The 2015 Ashden Awards are now open for entries: you’ve got until Tuesday, 4th of November to apply. We catch up with their PR and Digital Media Manager, Julia Hawkins, to find out what the Ashden team are looking for this year and how winners will be rewarded. 

I’m excited to announce that Ashden is inviting applications for the 2015 Ashden Awards, which will celebrate sustainable energy pioneers from the UK and across the globe.

On 11 June next year, up to 12 Ashden Awards will be presented to organisations that have demonstrated significant achievement in improving lives through sustainable energy and helping build a low-carbon world. We’ll have three different Award categories: UK, Sustainable Travel and International Awards.

Community energy company OVESCO won an Ashden Award in 2014

What are the Ashden team looking for?

For our UK Awards, we are particularly interested in demand response and demand reduction – either through technology or behaviour change – as well as energy storage and smart grid technology.

We’re also looking for examples of achievement in local renewable energy generation – especially through hydro power or anaerobic digestion.

 How are winners rewarded?

In our UK Awards category, 4 winners will receive a prize fund of £10,000, with one outstanding UK Gold Award winner to receive £20,000.

But winning an Ashden Award isn’t just about the prize money. We also work with our winners to help them expand and reach their potential. That might mean helping them develop a business plan, opening doors with investors, or brokering partnerships with other organisations. We’ll also help others learn from their experiences, so best practice spreads more quickly.

Past winners- including the Network

In fact, the Fit for the Future Network is itself one of the positive outcomes of the National Trust winning our UK Ashden Gold Award just over two years ago. We both realised that there are many large landowning charities in the UK that could benefit from working with each other more closely to share experiences. It’s fantastic to see the Network gaining new members and building momentum all the time.

Last year the UK’s first ever FCA-regulated crowdfunding website, Abundance Generation, won the Ashden UK Gold Award for helping plug the gap in financing for renewable energy projects. Our other UK winners were community energy company OVESCO, Global Action Plan, Hemcrete Projects and the Centre for Sustainable Energy.

Entry to our Awards is free, and the deadline is 4 November 2014. Could you – or someone you know – win an Ashden Award in 2015?
Apply for a 2015 Ashden UK Award here:  www.ashden.org/apply/UK

Contact the Ashden Awards Administrator: + 44 20 7410 7023 email: ukapps@ashden.org