Community awards terms and conditions

Terms and conditions of entry

The Environment Southland Community Awards recognise environmental excellence and effort in the community.

They are organised and run by the regional council, Environment Southland and are community-based awards focused on the region of Southland and its people.

Nominees and their project/s must:

• be for the benefit of Southland
• clearly demonstrate impact and outcomes of achievement
• show how their contribution makes a positive difference to Southland’s environment.

It is the responsibility of the person who enters the nomination to ensure all parties agree to their nomination and are aware of the terms and conditions of entry and what is involved. It is also that person’s responsibility to ensure adequate and appropriate information is provided about the project with the nomination.

Nominees may only enter once in two years, unless the project is different or has had significant changes. (Any acceptance within the two-year period is at the discretion of Environment Southland management).

Political activist groups and/or lobby groups are not eligible.

If a nominee or member of a nominated group is standing for an elected position in an election year, they cannot front the nomination.

Judges have the discretion to move nominees between categories if they believe it is appropriate.

Environment Southland reserves the right to use discretion in the acceptance of nominations:

• For a nominee connected or affiliated to a political group/cause that could be detrimental to Environment Southland and/or its work.
• Where the nominated entrant has a compliance history/record at Environment Southland.
• For a nominee with a public profile contrary to the community spirit of the awards or detrimental to Environment Southland and/or its work.

It is intended that judges will visit all the sites of all nominations where possible. However, on-site visits will be capped to 25 nominees. If nominations exceed this number, judges will have discretion to implement a two-tier judging process to select a shortlist of up to 25 nominees to visit, or, agree to visit more than 25 nominees, if this can be achieved within the timeframes. The first stage will consist of judging completed nomination forms. Stage two will consist of on-site judging of these 25 shortlisted nominees, which will be an opportunity for a nominee to add additional information and to show what they have achieved. This could include details of the project, its history, how it has been managed, the contribution of individuals and its impact in the community.

Nominees will receive a visit from the judging panel at an arranged time, suitable to both the nominee and the judges within the allotted judging period. It is the nominee’s responsibility to ensure they are available at that time to meet with the judges. This could take up to an hour, or even longer for farm visits.

Environment Southland will endeavour to accommodate nominees, but if a suitable date/time cannot be found, the nomination will be held over until the following year or will be removed at the request of the nominee. The nomination could also be considered without a site visit, if this is agreed to by both the nominee and the judges.

Nominees will be filmed/ photographed (usually at the time of judging) and may appear in print and social media. The final edit of material is at the discretion of Environment Southland and is not subject to approval from the nominee.

Sponsors may reproduce award content for their own use including nominee videos or photos.

Use of award branding by nominees and winners must be approved by Environment Southland management.