International information provider Reed Elsevier is offering prize money of $75,000 to fund two innovative projects aimed at bringing sustainable, clean water to those in need.
The Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge, now in its second year, will award prizes of $50,000 and $25,000 to the two proposals it feels will best provide access to safe water or improved sanitation in a sustainable and scalable way.
The global competition aims to contribute towards the Millennium Development Goal of havling the number of people without access to safe drinking water, a figure approaching 900 million according to the World Health Organisation and is open to organisations and individuals working both in the private and not-for-profit sectors.
The challenge is looking to fund projects that are innovative, practical and can be replicated, with the submissions also assessed on their ability to involve a range of stakeholders and engage the local community.
Last year’s first prize winner was the Tagore-SenGupta Foundation, which wanted to remove arsenic from contaminated ground-sourced drinking water in Cambodia. Its award-winning project will see locally-available raw materials used to build and install 12 community-level filtration systems in remote villages.
As well as removing arsenic from the environment, the project aims to improve the economic sustainability of the areas through the creation of community water councils to maintain the units.
"The Environmental Challenge draws attention to a critical problem facing our world – access to water," explaned Youngsuk Chi, head of government affairs for Reed Elsevier in launching the competition. "By leveraging our extensive networks and environmental publishing expertise, Reed Elsevier is uniquely placed to facilitate the exchange and dissemination of information about improving access to safe and sustainable water. Our aim is to highlight projects that really can make a difference.”
To enter the competition applicants must provide a submission detailing their proposed project by 15 April 2012. To help entrants with the creation of their submissions Reed Elsevier is offering all applicants free access to its information resources including the journal Water Research.
The names of shortlisted projects will be published in July, with the winners announced in September. More information on the challenge and details of how to enter can be found on Reed Elsevier’s website.
