The Katerva Awards are given annually to excellent sustainability ideas and initiatives in 10 categories. Finalists are announced in September each year. A single winner in each category will be selected by a panel of experts in that category and announced in October each year. A grand prize winner will be selected among category winners and announced as the best new sustainability effort of the year.
Food Security | Behavioral Change | Economy | Protected Areas | Gender Equality
Materials & Resources | Human Development | Energy & Power | Transportation | Urban Design
Economy
Money may make the world go around, but fair values and free markets make it a more enjoyable ride. Recent economic events have thrusted many global economic weaknesses into the spotlight. This category includes works to implant transparency, remove barriers, and internalize costs. The pinnacle of economic sustainability is making market price equal true value.
worldofgood.com, 2011 Katerva Awards Economy Winner
EBay’s WorldofGood.com is the world’s largest multi-seller marketplace for socially and environmentally responsible shopping, which features thousands of products from around the world and combines trust and transparency with the online shopping experience. WorldofGood.com was founded by Robert Chatwani, a young rising executive at eBay, and serial entrepreneur Priya Haji. Chatwani and Haji combined the power of the eBay platform—where $60 Billion worth of goods are sold every year—existing relationships, access to the global fair trade market, and supply chain know-how to establish WorldofGood.com. WorldofGood.com utilizes a revolutionary purchase impact guide called Goodprint, a label used by sellers to show consumers the positive impact they can have when purchasing a WorldofGood.com product.
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, runner up
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves hopes to save lives, empower women, improve livelihoods and combat climate change by re-examining the way food is cooked in developing countries. Stoves and open fires fueled by wood and other plant material are the primary means of cooking and heating for billions of people in developing countries. This practice damages surrounding forests and other natural areas, produces smoke that causes respiratory problems in the home and contributes to child mortality, while also degrading global air quality. The mission of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is to provide clean and efficient household cooking options. The Alliance does not name a single cooking technology as a solution, but instead considers a “clean stove” one that meets the social and resource needs of the user, is safe and durable, and is in some ways better than the more harmful incomplete combustion of biomass.
KNIDS Green, runner up
KNIDS Green is a project that reorients vegetable production and sales for the benefit of farmers and vendors. Bihar State in India is one of the leading producers of vegetables in the country, but it is also one of the least developed states: 31% of the population live below the poverty line. Innovations being put in place by KNIDS Green to the existing vegetable industry -starting in Bihar State- could transform the lives of millions of socioeconomically disadvantaged rural Indians. Kaushalendra Kumar founded KNIDS Green in 2008 in response to his recognition of the problems with India’s vegetable sector.
Recyclebank, runner up
Recyclebank believes mobilizing a large group of people to make small lifestyle changes can have an astounding collective positive impact on the environment. Recyclebank works with municipalities, businesses and consumers to help drive a shift in consumer behavior. People who enroll with Recyclebank can earn credits for recycling and other waste reducing behaviors. Those credits are stored in Recyclebank’s online database and can then later be used for discounts on products.
Sustainable Stock Exchanges, runner up
Aviva Investors, UNPRI, UN Global Compact and UNCTAD have teamed up to promote sustainability reporting in the world’s stock exchanges. Aviva Investors, a London-based asset management company led by CEO Alain Dromer, and 23 institutional investors worth US$1.6 trillion in assets, have written a letter requesting 30 of the world’s biggest stock exchanges to promote environmental, sustainable and corporate governance (ESG). Companies would be required to report their sustainability performance as part of their listing. Investors, in turn, can use that information to invest in companies with a long-term, sustainable outlook. This “call to action” is a market-led effort to promote ESG and create incentives for companies to adopt sustainable corporate strategies.
