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Forty young eco-entrepreneurs have triumphed over a highly competitive and numerically auspicious field of 888 applicants to win the E-idea competition which the British Council and Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) held in China, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
In China, four prizes for start-up ventures and two ‘step-up’ prizes for expansions of existing projects were awarded in a ceremony in Shanghai on 7 September. Emma Wang, E-idea Programme Manager in China, said, “We were delighted by the quality of the proposals we received, the interest in E-idea among the media and general public, and support provided by LRQA, as well as local partners such as E-Leap and Zero Carbon System.”
The winners included Huang Ke whose policy-friendly and sponsor-supported project will install gardens, solar panels and rainwater collection systems on rooftops to reduce smog, heat and energy consumption in concrete-laden Shanghai, and Yu Jia, whose Beijing-based team will recycle ‘backlit’ film banners made from PVC (whose disposal poses substantial environmental risks) that are used in bus shelter, railway station and subway station advertisements and convert them into fashionable lampshades and other products that will be collaboratively designed, exhibited, and sold through a national distribution network.
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All of the winning projects are described here and a rousing China-produced E-idea video is posted here.
Robert Hansor, LRQA’s Head of Climate Change and CSR in Asia, said, “Supporting a new wave of entrepreneurs across Asia who see that profit and environmental sustainability are not mutually exclusive is important for LRQA. E-idea provides an outstanding platform that brings people together and provides what every young entrepreneur with a good idea needs: attention and funding to get started. I have no doubt that these eco-entrepreneurs will help create a smarter and cleaner future, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. “
Huw Oliphant, Project Manager for E-idea across the Asia Pacific region, added, “We recognise that eco-entrepreneurs are extremely important ‘change-agents’ in tackling climate change who lead by example in showcasing the business opportunities available in the green economy, sharing sustainable practices within their communities and engaging with peers and decision makers at local, national and international levels.”
Each team in China will now receive RMB 30,000 in seed funding along with professional mentoring and access to LRQA’s global business network of 60,000 clients to gain the leadership, business, project management, technical, fundraising and marketing skills needed to bring their E-ideas to fruition.
All of the winners will be convened for a regional training and networking event in Indonesia from October 3-5, where they will participate in a two-day workshop conducted by professional trainers and a public-facing event to share their E-ideas and initiatives. Next spring, one E-idea representative from each country will enjoy a fully paid study trip to the UK to foster ties and exchange information and best practice with British eco-entrepreneurs and community-based groups. A final event staged in November 2012 will bring together highly successful eco-entrepreneurs from each country to showcase the most notable E-idea achievements in each country.
E-idea winner Yu Jia said, “Participating in E-idea is providing us with valuable training and an excellent platform for our project, which will send powerful message to society about the importance of recycling and the need to formulate creative, open-sourced and financially sustainable solutions to critical environmental issues. “
E-idea was launched in Australia by William Hague as described here. It has won support from senior officials, attracted additional local partners and generated extensive media coverage across the region. Martin Davidson will address all the winners during an E-idea regional training and networking event in Indonesia on Oct 3-5. |
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