The Good Entrepreneur Competition

Courtesy Net Impact

One Idea to Change the World

CNBC and Allianz have partnered to launch a competition to identify entrepreneurs across Europe with environmentally responsible business concepts. "The Good Entrepreneur" kicked off at the beginning of June, and the winner will receive a prize package valued at more than €250,000 including €50,000 cash.

Applications close on July 31, and the three finalists will be announced in August 2009. The finalists will then be featured in a four-part televised series on CNBC, documenting the progress of each person. In the series finale, a panel of high profile judges will reveal the winner of the competition. Do you have an idea that could change the world?

Enter at www.goodentrepreneur.com

Wal-Mart Better Living Business Plan Challenge

The Wal-Mart Better Living Business Plan Challenge 2009 is accepting entries.

(The Challenge) provides a forum for students to showcase their best ideas and to help Walmart learn from some of the brightest minds in the world. The competition challenges students to invent sustainable products or develop sustainable business solutions and present them to a panel of Walmart executives, suppliers, and environmental organizations. In addition to gaining an audience with some of the top business and sustainability leaders in the United States, the winning school will receive $20,000 to invest in their business or product.

Students must declare their intent to compete by November 1, 2008. There will be several rounds of competition until the 8 final teams are selected to present their plans in Bentonville AR and the final 2 teams will present before Wal-Mart executives and a live audience. First, second, and third place winners will receive $20,000, $10,000, and $5,000 respectively.

The competition is sponsored by Wal-Mart, Net Impact, and The Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Explain Carbon Caps & Win $10,000

Do you think you can explain the concept of a carbon cap and how it will reduce our dependence on oil? Can you do it in 30 seconds?

The Environmental Defense Action Fund is seeking videos or visual analogies that will capture the public's attention and explain how carbon caps can reduce oil dependence. Videos or visual analogies are not to discuss climate change, but are to focus exclusively on reducing oil dependence. The winning entry will win $10,000 and the second-place video and second-place visual analogy will each win $2500. Deadline for submissions is November 21, 2008. See the EDAF site for more details.

College FilterForGood Eco-Challenge Grant Program

The College FilterForGood Eco-Challenge Grant Program is now accepting grant applications. The grant allows U.S. graduate and undergraduate students to develop proposals to green their college campus. The grant competition encourages students to create a program that is either action-based or will create tangible results in the interest of helping to protect the environment.

Proposals will be judged on "creativity" (25%), "benefit to the environment" (25%), "educational impact" (25%), "efficient/effective use of budget" (15%) and "timing feasibility" (10%). Up to five $10,000 grants will be awarded.

Sponsored by Brita Products Company, grant applications will be accepted until October 15, 2008.

Wanted: Your Ideas for Healthcare Reform

Have an idea to improve the U.S. health care system?

ChangeNow4Health is sponsoring an open challenge for you to submit your ideas "for improvements to the United States health care system. The key requirement is that the idea must be able to be implemented quickly and effectively."

Up to three finalists will be awarded $10,000 each for the best solutions. Deadline for submission of ideas is May 23, 2008. Details and guidelines can be found at http://community.changenow4health.com/community

The Piramal Prize Competition for Entrepreneurial Ideas to Address India's Health Crisis

The Piramal Prize seeks to enable cutting-edge entrepreneurial ideas that bring the highest standards of health to India's masses. Plans must directly or indirectly address the health crisis in India. Entries may be for-profit or not-for-profit, and should be sustainable business models that have a significant social impact. The most viable business model will receive INR 10,00,000 (10 Lakh / 1 million) in seed funding in addition to potential venture capital.

Deadline for submissions is April 1, 2008.

Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development: SEED Awards Deadline Approaching

From the SEED Initiative:

The SEED Initiative is launching its SEED Awards 2008. The SEED Awards for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development is an annual international competition, designed to support locally-led, innovative, entrepreneurial partnerships in developing countries, which have the potential to make real improvements in poverty eradication and environmental sustainability.

The SEED Initiative assists young and promising initiatives in strengthening and scaling up the impact of their activities. This is not a cash award. Instead, a comprehensive package of tailor-made support services, with a value of US$25,000, will be provided to Winners.

The support services respond to the challenges that emerging partnerships face when planning and implementing new ideas, including access to relevant expertise and technical assistance, meeting new partners and building networks, and developing business plans and identifying sources of finance.

Deadline for submissions is March 16, 2008.

Sustainability Contests: Put On Your Thinking Caps!

Here are several contests related to sustainability that might interest you. Follow the links for more details, deadlines (some are just a few days away!), submission guidelines, and prizes.

ReVision offers several contests "generating visionary ideas for what can and should be in the design of urban space." Current contests cover energy, transportation, urban planning, architecture, and urban economies.

Super-Cars Shout Out Competition "allows you to place a simple, colorful flier on high mileage cars that you encounter, showing the vehicle owner that she or he has done something worthy by choosing a leading-edge (in fuel efficiency) vehicle." Snap a photo of your flier on the vehicle, upload it to their website, and wait to see if you've won!

Greener Gadgets and Core 77 are hosting a competition to" seek out design innovations for greener electronics." Your new and innovative solution should "address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle, and social development."

The Rockefeller Foundation is co-sponsoring a contest search for a design of a solar-powered wireless router composed of low-cost, readily available hardware and software components. This router is to become part of a reliable Internet communication network connecting metropolises and remote towns in developing countries. The challenge requires only a written proposal that must be registered through InnoCentive (challenge 5644660).

Quantum Shift TV is hosting the New Year's Eco-reSolutions video contest "about what you plan to do for the earth this year. It could be personal, political, local or global. Any action you can think of that moves us closer to a sustainable future."

Quantum Shift TV is also hosting the Be the Change! Share the Story! contest for schools to showcase their "environmental, human rights or social justice project."

EcoCar The NeXt Challenge is open to university and college engineering students to "build and test advanced vehicles with a wide range of potentially feasible production technologies that can be used in future cars and light trucks to achieve much higher energy efficiency and lower GHG emissions."

Use Your Brilliant Mind to Develop a Sustainability Solution (and win $20,000 in the process)

Friday, September 28 is the last day to register for the Innovation Challenge and Sunday, September 30 is the last day to register for the Sustainable Innovation Challenge. These are online competitions for graduate students to create a 2 to 3-page innovative and sustainable solution (providing economic, social, and environmental value) to a business problem. Finalist teams are invited to make in-person presentations and first-place winners are awarded $20,000.