UK'S LEADING INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE OPENS FOR ENTRIES

The University of St Andrews and Conoco announce the call for entries for the fifth St Andrews Prize for the Environment, worth $30,000. The prize is open to people from all personal and professional backgrounds, and from anywhere in the world, and provides seed money for good environmental ideas.

UK'S LEADING INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE
OPENS FOR ENTRIES

To coincide with World Environment Day, The University of St Andrews and Conoco today launched the fifth St Andrews Prize for the Environment, the UK's leading international environmental prize. World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment. The St Andrews Prize for the Environment offers people from all backgrounds the chance to transform their environmental ideas into reality.

Individuals, multi-disciplinary teams and community groups are invited to enter for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2003 by submitting ideas for a practical and original solution to an environmental problem. For the 2003 prize, it is suggested that entrants seek ideas for topics from the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg in August 2002. The Summit will address such fundamental issues as globalisation, new models of development and the reasons for, and consequences of, poverty. More specifically, it will be looking at the problems of energy, water, food and the application of science and technology. These are all topics that would qualify for the Prize. Full details about how to enter are on the Prize web site www.thestandrewsprize.com .

The St Andrews Prize for the Environment is an initiative of the University of St Andrews, a world leader in environmental studies, and Conoco, a major integrated energy company active in more than 40 countries. The prize is open to entrants from anywhere in the world and from any professional or personal background. It is judged by a distinguished panel, chaired by Sir Crispin Tickell and including directors of global and national institutions and companies. The winner will receive $30,000 and runners-up will each receive $5,000. The St Andrews Prize for the Environment network will also be available to provide other connections and support.

The 2002 winner, announced last month, is a project team from the Philippines with an initiative to persuade a million rice farmers in Asia to stop spraying harmful and unnecessary insecticides. Previous winners have included a project to use popular theatre techniques to educate local communities about the environmental problems threatening Lake Victoria in East Africa; a Palestinian idea for turning the waste from olive oil production into valuable by-products; and a South African proposal to reverse environmental degradation caused by mining developments.

Entries for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2003 will be shortlisted early next year and the winners will be announced in May 2003 at a seminar in St Andrews, Scotland.

Mr Lewis Macdonald, Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning in the Scottish Parliament, said:

'It is crucial that we improve the links between our academic institutions, industry and wider society. The St Andrews Prize for the Environment provides a concrete example of the way in which new ideas can change our lives for the better.'

Mr Archie W. Dunham, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Conoco, commented:

'Through the St Andrews Prize we have received varied entries from around the world that provide practical, original and sustainable solutions to todays environmental challenges. Creating a sustainable future is a necessity, not an option, and will be achieved only though long-term collaboration and cooperation amongst all stakeholders. The St Andrews Prize for the Environment is one way that Conoco can honour initiatives that will lead to sustainable growth.'

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.   Full details of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment and how to enter are on the prize website at www.thestandrewsprize.com or can be obtained from the St Andrews Prize office on (phone) +44 (0)1334 462 161 or (email) prize@st-andrews.ac.uk

2.   The closing date for entries will be 30th October 2002 for a one-page submission of no more than 500 words, and 17th January 2003 for those invited to make a second, fuller submission. Entries will be accepted by email.

3.        The St Andrews Prize board of trustees, chaired by Sir Crispin Tickell, former Convener of the British Governments Panel on Sustainable Development, include: Baroness Greenfield, Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; Prof. Sir John Krebs, Chairman of the Food Standards Agency; Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Executive Director of Leadership for Environment and Development International; Sara Parkin, Director of Forum for the Future; Dr Alun Anderson, Editor in Chief of The New Scientist; James Currie, Consultant in EU and US Public Affairs; Archie W. Dunham, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Conoco Inc.; Keith Henry, Group Executive Vice President and Chief Executive of Kvaerner Engineering and Construction plc.; Prof. Brian Hoskins, Prof. of Meteorology at Reading University; The Rt. Hon. Lord Jenkin of Roding, Chairman of the Foundation for Science and Technology; Richard Sandbrook, Senior Adviser to the International Institute for Environment and Development (representing HRH the Prince of Wales); Dr George Watkins, Chairman and Managing Director of Conoco (U.K.) Limited, and Dr Brian Lang, Principal of the University of St Andrews.

4.        Logos and photographs of previous winners are available from Colman Getty PR on 0131 477 7950.

For further information and interviews with prize organisers, please contact:
Rebecca Salt or Sara Dunbar at Colman Getty Scotland PR
Tel 0131 477 7950 Fax 0131 477 7951    Email rebecca@colmangettypr.co.uk