Skyrocket your green idea! Commission for Environmental Cooperation Launches Second Youth Innovation Challenge
Enter our challenge to compete for $5,000 in seed funding and present your green growth idea to North American environmental leaders in Oklahoma City
Montreal, 15 January 2018—Show us what you’ve got! North American environmental ministers are calling on youth to champion bold ideas for green growth to address the complex sustainability challenges we currently face. Visit cec.ideascale.com to submit your science, technology and business innovations and get the chance to present your idea to North America’s top environmental officials, receive C$5,000 in project seed funding, and meet with experts at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).
“Innovation is the key to North American sustainable growth, enabling us to use our natural resources to grow our economies and quality of life while preserving the environment, ecosystems and human health. North American youth are creative and innovative and we are looking forward to their ideas on green growth,” said Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency and CEC Council Chair.
The CEC Youth Innovation Challenge is open to residents of Canada, Mexico and the United States (and its territories) aged 18-30. Participants are encouraged to look beyond incremental solutions and propose bold ideas to leapfrog to solutions that address the complex sustainability challenges facing North America. Ideas will be evaluated based on four criteria: innovation, impact, feasibility/replicability and profitability. Students and young entrepreneurs are invited to propose ideas on a broad range of green growth topics.
The challenge opens 15 January 2018 and idea submissions are due by 3 April 2018.
This is your chance to make a difference! Start posting your ideas, or commenting and voting on those of others today! Ideas can be submitted in English, French or Spanish. For more information and guidelines, visit cec.ideascale.com.
Make sure to tell us about your green idea on Facebook or Twitter using the #Youth4Innovation hashtag. Follow the CEC on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ceconnect or our Twitter @CECweb.
About the CEC
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established in 1994 by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a parallel environmental agreement to NAFTA. As of 2020, the CEC is recognized and maintained by the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, in parallel with the new Free Trade Agreement of North America. The CEC brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public, Indigenous people, youth, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the business sector, to seek solutions to protect North America’s shared environment while supporting sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations
The CEC is governed and funded equally by the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Government of the United States of Mexico through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency.