SEED History and Growth
SEED History and Growth
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 12:07
SEED was initiated in 2001 by the German Ministry for the Environment (BMU). It was presented as an “Example of Excellence” partnership inter alia by UNEP and BMU at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. The SEED Initiative was then registered at the Summit by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN as a partnership.
The SEED Initiative was then launched at simultaneous events at the World Social Forum (Mumbai) and the World Economic Forum (Davos) in January 2004. The events included a video link between the two Forums.
Early development 2005-2007
In 2005, and again in 2007, SEED Awards were given to five Award Winners, with five finalists. On both occasions, the winners were selected from over 250 applicants in about 70 countries through a global competition and a rigorous, independent judging process. Following a year of tailored support services from SEED, most of these awardees were on the road to establishing their initiatives, demonstrated by their track record since then.
SEED brought together all ten 2005 and 2007 Award Winners at the 2007 SEED Annual Forum in South Africa to share their knowledge and inspire others. Through its Research and Learning, SEED has published reports on Award Winners' experiences, drawing out trends and developing resources on crosscutting themes such as measuring success, growing a start-up sustainable development enterprise, strengthening partnerships and other support needs.
Scale up 2008-2012
Beginning in 2008, the SEED Awards scaled up, running the Awards on an annual basis. Five Award Winners were selected in 2008, and ten finalists. In 2009 20 Award Winners were selected out of nearly 1100 applications from 97 countries. In contrast to previous years, the 20 winners each received business planning support and subsequently, 5 were selected as Gold Winners; they received additional tailored capacity building and were networked and profiled at high level events in their own countries, and internationally.
In 2010 SEED will also establish its first SEED country scheme in South Africa, while also increasing the number of awards and having a focus on Africa.
