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    Discussion
    Starts May 3
    Evaluation
    Starts May 29
    Closed
    Jul 19

    European Space for Sustainability Award 2026

    Every year, the 'European Space for Sustainability  Award’ is targeting students and young professionals under 30 with  Project Ideas that link space with the sustainable development of society.  They will enable to raise awareness among the younger generations and professionals and contribute to furthering the debate on the topic.

    ESA Director General

      The European space sector has, through its programmes and services, fostered sustainable development on Earth already since many years. It plays a crucial role in Europe’s strive towards the wellbeing of its citizens and a low-carbon and climate resilient economy. The growing expectations of the citizens encourage us in formalising the continuous engagement of ESA to address the emergency to tackle the global challenges faced by society. ESA and the space sector have therefore the opportunity to reinforce the purpose of technologies to preserve life and resources for the future generations.

      Thus, encouraging innovative and creative ideas where space contributes to the sustainable development (SD) of the society is a vital ingredient for the European space sector. Stimulating and enriching the debate around the links between space and SD challenges while keeping a multi-disciplinary scope and global approach were the main motivations for the European Interparliamentary Space Conference (EISC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch the ‘Space for Sustainability Award’ in 2012.

      The Award is honored annually during the fall plenary session of EISC to the best Project Idea that integrates application areas focusing on sustainability linked to space.

      Participation criteria

      Who is eligible?

      • All participants must meet the following criteria:

        • Individual candidates and small teams of up to four members (Please note that in case of a team winning the first Prize, only one person at a time can be visiting researcher at ESPI)
        • People aged 18 to 30 years old
        • Reside, study, or work in a European or ESA member state (EU + Switzerland, Norway, and the UK)

      What are the basic requirements for the Project Ideas?

      The competition has two tracks and the candidates will identify their project-idea into the Research & Development track or into the Business Development track. 

      1. ​The R&D track: Projects focus on scientific research, technical innovation, or new methodologies that contribute to the development of sustainable solution for and/or by space.

      2. The Business Development track: Projects focus on entrepreneurial solutions, such as business models or product development, with a focus on scalability, feasibility and market relevance.

      ​IMPORTANT: the two tracks will be evaluated together and only 1 winner and 1 special mention of the jury will be selected.

      ​​What do winning projects look like?

      • They are innovative and creative

      • They have not been developed yet.

      • There must be a clear and accurate link to space and sustainability

      • They have a vision that offers forward-thinking solutions

      • They demonstrate a development roadmap with research based or business feasibility

      • BONUS: It is preferred for Europe to be the focus of the project idea (though it is not necessary)

       

      Timeline of the competition

      The Award follows a two rounds selection process:

      For the first round, all poster submissions are due by midnight CST on May the 3rd, 2026 via upload on this OSIP platform . These poster submissions will then be evaluated by a panel of ESA experts who will select maximum 15 best posters for the second round.

      On May 27th, 2026, the results of the pre-selection will be announced to the candidates and the selected participants will be invited by e-mail to develop their Project Idea in order to submit their paper for the second round of the competition. 

      For this second round, all paper submissions are due by midnight CST on June 21st, 2026 via upload on the OSIP platform, as well. These paper submissions will be then evaluated by a panel of judges and the winner and the 'Special Mention of the Jury' will be notified via e-mail during the summer. 

      The winner and second prize ('special mention of the jury') will be invited to prepare slides for a 7 minutes oral presentation during the Award ceremony on the occasion of the EISC plenary Conference, in September 2026, in Spain

      Poster submission - 1st round

      For the first stage of the competition, candidates are asked to submit a poster in a PDF format. The template contains four sections:

      1. Title + author information.

      2. Self evaluation

      3. Project summary  + key words.

      4. Body.

        1. R&D track: problem statement, proposed methodology and expected outcomes

        2. Business track: problem, proposed solution, value proposition and preliminary business model

      5. Conclusion

      EVALUATION CRITERIA
      Please pay attention to the following evaluation criteria: 
      • Good level of integration of space in the Project Idea
      • Appropriate space solution suggested
      • Presentation of what is at stake with space and sustainability
      • Appealing and relevant abstract and conclusion
      • Logic of the poster structure
      • Coherence of the Project Idea
      • General applicability and feasibility of the Project Idea
      • Good level of innovation
      • Good level of information used and provided (sources)

        In the poster core area, where you can go in more details in the description of your Project Idea, you are encouraged to include figures or charts. A specific area is dedicated to the writing of a small conclusion paragraph.

         IMPORTANT: Please note that a clear and accurate mention of the sources is an important criteria to be considered

         

        Please pay attention to the following evaluation criteria: 

        • Good level of integration of space in the Project Idea
        • Appropriate space solution suggested
        • Presentation of what is at stake with space and sustainability
        • Appealing and relevant abstract and conclusion
        • Logic of the poster structure
        • Coherence of the Project Idea
        • General applicability and feasibility of the Project Idea
        • Good level of innovation
        • Good level of information used and provided (sources) (IMPORTANT)

             

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