The biennial Seed Awards is an international competition to find the most promising new locally-driven, entrepreneurial partnerships for sustainable development.
Twelve finalists were chosen in 2004 for their potential to advance sustainable development in their communities and contribute to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
They are living proof that, through partnerships between communities, non-governmental organizations, businesses and public authorities, innovative and novel solutions for delivering sustainable development and sustainable livelihoods can be born and fostered.
The five outstanding winners of the Seed Awards 2005 were selected by an international expert jury. They were announced at a Gala Ceremony on Wednesday 20th April.
"Sustainability as a process requires responsibility (for the impact of our actions on others and on nature), partnership and innovation. I congratulate the Seed Award winners and also the other finalists who are showing us how all three can be brought together in practice. This is the real promise of the partnerships that we endorsed at the Johannesburg Summit”
Nitin Desai , former Secretary General to the World Summit on Sustainable Development and chairman of the international jury
Press Release
New York, April 21st. The five winners of the Seed Awards 2005 were announced and celebrated last night at an Awards Ceremony in New York.
Dr Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of UNEP, Valli Moosa, President of IUCN, Achim Steiner, Director General of IUCN and Shoji Nishimoto, Assistant Administrator of UNDP were present on behalf of the Seed partners.
Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State, United States, Juergen Trittin, Minister for the Environment, Gemany and Pieter van Geel, Minister for the Environment, the Netherlands all spoke as supporters of the Seed Initiative.
The awards themselves were presented by ministers and diplomats of the countries of the award-winning projects.
The award-winning partnerships and the representatives were:
'Agua Para Todos' - Water for All, Bolivia
The municipal water company, a private consortium, the local community and a non-profit foundation form an entrepreneurial partnership to greatly extend access to affordable water in peri-urban areas of Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Mr Erwin Ortiz, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Mission of Bolivia to the UN presented the award to Mr. Gustavo Heredia, Director, Agua Tuya and Mr. Gonzalo Ugalde, General Manager, SEMAPA
Cows to Kilowatts, Nigeria
A local NGO and a community-based organisation join with technology innovators from Thailand and the Sustainable Ibadan Project to install a biogas plant running on abattoir effluents to create a source of domestic energy, abate pollution and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr. Fidelis Idoko - Minister, Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations presented the award to Mr. Joseph Adelegan, Director, Global Network for Environment and Development Research
Global Marketing Partnership for SRI Indigenous Rice, Cambodia, Madagascar and Sri Lanka
Farming communities, a research institute, NGOs, and businesses collaborate to market indigenous varieties of rice grown with System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods, thereby improving incomes, conserving biodiversity, and benefiting health and the environment.
His Excellency Dr Mok Mareth, Senior Minister, the Ministry of Environment of the Kingdom of Cambodia,
His Excellency Ambassador Zina Andrianarivelo, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Madagascar to the UN,
Mr. Thosapala Hewage - Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply, Government of Sri Lanka presented the award to Dr Yang Saing Koma, Director, Centre d'Etudes et de Developpement Agricole Cambodgien and Professor Norman Uphoff and Mrs Olivia Vent, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development
Harvesting Seabuckthorn at the Top of the World, Nepal
A sustainable programme to harvest seabuckthorn and create products for local and international markets, thereby improving livelihoods and safeguarding traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and the biodiversity of Nepal.
Mr Durga Bahadur Subedi, First Secretary to the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal to the UN presented the award to Dr Susanne von der Heide, Executive Director, HimalAsia Foundation
Madagascar's First Community Run Marine Protected Area
A partnership between the local community, international NGOs and research institutions aims to demonstrate the economic, conservation and fisheries benefits of Madagascar's first community-run Marine Protected Area (MPA).
His Excellency Ambassador Zina Andrianarivelo, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Madagascar to the UN presented the award to Professor Edouard Mara, Institut Helieutique et des Sciences Marines, University of Toliara and Mr Alasdair Harris, Mr Tom Savage and Ms Anju Nihalani, Blue Ventures Conservation
