As of this week, cities – C40 and otherwise – have submitted dozens of projects for consideration to win top prizes at the third annual C40 Awards, taking place this December in Paris, alongside the COP21 climate negotiations.
But there’s still time to get involved! Applications are open until August 21 – here are four reasons why you should apply (or nominate a project!) today:
1. Your city is probably already working on some incredible projects – get noticed for them! As of just last week, C40 membership expanded to include 78 cities around the world. At last count, C40 cities alone were taking more than 8,000 actions in their borders to improve the city’s sustainability efforts. That means a significant number of innovative and sustainable actions are being taken around the world – we want to hear about them!
2. Don’t think your city’s going to take home a top prize? That’s ok – there are a total of three chances for your city to get global recognition. 100 solutions will be featured in a 2015 Cities100 publication, developed in partnership with Sustainia; from this group, 30 cities will be selected as C40 Cities Awards finalists, of which 10 will be announced as winners.
3. Join the ranks of the most legendary urban sustainability projects. Past winners of the C40 Awards have included projects from Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, London, Melbourne, New York City and Shenzhen. For a full list of 2014’s winning cities and their projects, click here. More about 2013’s winners can be found here.
4. Share the stage with today’s top green mayors and most impressive urban sustainability professionals. Winning cities will be announced on a global stage at an official awards ceremony (see a video of last year’s) in Paris on December 3, where mayors from around the world will come together to recognize the good work that is being done. C40 is all about ideas sharing – what better way than to learn from the best and the brightest?
The deadline for the 2015 C40 Cities Awards has been extended to August 21, 2015. To apply or find out more, click here.