About the Competition

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The Student Challenge National Competition is owned by Earthwatch Institute (Australia) (‘the Owners’).

Selected entries will be featured online and/or in publicity materials relating to the Competition, including but not limited to Earthwatch Australia’s website and social media platforms.

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Any contact regarding the Competition (unless otherwise specified below) should be via the email address: studentchallenge@earthwatch.org.au

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This Competition is principally funded by QBE Insurance and sponsored by the George Alexander Foundation.

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General Conditions of Entry

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The Competition is open to all applicants (including unsuccessfuls) from the Student Challenge program since January 2016, except family members of employees of the Owners or any official partners, supporters or sponsors of the Competition. Where record of the applicant does not exist or is lost, proof of the entrant's application to the Student Challenge will be requested.

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For entrants submitting a short-film under the ‘Visual Arts’ category, or a music/spoken-word entry under ‘Music & Literature’ – they must have a public YouTube or Vimeo account onto which they can upload their film.

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The Competition will be open on Thursday 27 September 2018 (‘the Opening Date’) and entries will be accepted up and until Friday 1 March 2019 (‘the Closing Date’).

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Any entries received after the Closing Date will be invalid and will not be considered.

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Only one entry per person per category is allowed, and in the case of multiple entries per category only the original entry will be counted.

 

Winners will be announced on or soon after Friday 22 March 2019.

 

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Medium Criteria & Content Rules

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For entries into the ‘Visual Arts’ category – each participant may produce and submit a short video (no longer than two (2) minutes in length, including any title sequences and/or credits) that highlights an environmental challenge or issue and includes potential solutions/actions that can be taken to make a positive difference. If the participant does not wish to submit a short-film, a selection of up to 3 visual art images/photos may be submitted.

Photos and films can be shot on smart phones, digital cameras, DSLR cameras, ‘action cameras’ etc. however, only digital submissions are eligible. The total size of submitted images must collectively be no larger than 20 megabytes in a JPG, PNG, GIF or PDF format.

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Only minor burning, dodging, cropping and/or colour correction is acceptable for photography entries. Any other change to the original image not mentioned here is unacceptable and could render the submission ineligible to win any prize.

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Films are permitted to be live action, stop motion or animated, but must not contain more than 30% of stock footage with permission from the owner(s) to use. Earthwatch reserves the right to check this for all shortlisted entries and disqualify any entries on the grounds of plagiarism. Films must be posted directly to a Public YouTube account with the advertising and monetisation function switched off.

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For entries into the ‘Community Project’ category – each participant should produce and submit a proposal outlining a community project which they feel tackles an important environmental issue in their community.

Submissions in this category must be in a PDF, DOC, or PPT format, and should not exceed 20MB in size.
Projects ideally need to be achievable within 6 months if they receive funding as a winner of the competition – participants in this category may also be required to supply regular updates on the project’s process for publication on the Earthwatch website and social media platforms.

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For entries into the ‘Music & Literature’ category – each participant may produce and submit any written piece between 100 and 800 words for consideration; alternatively they may produce a song or spoken word poem no longer than 3 minutes and 30 seconds in length as a short video. Either type of entry must highlight an environmental challenge or issue and include potential solutions/actions that can be taken to make a positive difference.

Literature submissions must be in a PDF, DOC or TXT format, and should not exceed 20MB in size.

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Music or Spoken-Word Poetry submissions must be in a short video format with the participant on display for the duration of the reading/song. 

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Submissions made this way must be posted directly to a Public YouTube account with the advertising and monetisation function switched off.

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For ALL entries – each participant will be required to submit a short piece to introduce their entry and explain their motivations for creating it. These introductory pieces must be no longer than 200 words and no shorter than 50. These written pieces will accompany entries during the selection and presentation process.

Watermarks in any submissions are not permitted. If a submission contains a watermark and the request for this to be removed is not completed within 3 calendar days, the submission will be disqualified.

Inclusion of any persons in a submission (i.e. in the short-film, video or photos) must be with their consent – and in the case of minors (under 18s), written consent from the minor’s parent or legal guardian must be given using the Earthwatch media consent form. Note that this also applies to the entrant themselves.

