Are you a start-up entrepreneur? Are you a women-led enterprise? Does your business or business idea integrate social and environmental benefits, solving pressing local issues? Do you need support to help to establish and grow your enterprise? If you can answer one of those questions with yes, then consider applying for the 2011 SEED Awards for entrepreneurship in sustainable development and the SEED Gender Equality Award. The deadline for applications is August 22nd 2011. Please apply online or download the application form from the SEED Initiative website at www.seedinit.org.

Partners in the SEED Initiative are pleased today to announce the opening of the call for applications. This year, in addition to partnering with the European Union on the Awards, SEED has entered into a partnership with UN Women, the newly established UN body that is dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

For the 2011 cycle, SEED intends to make up to:

Each SEED Award Winner will receive a package of tailored support services consisting of:

Who should apply?

Detailed eligibility criteria are available at www.seedinit.org together with details of previous Award Winners. In summary, you are eligible to apply for a 2011 SEED Award if your initiative:

If you want to apply for the SEED Gender Equality Award, your initiative, in addition to the above eight criteria, also needs to: i) be women-led or owned and prioritise gender equality and/or women’s empowerment as a core objective(s)

SEED Award Winners in 2010 included, among others, an initiative in Kenya that turns waste into fencing posts; a bamboo bike producer, and a producer of baskets made from plastic and clothes scrap in Ghana; an initiative in Sri Lanka that links small-scale farmers to the market via a unified brand; a partnership in China producing solar concentrators that harnesses the sun's energy to provide portable heat; an initiative that provides small landholders with a set of agricultural tools collected in a canvas backpack and a business initiative in Colombia headed by a local NGO that uses fruit and pulp as ingredients for the local cosmetics and food industries.

How to Apply?

You can apply online at the SEED Initiative website www.seedinit.org or you can download an application form and email it to Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spambots. Es necesario activar Javascript para visualizarla If you are unable to submit your application electronically, please contact the SEED Initiative by email or phone (+49 30 89 00 068 99).

Submissions will be accepted up till 22nd August 2011, 23:59 CET. Late submissions will not be considered. Proposals that are shortlisted will be offered feedback and invited to submit additional information in September 2011.

About the SEED Initiative

SEED was founded by UNEP, UNDP, and IUCN at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Partners in the SEED Initiative in addition to the founding partners are the governments of Germany, India, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America; the European Union; Conservation International; and SEED’s corporate partner, Hisense.

The SEED Initiative identifies and supports promising small scale start-up social and environmental entrepreneurs around the globe, entrepreneurs that while working towards a greener economy also tackle poverty, marginalisation and social exclusion. SEED provides these social entrepreneurs with know-how and networks, taking the lessons learnt at local level up to decision-makers to promote evidence-based policy making.