Richmond Online - 
RSVCI - Richmondshire Green Awards - Application Criteria
To apply for an award, entrants are expected to give their name and contact details, the address of their project and describe it on a maximum of 3 sides of A4. A number of criterion will be used by the Green Awards judges to determine the overall winners for each category. To help you with your application each criterion is listed below and some guidance as to what the judges are looking for has been included.
Judges will be sent the project descriptions (no more than 3 sides A4) from each application prior to the judges meeting. Please send completed applications by email to rsvci@aol.com or post to Mr Colin Grant, Springwell House, Frenchgate, Richmond, DL9 4JG by 31st July. Additional supportive materials will be viewed at the meeting before any final decisions are made.
Demonstrate good environmental and sustainability practice
This criterion looks at the project as a whole and evaluates how 'green' it is. Judges will be looking for evidence that the concepts of sustainable development are embodied within the project. The most common ways to show good environmental and sustainability practice are improving energy efficiency, reducing waste, reducing water use, reducing pollution, improving the environment or improving employees' well-being. Others could be reducing the amount of car journeys, using local food and local suppliers, addressing impact on climate change or finding new ways to use waste.
Have been implemented within the last twelve months
As this is the first Richmondshire Green Awards but may well become an annual event, the projects need to be new or be on going projects with new elements or ideas. Marking will be related to how much of the project has been implemented in the past year. Projects may build on ideas from previous years or take several years to implement. In these cases it should be made clear what the new aspect is and what work has been done in the previous twelve months.
Provide a good example for others to follow
The Green Awards not only reward good environmental and sustainability practice but promote good practice too. Projects that can be replicated by other organisations or simple initiatives that others could learn from will score additional points.
Offer opportunity for staff, customer, community or pupil involvement
Participation and empowerment are important issues when thinking about sustainable development. Therefore any project that encourages participation will gain more points and the greater the participation the better. For instance involving staff, customers, community or pupils in the planning and decision making process of a scheme will score higher than a scheme where people are simply expected to follow directives. High marks will also be available for projects which require a high quality involvement, commitment to the project and provide a learning experience. People will be more inclined to make a scheme work if they have some ownership!
Incorporate savings or cost benefit
We are keen to promote initiatives that demonstrate how improvements to our environment and our society are coupled with economic benefits. Those projects that reduce costs or improve profits by its actions to help the environment and people are likely to be truly sustainable. A project may have direct economic benefits such as reduced energy bills or find less direct improvements such as less days lost to illness by encouraging cycling and walking. Schemes will be marked on the balance of economic benefits within the scheme rather than on the overall monetary value of any benefits.
Are clear and comprehensive
All applications should be clear and comprehensive. A description of the project should be included. This can be on the application form or on separate sheets and should be no more than three sides of A4. This will be sent to the judges prior to their meeting. We welcome additional materials and supporting documents. These will be viewed by the judges prior to allocating the final scores. High marks will be given to clear, well presented applications rather than verbose, bulky documentation.
Are more than is required by duty, regulation or planning condition
Many aspects of environmental protection and social responsibility are covered by law, regulation and other duties. Projects must show that they are doing more than just complying with what they are bound to do. Higher marks will be achieved by exceeding any regulations that are in place
Has been received on time
The closing date for receipt of applications is Thursday 31st July 2008. To be fair we will have to deduct marks if applications are received after this date, unless special dispensation has been given.
Total Score
Each judge will mark each application according to the above criterion. The marks are added together for a grand total. For each application the totals from all the judges will be added together and then divided by the number of judges. The scores at this stage are indicative of the best projects but are used only as an important guide in the final decision of who are the winners. The judges decision is final.