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Entrants must not:

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• Edit, amend or alter in any way their entry after submission

• Have the advertising/monetisation functionality enabled on YouTube if they are submitting their entry this way

• Enter their submission in another contest or competition

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Furthermore, your submission must not contain anything that is obscene, defamatory, indecent, unlawful, disrespectful or offensive.

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Submission Process

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Please refer to the relevant section on the competition page for information on how to submit your entry. Please note that submission materials and limited information will be stored by Earthwatch Australia, solely for the purpose of administering the Competition.

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Winner Selection

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The overall winner and two runners up will be selected across all categories by a judging panel.

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If deemed appropriate by the judging panel, additional ‘Notable Mentions’ may be selected.

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Submissions are judged on the following criteria:

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• Response to an Environmental Problem (40%)

• Originality (30%)

• Execution (30%)

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The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.

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Overall winners, runners-up and ‘Notable Mentions’ will be notified on or soon after Friday 22 March 2019.

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Publicity

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Entry to the Competition gives Earthwatch the right, without separate consent or compensation, to publicise the names and territories of the Winners and to make further use of these in printed or online materials solely for the purposes of administering this Competition in accordance with applicable law.

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Some entries may be featured on the Earthwatch website, but this shall not impact the judging panel’s decision.

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All entrants may additionally be required to participate in photo or video/film sessions or interviews. In this regard, entrants agree that Earthwatch shall have the right to use all the resulting publicity materials in any medium (online or in print) and in any manner we see fit, unless an entrant advises us at the time of entering the Competition that they wish to remain anonymous.

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No fees shall be payable to or by any entrant in relation to their entry in the Competition.

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Prizes

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There will be one (1) overall winner and two (2) runners-up, with up to three (3) ‘notable mentions’

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The overall winner of the Competition will receive (the ‘First Prize’):

• a donation to the value of $2,800 to a personal Earthwatch expedition fund or the implementation and upkeep of their proposed community project, where appropriate

• the opportunity to have their work featured on the Earthwatch website

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The runner up of the Competition will receive (the ‘Second Prize’):

• a donation to the value of $1,200 to a personal Earthwatch expedition fund or the implementation and upkeep of their proposed community project, where appropriate

• the opportunity to have their work featured on the Earthwatch website

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The second runner up of the Competition will receive (the ‘Third Prize’):

• a donation to the value of $700 to a personal Earthwatch expedition fund or the implementation and upkeep of their proposed community project, where appropriate

• the opportunity to have their work featured on the Earthwatch website

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Notable Mentions will receive (the ‘Notable Mention Award’):

• a cash prize of $150

• the opportunity to have their work featured on the Earthwatch website

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No alternative prize will be given. The Prizes are non-transferable and non-exchangeable.

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The Owners reserve the right to change the Prize as a result of circumstances beyond their control or to offer an alternative prize of a similar value.

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The Owners reserve the right not to award a prize if, in the judges’ opinion, no entries reach a sufficient standard or where the contact details provided on the entry form are incorrect.

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Intellectual Property Rights

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Each entry must be an original work of the entrant and must not infringe the intellectual property rights of any other party. Any works which have inspired or informed your submission must be cited in a bibliography or disclaimer where possible.

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Ownership of the copyright in any entry submitted to the Competition will remain with the copyright Owner. All external sources will be credited where possible and appropriate. The entrant agrees that the Owners will not be liable to the copyright holder in the event of inadvertent omission of credit.

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By entering the Competition, the entrant grants to the Owners a free non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to use their entry in all their publicity, publication and activities and in any promotional material connected to this Competition or the Earthwatch Australia website. This licence is granted only for use in relation to the Competition and subsequent Event, which shall include but is not limited to any of the following uses:

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• Competition judging process

• Display in online materials

• Display during the Event and other related public events

• Acceptance of the rules and liability

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Submitting an entry to the Student Challenge National Competition implies full acceptance of the rules of the competition.

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By submitting your entry to the Student Challenge National Competition, you are declaring that it is your own original work (with the exception of the allowed maximum 40 seconds of stock footage, which must be credited) and that you are the author of the content.

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Entrants agree to fully indemnify Earthwatch Institute (Australia), its judges, sponsors and partners, individually and collectively, from and against any actual or threatened claims, demands, losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses, including legal expenses arising out of or in connection with any and all claims, or third party claims, based on material submitted to the Competition or use of the Prize.