Global innovation challenge opens for students to fight
marine plastics
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June 28, 2017
- UN Environment and Think Beyond Plastic launch worldwide innovation challenge for university students to fight plastic in oceans
- Winners to attend the Sixth International Marine Debris Conference in San Diego, California and receive free mentorship to help them develop their ideas
Entries
open today for the world’s first student competition to find the next
generation of solutions to the global problem of marine litter. Organized by UN
Environment and Think Beyond Plastic, the Marine Plastics Innovation Challenge
invites university students worldwide to submit fresh ideas in the fields of
engineering, communications, economics and data modeling.
Each
year, 8 million tones of plastic end up in the oceans: the equivalent of a full
garbage truck every minute. This pollution threatens the survival of fish and
other sea creatures, destroys marine and coastal ecosystems that support over
three billion people worldwide, and endangers human health by entering the food
chain. If no action is taken, by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in
the oceans.
Deadline
for entries is 6 October 2017. To participate, students need to be enrolled in
a graduate or postgraduate programme as of June 2017, be supported by a faculty
member, and submit an entry in one or more of the following categories:
- Engineering and Design: including innovations in materials, manufacturing processes, packaging design and related fields that result in a measurable reduction in marine plastic.
- Communication: including multimedia products, mobile apps, and innovative storytelling that raise awareness and inspire public action against marine plastics.
- Economics: including innovative methodologies to assess the economic impact of plastic pollution and/or develop new financial and business models to address market failures.
- Prediction and Recovery: including the development of analytical tools (algorithms, models, hotspot identification) to better capture and monitor data about plastic pollution and propose solutions.
One
winner in each category will be announced at the Sixth International Marine
Debris Conference in San Diego, California, which will run from March 12 to 16,
2018. Winners will have the chance to present their ideas at the conference and
gain entry into the Think Beyond Plastic annual acceleration programme, which
provides mentoring and support to help make the winning ideas commercially
viable.
For detailed instructions on how to
enter and judging criteria:
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