Announcing the winners of project for the planet

4 minutes

Earlier this year, World Scouting partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to run an exciting contest called Project for the Planet. Let’s find out who the winners are!

Scouts in Sao Paolo of União dos Escoteiros do Brasil pose in front of a colourful gate while working on a project to help the environment and easing poverty
Copyright
World Scout Bureau

What is Project for the Planet?

We know that Scouts have great ideas for how to create a better, cleaner, greener world, and we wanted to see more of these ideas brought to life. We also know that implementing a great idea usually requires at least a bit of money and resources.

So, we challenged Scouts to think through their ideas to help the environment: What problem do they want to solve? How do they want to solve it? What people and resources do they need to accomplish this? How long will it take? How much will it cost?

Young people from around the world shared their ideas with us by submitting projects on the Scout Donation Platform, our fee-free crowdfunding site for Scouts to raise funds for local initiatives. We then selected the 10 most impactful environmental projects to receive matching funds, and invited one project creator to join World Scouting’s youth delegation at the CoP27 event in Egypt!

A field in Sao Paolo where scouts are implementing projects to reduce poverty and help the environment
Copyright
World Scout Bureau

Grand Prize Winner: Connecting the Dots in Brazil

And the winner is… the "Connecting the Dots" project in São Paulo, Brazil!

The grand prize winner will participate as part of World Scouting’s youth delegation to the CoP27 - the United Nations’ annual Climate Change Conference happening in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt in November 2022. The project is also being awarded a $700 USD micro-grant to help make it a reality.

“Connecting the Dots - Taking Care of People, Taking Care of Planet,” connects waste pickers, farmers, popular education institutions and families in the southern part of the city of São Paulo, where there is high social vulnerability, including food insecurity, poverty and lack of access to public services. 

Through the creation of waste pick points in educational institutions, residents will be invited to bring their waste, which will be collected by waste pickers and generate income for them. The educational space exchanges the waste collected for fruit and vegetables planted by small farmers and offers them to the children and adolescents who are hosted by the project.

This project was created by a Scout named Larissa, in collaboration with Scout Leaders Bibi and Izabela, and partnering with a local farmer, waste picker and an NGO called Bauhinia. The Scouts are members of the União dos Escoteiros do Brasil. Anita, a Scout representative of the group, will attend CoP27 on behalf of the project group. She will join a delegation of Scouts committed to climate action and sustainability. 

Learn more about their project and donate here.

Bharat scouts and guides in India work on waste management to combat pollution
Copyright
World Scout Bureau

Winners of Project for the Planet funding

In addition to the grand prize winner, our panel of five Scout judges selected nine other projects based on potential environmental impact, originality, structure, viability, connection to #Scouts4SDGs, and more. Each of these projects will receive a micro-grant of $700 USD towards their implementation:

  • Turning Plastic into Paving Slabs, an initiative to reduce plastic pollution in Dar es Salaam, by Scouts of the Tanzania Scouts Association. Donate here.

     
  • Reforesting Burnt Urban Forests in Bolivia “El sembradillo de la mata”, a reforestation project by Scouts of the Asociación de Scouts de Bolivia. Donate here

     
  • Green on Brown - Healing the Thessaloniki Forests, a reforestation project by Soma Hellinon Proskopon Scouts in Greece. Donate here.
Recycling Plastic Waste, a waste management and clean-up project for Lake Malawi beaches by Scouts of the Scout Association of Malawi.
Copyright
World Scout Bureau
  • The Wings Of Peace: Solution For Nature, a waste management initiative by Bharat Scouts and Guides in India. Donate here.

     
  • Mangrove Restoration Conservation and Research, a project to restore and conserve biodiversity in Nibong Tebal Penang, Malaysia, by Scouts of Persekutuan Pengakap Malaysia. Donate here.

     
  • Recycling Plastic Waste, a waste management and clean-up project for Lake Malawi beaches by Scouts of the Scout Association of Malawi. Donate here.
Cleaning No-Man's Land, an initiative to clean Ujung Kulon National Park by Gerakan Pramuka Scouts in Indonesia
Copyright
World Scout Bureau
  • A Renewable Energies Education Center for Bolivia! A project to promote cleaner and more sustainable energy by Scouts in the Asociación de Scouts de Bolivia. Donate here.

     
  • Leave No One Behind is a project by Scouts of the Rwanda Scout Association to offer sign language training to help the deaf in Rwanda. Donate here.

     
  • Cleaning No-Man's Land, an initiative to clean Ujung Kulon National Park by Gerakan Pramuka Scouts in Indonesia. Donate here.

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to our partner UNEP and everyone who submitted a Project for the Planet! Scouts are committed to building a better world, and each action and project we implement for the environment brings us one step forward.

Related news

By: Grecia Barcena and Kazi Zubair Hossain, WOSM Youth Representatives Scouting was born in nature. So much of what we do and learn is about understanding and caring for the world around us, but our planet is reaching the point of no return due to...

Read more

Sandwiched between the Gulf of Honduras and the Pacific Ocean, the beautiful and mountainous land of Guatemala is blessed with a diverse climate. Dotted with volcanoes, rivers, lakes, and heritage sites, the country offers a wealth of culture...

Read more

Walking the streets of some of India's largest cities, your eyes are immediately drawn to the sight of single-use plastics – from bottles to bags – discarded by the pavements, gutters, and storefronts.

Read more
See all news