Unilever Looks to Young Entrepreneurs to Help Make Sustainable Living Commonplace

New awards launched by Unilever in partnership with the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership to find next generation of sustainable living entrepreneurs

INDIACSR News Network

London & Rotterdam: A new international awards programme designed to inspire young people around the world to tackle environmental, social and health issues is announced today 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.

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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 presented.

Commenting on the Awards, Unilever CEO Paul Polman said: “I believe that this award has the potential to be really exciting. Why?  Because it provides a focal point for the power and creativity of young entrepreneurs who want to help find solutions for some of the world’s most urgent issues. There is no better way to use our energy, innovation and resourcefulness than spending it trying to create a better future for all in a world we want.

“It is entirely fitting that we are working with the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership and its patron, HRH the Prince of Wales, who has been so clearly committed to enabling young people to fulfil their hopes and shape the future they deserve.”

Commenting on the overall prize, Polly Courtice, LVO, Director of CPSL, said: “We are delighted to bring the research insight and entrepreneurial dynamism of the Cambridge community, alongside our worldwide network of business leaders, to support these awards in encouraging the innovation and leadership we so urgently need. The decision by CPSL’s Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales, to support a prize in his name, underlines the importance he attaches to developing the next generation of sustainability leaders.”