The Trust for Sustainable Living (TSL) Essay Competition seeks to capture students’ perspectives on how nature can contribute to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their respective communities.
Participants are urged to tackle the topic with creative freedom. They can opt to delve into a single SDG or address multiple SDGs they consider pivotal in their communities, investigating how nature might play a role in enhancing the situation.
Emphasizing the importance of personal input, students are strongly urged to infuse their essays with their own views, perspectives, and experiences to vividly convey their thoughts and visions.
Summary
About the 2024 International Student Essay Competition “How can nature help us achieve the UN SDGs in my community?”
Nature provides us with everything we need to survive and thrive – clean air and water, food, materials for shelter, medicines and so much more. Many people believe that nature can help us tackle major global challenges such as climate change, food and water security, biodiversity loss and disaster risk reduction, as well as improving human health, societal wellbeing and developing sustainable economies.
The judges are looking for originality and creativity in all formats – and the potential to contribute to constructive national or international debate. Unique and well-argued perspectives score highly.
Requirements:
All work should be original and the student’s own. A bibliography of references should be included where appropriate and will not be counted as part of the official word limit. Essays with plagiarised content will not be considered for an award.
If students choose to use AI to support them in their research, then it is important they do not use AI tools to generate an essay and submit it as if it was their own work. The use of generative AI must be acknowledged in the bibliography (as detailed below) where it has been used as a functional tool to assist in the process of creating essays.
Minimum requirement to include in bibliography:
- Name and version of the generative AI system used; e.g. ChatGPT-3.5
- Publisher (company that made the AI system); e.g. OpenAI
- URL of the AI system.
- Brief description (single sentence) of context in which the tool was used.
- The prompt(s) used to generate a response in the AI system.
For example: I acknowledge the use of ChatGPT 3.5 (Open AI, https://chat.openai.com) to summarise my initial notes and to proofread my final draft.
Reward
- One overall Grand Prize Winner will receive a trophy and a cash prize of £1000 and £500 for their school,
- One Runner Up receiving a trophy and a cash prize of £500 and £250 for their school (cash prizes paid in local currency).
- All participating Teacher Champions, Essay Finalists & Honourable Mentions, and International Debate participants, will receive personalised e-certificates.
Key dates
- 08 September 2023: TSL 2024 Essay Competition Launch – NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS. Registration open for Teacher Champions/Schools to participate in TSL 2024 Essay Competition.
- 18 January 2024: Final deadline for essay entries.
- 14 March 2024: Announcement of International Essay Competition Finalists & Honourable Mentions on TSL websites.
- 18 April 2024: Top Ten Finalists from Primary and Secondary categories notified via Teacher Champion.
- 18-22 April: Invitations to participate in the International Student Debates sent to eligible students via their Teacher Champion.
- 14 March – 31 July 2024: Country Debates.
- Summer 2024: International Schools Debate & Awards (online) Dates TBC.
Method of Application
Interested and qualified applicants should apply using the link below
The essay length varies by age as follows:
- Primary students (ages 7-11): 400 words
- Secondary and College students (ages 12-18): 600 words
Deadline: January 18, 2024
