Applications for Trust for Sustainable Living Essay Competition 2021 for Students worldwide.

As we reach the end of the UN Decade on Biodiversity (2011-2020), despite encouraging actions being taken worldwide and some success stories, we have failed to meet many of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets set out by governments in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010. We are still placing huge pressure on biodiversity and seeing continued global biodiversity loss as a result.

In a period many scientists are calling the sixth mass extinction, the Trust for Sustainable Living Essay Competition 2021 invites students to share their ideas on what can be done to turn this around, conserve and increase biodiversity and achieve the UN’s 2050 vision of Living in Harmony with Nature.

• Each student should submit an essay in English. Students are free to approach the topic however they wish.
• Whatever they decide, children are strongly encouraged to include their own personal views, perspectives, and experiences to help bring their visions alive.

Prizes

Trust for Sustainable Living Essay Competition has the following prizes

• One overall Grand Prize trophy winner will receive a free international trip to a TSL Summit, including £500 spending money.
• The Top 10 essay medallists will receive eco-friendly e-medals with redeemable gift tokens included.
• Furthermore, all participating Teacher Champions, Essay Finalists & Honourable Mentions, and International Debate participants will receive personalized e-certificates.

Essay

Moreover, students should submit an essay on the title How can we protect biological diversity and stop the 6th mass extinction?

The essay length varies by age as follows:

• Primary students (ages 7-11): 400 words
• Secondary students (ages 11-17): 600 words

Judging and Rules

• The essays are judged for originality and creativity in all formats – and also the potential to contribute to constructive national or international debate.
• Unique and well-argued perspectives score highly.
• Students are strongly discouraged from copying and pasting non-original material. The same snippets of text tend to reappear again and again from common sources such as Wikipedia, and thus become very obvious to our essay readers.
• Each child’s age is taken into account when judging, so that younger children are not at an unfair disadvantage when compared with older children.
• Basically, an international panel of sustainability experts and educationalists will select the winning entries in each category.

Key dates

• 8 September 2020: Registration opens for Teacher Champions/Schools to participate in TSL 2021 Essay Competition
• 23 December 2020: Final deadline for essay entries
  15 February 2021: Announcement of international essay competition Finalists & Honourable Mentions
• 8 March 2021: Grand Prize Trophy Winner & Top Ten Medallists notified (confidentially)
• 15 February – 15 June 2021: Country Debates
• 5 July 2021: Teacher Champions Exchange (online)
• 6 July 2021: International Schools Debate & Awards (online)
• 7-10 July 2021: Partner Power Summit (online)

See in a brief