WTO Launch Global Competition for Sustainable Development Goals
Led by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the UN agency responsible for promoting sustainable, accessible and inclusive tourism, this Competition seeks to help the global innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem embrace sustainability and deliver impact during the United Nations Decade of Action starting this year.
Bringing together stakeholders from various sectors across the economy, this initiative seeks to set innovation at the forefront of sustainable development in corporations and destinations.
Joint effort
The worldwide COVID-19 outbreak jeopardises all of the progress achieved so far, in terms of sustainability.
Against this backdrop of increased uncertainty, tourism’s proven resiliency and dynamic nature can be used to support recovery. Given the sector’s ability to create jobs and enhance inclusiveness, UNWTO calls for a transversal, cross-sector approach to boost sustainable development all over the world. Tweet This!
Format
Target startups:
Startups from all over the globe and all economic sectors can participate if they meet the following criteria:
- Be innovative in nature providing value-added solutions
- Be sustainability-driven
- Be scalable: to have potential for international growth and potential to be applied in corporations and destinations (countries, regions)
- Be an Early Stage or Series A startup
- Have a tested pilot and business plan
- Have been accelerated before
- Have a full-time team
All ways of innovation are welcome: new methods, processes, and technologies, among others.
Categories:
This Competition includes 17 categories, each one representing a Sustainable Development Goal.
Each participating startup should select the SDG in which they can generate the greatest impact.
Evaluation criteria:
Participating startups are to be assessed according to their:
- Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
- Ease of value capture via collaboration with the startup
- Potential business impact
- Maturity of the product/technology
- Maturity of the team and the organization
- Partnership readiness
Benefits:
Benefits for winning startups include, among others:
- Pitch at a UNWTO Demo Day
- Curated mentorship programme including one-on-one and in-group sessions focused on Intellectual Property (IP), sustainability, business and leadership
- Access to technological support
- Connection to the UNWTO Innovation Network
- Potential pilot project with private sector collaborators and institutions
Download Slides about the Competition
78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards
SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.
Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.
FBRH GRI Standards Certified & IEMA recognised Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE
By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI Standards Certified & IEMA recognised course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.
Most importantly, you will gain the knowledge to use the GRI Standards, project manage your own first-class sustainability report and:
- Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and Society
- Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP
References:
This article is based on published information by UNWTO. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.unwto.org/unwto-sustainable-development-goals-global-startup-competition