To help you write an award-winning application for the Sustainable Academy Awards, we’ve put together a few words of encouragement and advice from one of our judges, Rhodri Thomas, Senior Sustainability Consultant at Cynnal Cymru:
As one of the judges we are always we are looking for outstanding projects or initiatives that are helping to deliver at least one of the seven national goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, contributing to the environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability of life in Wales.
Our 2018 winners had some truly inspirational stories to tell with applications coming in lots of different shapes and sizes. From the Anglesey Cider project, taking a community approach to collecting apples alongside the preservation and re-introduction of heritage tree species growing in Anglesey; to Cardiff Metropolitan University’s collaborative approach with students, staff and suppliers to reduce plastic waste on campus; to the inclusive goals of Play it Again Sport, who provide a vital service in collecting and redistributing unwanted sportswear and equipment to enable more people to access sport.
Each year through the Awards we hope to ensure that award winners not only receive due recognition for their efforts but that they join a growing community of organisations and people who are building a more resilient, wiser, kinder, prosperous and healthier Wales.
Top tips on Writing a Winning Application
- Sustainability is all about long-term thinking, so your submission can be part of a much bigger project. The key criteria is that your project has reached a significant milestone (or completion) in the last year which has already created change.
- Collaboration is key to a successful project, we want to hear about the individuals, the communities and the organisations that came together to make a difference.
- Tell us what you have you changed as a result of your actions. What has made a real difference to your organisation, environment or your community?
- Provide facts and figures to back up your application. This can include financial savings or carbon cutting. If it’s a visual change, consider including before and after photos that help demonstrate how something has improved. Graphs are welcome.
- Remember to include the big and the little things. As well as the high impact achievements make sure you capture the smaller things that have had a positive effect. Also try to include the surprising or unintended results that have made a difference.
- Keep your answers concise and to the point – The judges have hundreds of entries to read so keep it simple and focus on the highlighting the key achievements of the project to really grab the judges’ attention. Try to use plain English, avoiding specialist jargon or over technical descriptions.
- Always keep in mind the Five Ways of Working outlined in the Well-being of Future Generations Act
More information…
All the information on the Awards and how to apply can be found on our Application Guidance page.
Alternatively you can phone 029 2043 1746 or email awards@cynnalcymru.com and speak to one of the team about your application.
Applications need to be submitted by the deadline of Sunday 15 September 2019.
You can also find the Awards on twitter @wales_academy and at @academi_cymru
Recent Comments