Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Awards

Sustainable living – a world where everyone lives well and lives within the natural means of the planet – doesn’t have to be a pipe-dream. If entrepreneurs develop sustainable ways of doing business, and people adapt to live and work in ways that secure our planet for future generations, it can be a reality.

The Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Awards, developed in partnership with the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, are looking for innovative yet practical, tangible solutions created by young people that help make sustainable living commonplace.

• Entries must have grown beyond the conceptual stage to include actions the applicant has already taken – whether through informal networks, via an existing institution, or by creating a new enterprise
• Entries must involve products or practices that change behavior to enable sustainable living
• Entries cannot be accepted from current Unilever employees, nor can entries promote Unilever or its products
• Entries must be submitted in English

One overall winner will receive the HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize alongside a cash award of €50,000, and a tailored programme of advice and mentoring (worth €25,000). Six finalists will also receive cash prizes of €10,000 along with mentoring support (worth €10,000).

All will benefit from exposure to a range of leading sustainability experts, entrepreneurs, and investors during the process. They will also receive recognition via Unilever’s global channels and the University of Cambridge’s network, as well as at a prestigious dinner in London in January 2014.

Applications must be submitted online through registration in the website before 5:00pm GMT on 1 November 2013.

Seven finalists will be announced during the week of November 18. All finalists will be required to join online sessions beginning in December 2013 to develop their ideas and build their networks. Attendance is also required at the Accelerator Workshop in Cambridge, UK. Finalists must be able to arrive on Sunday, 26 January, 2014 to attend the programme beginning that evening and continuing through the 28th, followed by delivery of a pitch to final prize judges on 29 January. All finalists will also be invited to join high-level business executives, thought leaders, and international sustainability leaders at a prestigious dinner on the evening of 30 January, at which the HRH The Prince of Wales Prize will be awarded.

Mentoring and ongoing support is provided to all award winners, and will be designed and structured around individual requirements through the online programme and until Autumn 2014.