development Foundation (MDF), a not-for-profit public Trust established in 1999 to foster journalism as an independent, investigative, socially responsible, and ethical profession. It aims to promote excellence in the field through education, training, and media-related research.

The Third Pole: The Third Pole is a news, information and discussion platform to build a robust understanding of the importance and benefits of regional cooperation in and around the Hindu Kush Himalayas, thus contributing towards improved cross border cooperation on the issues.

DW Akademie: is Germany’s leading organisation for international media development and supports the development of independent, transparent media systems, quality journalism and media expertise.

DW Akademie helps rebuild media in post-crisis and post-conflict environments and contributes internationally to the advanced training of media professionals.

IFAT INDIA: IFAT INDIA is an annual event aimed at providing an excellent international platform to showcase the full range of environmental technologies and services, with a comprehensive product portfolio from basic to highly sophisticated machinery and environmental solutions both from domestic and international exhibitors. IFAT India is the most important B2B platform with a wide coverage of all relevant environmental sectors- water, sewage, refuse, recycling and energy conservation management industry in India. This year, IFAT India fair will be held at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai from 15-17 October, 2015.

Patronage

The All India Environmental Journalism Competition is held under the patronage of the German Embassy in New Delhi.

 Contribute to spreading environmental knowledge and submit your work!