about the challenge
"No institutions in modern society are better able to catalyze the necessary transition to a sustainable world than universities. They have access to the leaders of tomorrow and the leaders of today. They have buying and investing power, they are widely respected. Consequentially, what they do matters to the wider public."
-Professor David Orr
Chair, Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College
mtvU GE Ecomagination Challenge
The environment is one of the most important issues of our time. People of all ages, across the country and around the world, are getting involved in helping to protect the environment. But as tomorrow's leaders, college students have a particularly exciting and important role to play in making the world more sustainable. And many students are finding that a great place to start is right on campus.
The mtvU GE ecomagination Challenge is asking college students from around the country to develop new, creative ways to green their campus. We're looking for innovative and groundbreaking ideas that can have a positive impact at the local level or the global level — or both. The sky is (literally) the limit.
What's your big idea? Tell us how you propose to green your campus. Get creative. In addition to the official application we encourage you to send us a little extra something, whether it be a video, photos, a game or anything else that tells your team's story and shows why your green campus idea has real potential. Remember, the top ten projects will be featured on mtvU, so the more visual you make your entry, the easier it will be for students to vote for your project.
Applicants will submit ideas between September 1, 2006 and December 1, 2006. A panel of expert judges from mtvU and GE will select 10 finalists in early January 2007. These applicants, and their proposed campus greening projects, are likely to be profiled online and on air by mtvU over the following months. In March 2007, the judges will select one winning idea from among the finalists. mtvU viewers will also have a chance to support their favorite project through an online viewer poll that the judges will consider in making their final selection.
Projects will be judged in the following three areas:
- Ecology
- Will the project limit contributions to global warming? Will it conserve water or cut down on energy use?
- Imagination
- In what cool and unique way can you protect our planet? Something technical? Artistic? Marketable?
- Economics
- How much will the project cost? Will the benefits outweigh the costs? How will it get done? Who are the players? What is the timeline?
Applicants can focus on any environmental issues and entries should be as creative as you can imagine. Teams with members from multiple majors are encouraged and project teams must include an administrative or faculty advisor.
The winning entrant’s school will receive a $25,000 grant to begin to implement the project and a free mtvU concert for the campus on Earth Day in April, 2007.
mtvU and GE
GE and mtvU have joined together to help spread the campus greening phenomenon, promote sustainability and set an example for communities worldwide. The mtvU GE ecomagination Challenge seeks to educate students on the most important environmental issues while spurring the creativity and innovation necessary to solve them.
GE launched its ecomagination initiative in 2005, signaling its commitment to take on the world's biggest challenges. GE recognized the need to innovate to meet customer demands and contribute positively to the environment. Through the ecomagination initiative, GE is doubling its investment in the R&D of green products (with the goal of doubling its sales of these products) while significantly reducing its own energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases.
The mtvU GE ecomagination Challenge website is an extension of mtvU's online activism center, designed to enlighten college students and empower them to mobilize on today's most pressing issues. From the environment to the genocide in Darfur, mtvU is a megaphone for college students' social concerns — offering them the information and tools they require to effect positive change in the world.
By bringing together students and campuses across the country in this competition, GE and mtvU believe they can show the nation what can be accomplished when students put their minds to addressing important environmental issues.