Tag Archives: GLOBAL AWARDS

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MDPI SUSTAINABILITY FOUNDATION WORLD SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

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Application Deadline: 15 December 2025

LOCATION: Switzerland

The World Sustainability Award (WSA) honors individuals who have made groundbreaking contributions to sustainability research. Offered by the MDPI Sustainability Foundation, the award recognizes scholarly excellence and transformative impact across disciplines.

The 2026 WSA will honor three awardees, with one selected from each of the three core categories: Biosphere, Society, and Economy. The awards will be officially presented during the World Sustainability Forum 2026.

ELIGIBILITY:

The World Sustainability Award is conferred upon senior researchers in recognition of exceptional and sustained contributions to sustainability-related scholarship and practice.

The Selection Committee will evaluate nominees according to the following criteria:

Scientific Excellence: Nominees should have a demonstrable record of sustained, high-quality research, either fundamental or applied, conducted within an appropriate disciplinary or interdisciplinary context.

Contribution to Sustainability Pillars: The nominees’ research must address at least two of the three foundational pillars of sustainability, with clearly evidenced impact:

Biosphere: Environmental and ecological systems

Society: Social and cultural dimensions of development

Economy: Economic structures, processes, or innovations

Innovative and Applicable Outcomes: The research must exhibit originality and offer feasible solutions to contemporary sustainability challenges, with potential or demonstrated real-world implementation.

Alignment with Global Agendas: The research should contribute meaningfully to the objectives outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Scholarly Leadership and Influence: There should be evidence of the nominee’s broader influence on the academic or professional community, including leadership roles, mentorship, institutional development, or contribution to policy frameworks.

The nomination process for the 2026 edition will open on Friday, 25 July 2025. Detailed information on eligibility and submission procedures is provided in the dedicated section below. Nominations must be submitted by a qualified third party via the official online platform. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Following the nomination deadline, the Selection Committee, composed of internationally recognized experts in sustainability, will review all eligible submissions and select the award recipients.

The selected winners will be informed in due course and are expected to attend the award ceremony, which will be held during the World Sustainability Forum 2026.

BENEFIT:

Each winner will receive a monetary prize of 50,000 USD, bringing the total award amount to 150,000.

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awards, competition, Events, Opportunities

UNESCO PRIZE FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION

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Application Deadline: 1 September, 2025

LOCATION: South Korea

Applying GCED means bringing multiple stakeholders together from various levels and types of education, formal and informal, to help ensure that every learner can receive an education that:

is embedded with principles of respect for human rights

fosters agency to redress inequities and injustice

promotes inclusivity and reconciliation

prevents violence, bullying, hate speech, and discrimination

fosters critical thinking, and

promotes working together across groups and disciplines to find common solutions to local, national, and global challenges. 

Through this Prize for Global Citizenship Education, UNESCO promotes outstanding efforts in this area across the world.

ELIGIBILITY:

Call for nominations for the 2025 inaugural edition: The inaugural cycle of the Prize will highlight and reward exceptional GCED initiatives. Providing a framework for GCED efforts is the UNESCO  Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development (2023) which is embedded with an understanding of peace that is not just the absence of conflict or violence but a positive and participatory process built by the actions of everyone.
To apply for the category “Youth-led organization”: The applicant must be:

An organization that is led by individual(s) aged between 18-30 years old

To apply for the “Other” category: The applicant can be either an:

Individual,

Institution,

Non-governmental organization, or

other entity.

The initiative must be: 

Relevant to GCED

The initiative should have been implemented for at least 1 year with evidence of concrete activities

The project and its organization should not be affiliated with, or receive any funding from, UNESCO

Be nominated by either a UNESCO National Commission or an NGO in official relation with UNESCO

Calendar: If you are an applicant, submit your application to your National Commission or NGO in official partnership with UNESCO well by 17 July 2025 ahead of the nomination deadline on 1 September 2025. 

If you are a National Commission OR NGO in official relation to UNESCO, submit your top three nominations to the UNESCO Secretariat by 1 September 2025.

BENEFIT:

The UNESCO Prize for Global Citizenship Education is to be established for an initial period of six years (2024-2029) and awarded every two years on a date determined by the Director-General. The Prize will consist of two awards of US $50,000 each, recognizing achievements in two categories: (1) youth-led organizations and (2) individuals, institutions, non-governmental organizations, or other entities that have made outstanding contributions to and achieved remarkable outcomes in promoting GCED.

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