Associates

The Awards were founded in 2001 by the Ashden Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts (SFCT). Today the Awards are an internationally recognised yardstick for excellence in the field of sustainable energy.

At the heart of the Ashden Awards is a rigorous judging process culminating in a prestigious ceremony in London where prizes are presented to winners from all corners of the globe to help further their work.

But the Awards are not just about handing over a prize: they're part of a broader process that's designed to last — sharing knowledge, passing on experience and offering advice and support where it’s wanted.

Throughout the year the winners are showcased as shining examples of green energy in practice and are brought to a wider audience through the international media, seminars and presentations as well as being introduced to influential people and organisations to help change energy strategy and policy.

For more information please visit www.ashdenawards.org or click on the logo.

Ashoka envisions a world where everyone is a changemaker, where each individual has the freedom, confidence, and societal support to pursue social change. Ashoka identifies, selects, and supports leading Social Entrepreneurs – individuals with systems-changing solutions to the world’s most pressing social problems. These Ashoka Fellows serve as role models, attracting and empowering others to action. Since 1980, Ashoka has elected over 2,000 Fellows who work as Social Entrepreneurs across 63 countries. Ashoka is now the home for all entrepreneurial individuals, and a platform for the growing global network of people dedicated to changing the world. For more information, please visit www.ashoka.org or click on the logo.

The University of California of Berkeley, established in 1868, has become one of the preeminent universities in the world. Its academic community makes key contributions to the economic and social well-being of the Bay Area, California, and the nation. UC Berkeley ranks first nationally in the number of graduate programs in the top 10 in their fields. In any given year, more than 4,000 Cal students do volunteer work, and UC Berkeley continues to be the only school in the country to have produced more than 3,000 Peace Corps volunteers since that organization's inception in 1961. For more information, please visit www.bigideas.berkeley.edu or click on the logo.

About Big Ideas @ Berkeley:

The Big Ideas @ Berkeley Program provides funding, support, and encouragement to interdisciplinary teams of UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students who are passionate about tackling regional, national or global challenges such as safe drinking water, public policy, entrepreneurship in life sciences and nanotechnology, clean energy, global public health, and sustainable development.

Berkeley students want to link their research, course work, entrepreneurship, and service-learning to these challenges. They are willing to devote an incredible amount of time and energy to ideas that they have developed.

These student initiatives take many forms, including clubs, competitions, new courses, projects, domestic and international field work, collaboration with non-profit and corporate partners, and greater student involvement in shaping and inspiring the next generation of research, education, and service activities.

Big Ideas supports these student-led initiatives in five different ways:

1. Seed grants to help students get started right away
2. An annual competition with over $170,000 in prizes, co-organized with the student government
3. An online marketplace that allows alumni and other donors to make tax-deductible donations and in-kind contributions to specific projects
4. Other forms of assistance, such as connections, advise, and marketing
5. Helping the best ideas make the transition from student proposal to funded, university initiatives, such as new educational programs or research centers

Big Ideas is led by Thomas Kalil, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Science and Technology at UC Berkeley. Kalil is the former Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Technology and Economic Policy.

Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development (CIIFAD), with partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America, initiates and supports innovative programs that contribute to improved prospects for global food security, sustainable rural development and environmental conservation around the world.

Established in 1990 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, CIIFAD engages diverse disciplines, actors and institutions to advance knowledge and practice for sustainable agricultural and rural development. CIIFAD is a university-wide initiative operating through the International Programs office of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. For more information, please visit www.ciifad.cornell.edu or click on the logo.

E+Co makes clean energy investments in developing countries. With 15 years of experience and offices in 10 locations, E+Co's innovative business model provides lasting solutions to climate change and poverty. For more information, please visit www.eandco.net or click on the logo

ERM is one of the world’s leading providers of environmental consulting services, with over 135 offices in more than 40 countries and employing over 3,000 staff. ERM delivers innovative solutions for private and public sector clients, assisting them with managing their environmental and other risks. As part of ERM’s Low Carbon Initiative, ERM has donated pro bono time and in addition, administrative support in excess of US$200,0000 to the ERM Low Carbon Enterprise Fund.

The ERM Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation established by ERM over 10 years ago to support environmental and social projects around the world and to provide sustainable solutions for challenges such as climate change. The Low Carbon Enterprise Fund is a programme of the Foundation. It will:

• create a permanent fund of capital to support small low carbon enterprises in the developing world
• provide loans and equity stakes to small innovative enterprises
• enhance the viability of its investments by leveraging world class pro-bono technical support from Environmental Resources Management (ERM) consultants
• ensure that entrepreneurs remain accountable, both through the application of commercial disciplines and through monitoring oversight by ERM’s global consultants and partners.

Small businesses run by local entrepreneurs play a key role in encouraging the adoption of alternative technologies and practices by local communities. The businesses funded will function as catalysts, disseminating local awareness and adoption of commercially-viable, carbon-friendly, and culturally–appropriate alternatives.

For more information, please visit www.erm.com or click on the logo.

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) is non-profit organisation that promotes fairness and sustainable tourism development in South Africa. FTTSA’s core business revolves around voluntarry certification initiative of tourism establishments in South Africa, for adherence to globally accepted “Fair Trade” criteria including fair wages and working conditions; fair operations including purchasing and employment practices; equitable distribution of benefits; ethical business practice; and respect for human rights, culture and environment.

FTTSA carries out a number of activities to raise tourism awareness and contribute to the transformation of the South African tourism industry. One of the Programmes relevant to the work of SEED that FTTSA is involved in is a project to Strengthen Community Tourism, which is a two-year project funded by the National Development Agency (NDA).Three FTTSA-certified establishments are involved in the project (Mehloding Community Tourism Trust, Nqileni Trust-Bulungula Lodge and Tshezi Trust-Coffee Shack).

For more information please visit www.fairtourismsa.org.za or click on the logo.

Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact brings business together with UN agencies, labour, civil society and governments to advance ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment andanti-corruption. Through the power of collective action, the Global Compact seeks to mainstream these ten principles in business activities around theworld and to catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals. It is the world's largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative, with over 5,000 signatories based in more than 120 countries.

For more information, please visit www.unglobalcompact.org or click on the logo.

The majority of the developing world lives without access to energy, greatly restricting their potential for development in terms of health, education and enterprise. GVEP International operates through a network of regional offices worldwide to accelerate access to energy. It promotes best practices, supports the development of new technologies, facilitates access to finance, and provides access to information to GVEP Partners.

GVEP International also facilitates the coordination of energy stakeholders at a national and regional level to improve the effectiveness of the design and implementation of energy projects. It actively fights climate change and provides the tools its Partners require to adapt to changing global conditions.

GVEP International currently has over 2,000 partners across more than 120 countries.

Our Core Values

• We believe that energy can be a powerful force for poverty reduction.
• We strongly promote research and development of innovative solutions.
• We support and will actively advocate fair and equitable climate change initiatives.
• We believe in demand driven solutions for sustainable energy access.

For more information, please visit www.gvepinternational.org or click on the logo.

The International Institute for Environment and Development is a global leader in sustainable development.

As an independent international research organisation, we are specialists in linking local to global. In Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, the Middle East and the Pacific, we work with some of the world's most vulnerable people to ensure they have a say in the policy arenas that most closely affect them — from village councils to international conventions.

Through close collaboration with partners at the grassroots, we make our research and advocacy relevant to their needs and alive to their realities. We also advise governments, business and international development agencies and publish widely.

For more information, please visit www.iied.org or click on the logo.