Barcelona, 18 June 2010 – The Cleaner Production Centre of UNEP/MAP - CP/RAC⁽¹⁾ - has launched an international contest for the generation of bottom-up innovative ideas on sustainable consumption in the Mediterranean Region. The contest is open to everyone who has a good short story to tell on sustainable consumption and lifestyles.

Participants should write their idea on sustainable consumption in a short story format (350 to 500 words), and submit it to greenshotsaward@cprac.org by July 15th, 2010. A jury of environmental experts will select the ten best stories, which will be turned into animated videos and distributed worldwide, while the author of the best proposal will be awarded a trip to the next Earth Summit Rio+20 in 2012.

The main goal of the Green Shots Award is to extend the discussion on sustainable consumption by involving a broader audience in the generation of creative ideas on how small changes to our lifestyles can greatly contribute to preserve the environment.

“We all have a role to play in preserving our planet. Coming up with innovative ideas for more sustainable lifestyles is not only the job of specialists, everyone should contribute. The Green Shots Award will help channel people’s creativity and bring their voice to Rio+20 Summit”, said Virginia Alzina, Director of CP/RAC.

“Public awareness of environmental issues has undoubtedly increased over the last years. However, only a restricted number of specialist organizations has insofar focused on coming up with potential solutions. Lack of awareness and domain-knowledge outside of a restricted circle of full-time environmentalists has prevented a broader participation to the debate on sustainability. Today’s social networking technology and communication tools, of which Green Shots is a good example, allow us to bridge this gap”.

The winners of the Green Shots Award will be announced at the ECOMEDA Green Forum in Barcelona in November 2010. The ten animated videos (or “green shots”) based on the best ideas will be displayed at the forum before being distributed worldwide. More information on the Green Shots Award and its terms and conditions can be found on http://www.greenshotsaward.org/

The name Green Shots echoes the expression “green shoots”, which was widely used to indicate the first positive signals of recovery from the recent economic crisis. It suggests that the green economy will be one of the leading forces behind the global economic recovery.

Note to Editors:

(1) Established in 1996 and based in Barcelona, the Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC) is a specialised centre of the Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) and is also a Regional Centre under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Both initiatives are established under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Centre’s mission is to promote mechanisms leading to sustainable consumption and production patterns and sound chemicals management in Mediterranean countries. CP/RAC helps Mediterranean governments and enterprises to apply environmentally-friendly production methods. It addresses citizens too, by providing useful information and suggesting alternative ways of consumption that are less damaging to the environment.