The Planet Forward Storyfest Awards 2024

The story of our planet’s transformations and how we might protect it is the most compelling of all. Planet Forward is looking for stories about the people, ideas, and technology moving the world toward a greener future, including topics such as climate justice, conservation, increasing sea levels, more frequent heat waves, the global pandemic, and our addiction to plastic.

The Planet Forward Storyfest Awards provide a forum for children to tell their stories while also casting light on their own innovative ideas for environmental stewardship. Planet Forward is looking for stories that inspire, motivate, and influence change. Stories that are dynamically engaging, thought-provoking, and engrossing. Make an impact, be memorable, and have fun.

Students enrolled in journalism, film, or media programmes, as well as those without any official media experience or affiliation are invited to apply to Storyfest. Planet Forward has divided them into groups according to their formal training in the relevant medium so that we can evaluate them appropriately. Students majoring or minoring in accredited journalism, film, or media programmes are classified as media/communications students; students pursuing other academic fields such as the liberal arts, sciences, engineering, business, or law are classified as non-media/communications students.

Benefits:

The Winners will receive the Award and be selected by Planet Forward staff for one (1) of the following expeditions:

• “Wild Galápagos Escape” (“Trip 1”) ○ Aboard the National Geographic Islander 2 ○ On June 15 – 22, 2024
• “A Circumnavigation of Iceland” (“Trip 2”) ○ Aboard the National Geographic Explorer ○ On July 18 – 27, 2024

Note:

• Winners will be selected for either “Trip 1” or “Trip 2” based on their answers to a survey that will be distributed to them once the Finalist results are announced.
• The Prize specifically consists of accommodations, food, and costs associated with relevant expedition-led experiences. All Winners are otherwise responsible for costs associated with air and ground transportation and all other personal expenses. Alcoholic beverages aboard ship, purchases in the ship’s global gallery, gratuities, wellness treatments, laundry, internet access, passport expenses, and travel insurance are not included.

Categories:

• Best Short Video by a Media/Communications Student;
• Best Short Video by a NON-Media/Communications Student;
• Best Multimedia Story by a Media/Communications Student;
• Best Multimedia Story by a NON-Media/Communications Student;
• Best Writing by a Writing/Journalism Student;
• Best Writing by a NON-Writing/Journalism Student.

Planet Forward is looking for stories about ideas and innovations that can move the planet forward. Untold stories. Misunderstood stories. And little-known ideas, people, and breakthroughs that can make a difference, have impact, inform, and inspire. These are the topic areas we’re hoping you will explore, and can reflect your studies, research, work, experience, or dreams:

• Food: How can we feed the planet, grow better food, stop wasting so much of it?
• Water: How should we use it, conserve it, clean it, get it to places that don’t have enough of it?
• Energy: What are new ways to get it, make it cleaner, use it more efficiently?
• Mobility: What’s a better way to get around, reduce congestion, minimize the impact on the environment and the climate? What has changed since the pandemic, for better or worse, and how can we look forward?
• The built environment: How should we build for the future? What are the new materials, technologies or designs that will make better homes, offices, neighborhoods, cities and towns? How has the pandemic changed our view of city life?
• Biodiversity: How do we preserve and foster our vital ecosystems?
• Public health: What impact and takeaways can the environmental movement utilize from the pandemic and/or the response to it? How are climate change and the pandemic intertwined, and what can we learn?
• Climate justice: How can we better implement climate policies and environmental initiatives that provide fair and equal treatment to all communities, and prevent discrimination in the systems that perpetuate climate change?