Applications Invited for Solution Search: Reducing Water Pollution through Behavior Change

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About the Organization:

Rare is an international environmental organization committed to conservation programs that benefit both people and nature. Rare inspires social and environmental change.  They work to protect and conserve the natural resources that sustain millions of communities around the world. Rare searches the globe for replicable, sustainable environmental success stories, and then trains local conservation leaders to develop and market those proven practices in order to protect imperiled species without compromising basic human needs.

Water Pollution & Behavior Change

Reducing water pollution is critical for protecting aquatic life, ensuring public health, achieving social justice, and fomenting a resilient and thriving economy. Currently, many types of contaminants run through the world’s rivers, streams, basins and oceans, including synthetic chemicals, plastics, nitrates and fecal coliform. Behind each of these different sources lies a chain of people who engage in actions that lead up to the pollution we see today.

Some of these behaviors include littering, dumping raw sewage into fields, depositing industrial waste into waterways, and using and overusing synthetic fertilizers (more examples in the FAQs below). Therefore, solving water pollution will require changing those behaviors that are contributing to it.

Fortunately, solutions that aim to do just this are already emerging worldwide. This Solution Search is designed to surface, spotlight and accelerate the most promising of these approaches.

Scope:

• Accelerate global action among a variety of stakeholders and bring behavioral insights into their solution toolkits. 
• Support the October 2020-Summer 2021 global crowdsourcing contest and award ceremony.
• Provide training workshops, mentorship, and networking for finalists to learn how to refine their interventions using behavioral science to increase the adoption of their desired behavior among their target audience.
• Advance solutions and behavior change to address various sources of water pollution such as litter, sewage, fertilizer, other nutrient pollution, and industrial waste.
• Equip NGOs to build effective campaigns that include three main principles of behavioral science: emotional appeal, social influences, and choice architecture.

Who is eligible?

• Any organization or institution worldwide is eligible (e.g. city government, business, non-profit, university, etc.). Individuals are not eligible to enter.

Prizes:

Finalist - All finalists attend a capacity-building workshop and awards ceremony with some of the biggest names in conservation, development and behavioral science.

Grand Prize - Two prizes of $25,000 awarded to the Judges' Choice (selected by our panel) and People's Choice (recipient of most votes).

Early Entrant Prize - A prize of $5,000 awarded to the best entry received by November 30th, 2020 at 8pm EST.

Environmental Justice Prize - A prize of $10,000 awarded to the best entry that achieves progress on environmental justice and addresses the disproportionate impact of water pollution on communities of color, indigenous groups, and marginalized communities.

Youth Prize - A prize of $10,000 awarded to the best entry that is led by youth (25 years or younger) and highlights the role of young people in powering solutions to water pollution.

Timeline:

• November 30, 2020: Deadline to submit for early entry prize 
• January 10, 2021: Entry deadline
• April 2021: Top 10 finalists announced
• May 2021: Voting period begins
• June 2021: Voting period closes

Finalist workshops, networking events, and summit may take place in August- September 2021. Final dates to be determined.

You can reach the Solution Search team at info@solutionsearch.org with any questions or concerns.

For more information please check the Link