Why take part? The awards let you show your commitment towards a cleaner environment, inspire others and get recognised at EU level. It also gives your hard work the visibility it deserves. But don’t just take our word for it – here’s how one of last year’s winners from Serbia feel about the awards.

"This was remarkable year for us, and the EU Award helped us a lot. We appeared on the BBC as well as on China National Television. We worked a lot on promoting sustainable energy in Serbia and its region. There are three Strawberry Trees now (In Obrenovac, Belgrade and Novi Sad), and we are expecting our 100,000th user by the end of this year. We are really happy about that, because for most of these people Strawberry Tree was their first practical contact with renewable energy. And most of them are young. An even better period is ahead. We received orders for 20 new Strawberry Trees in Serbia for the spring of 2012. The mayor of Belgrade ordered 10 Trees to be installed all over the city." Miloš Milisavljević from Strawberry Tree. Watch the video

Award selection criteria

To take part in the Awards Competition, your project must match the following selection criteria:

• Your project must make a significant and proven contribution to the EU 2020 objectives with regards to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. You would need to present concrete facts and figures explaining how your project will generate energy savings and/or increase the use of renewable energy sources regardless of the size of your project.
• Your projects should be an outstanding example in its area. It is not enough for your project to simply fulfil official requirements in relation to energy efficiency and/or renewable energy sources. Rather, it should represent excellence in its respective field.
• Your project should be replicable. Your project should be replicable to a different context so that others may benefit from your experience.
• The main promoter of your project must be based in Europe. With main promoter we mean the organisation(s) responsible for the project.
• Research and Demonstration (R&D) projects and products are not eligible. This is a campaign to collect and showcase outstanding projects with proven results and a high replication potential. It is not the right place for projects which develop, test or demonstrate novel and untried approaches or technologies. Projects are time-bound activities to achieve a predetermined outcome – products are not.

You will need to determine in which Campaign category your project should appear. To find the right category try to strip your project down to its most critical essence, determine the core of its idea and define its primary value. The short description of each category helps you make this choice.

If your project seems to belong to more than one category, the website allows you to select two, e.g. main category "living" and additional category "consuming".

We will check your project and we reserve ourselves the right to reject it if not suitable. If in doubt about your choice of category we will contact you.

• Communicating

Projects in this category create awareness, change the perception and bring about endorsement of energy efficiency and/or renewable energy via targeted and professionally carried out communication activities.

Examples: TV clips, advertising campaigns

Find out more about the award nominees of the Communicating category in 2011.

• Consuming

Projects in this category are designed to guide, and help manage and reduce our energy consumption – be it directly or indirectly.

Examples: intelligent energy metering schemes, consumer guides and websites, energy savings competitions, green procurement, etc.

Find out more about the award nominees of the Consuming category in 2011.

• Learning

Projects in this category are carried out to improve knowledge and skills related to energy efficiency and renewables. They are usually carried out by official training and education bodies, such as schools, universities, training centres etc.

Examples: energy education at primary and secondary schools, professional training, scholarship programmes, etc.

Find out more about the award nominees of the Learning category in 2011.

• Living

Projects that aim to make buildings more energy-efficient or that incorporate the on-site generation of renewable energy.

Examples: energy-efficient construction and renovation, solar panels on rooftops, passive houses etc.

Find out more about the award nominees of the Living category in 2011.

• Travelling

Projects in this category are about anything to do with mobility of people and goods in energy-efficient ways or with the help of renewable energy sources.

Examples: bike-for-rent systems, urban cycling audits, green mobility planning, eco-fuel buses etc.

Find out more about the award nominees of the Travelling category in 2011.

You can only submit your project if you are its main promoter - i.e. an authorised representative of the organisation(s) responsible for the project.

To submit your project, register and create an account or sign in to complete the application form.

Deadline for submission is 29th February 2012.

The winners will be announced on 19 June 2012 at the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards Ceremony 2012 that will take place in Brussels during the EU Sustainable Energy Week.

This year the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards 2012 ceremony will host the annual Managenergy Local Energy Action Award. Targeting energy actors at the local and regional level, it rewards some of the most outstanding sustainable energy projects, completed or on-going. You can present your work, share ideas and gain visibility by submitting your best case studies now!

Source: http://www.eusew.eu/