8th May 2024
Update: Nominations for this year’s Awards have now closed, so the nominations form has been removed from this page.
We feel that ecologists working in local government are not sufficiently recognised for the excellent work they do, improving the environment for communities across the country.
To address this, along with the Association of Local Government Ecologists, Verna is excited to launch the Local Government Ecology Awards. This annual, UK-wide award will recognise and celebrate the innovation and hard work of ecologists working in local government.
From today, anyone can nominate an ecologist working in local government to receive one of these awards, to recognise their work over the past year. The deadline for nominations is 17:00 on Friday 31 May, and the winners will be announced on Friday 14 June.
Criteria
The activities recognised can be anything related to ecology in the context of local government work.
The nominee must work in local government in the UK, and the majority of the work being recognised must have been performed between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. Submissions will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Initial impact: To what extent have the ecologist’s actions driven improvements to nature?
- Scalability: To what extent could the initial impact be scaled across the country?
- Community engagement: To what extent has the ecologist engaged and enabled the local community to have a positive impact on nature?
Judges
The judging panel has been selected to give an independent, broad, and expert view on which submissions best fit the criteria above. Each of the judges is a leader in their field, bringing an important perspective on the role of ecology in local government.
The judges are:
- Dr Helen Fearnley, Environment Division, Defra
- Liz Milne, Chair, Association of Local Government Ecologists
- Richard Blyth, Head of Policy, Practice and Research, Royal Town Planning Institute
- Sally Hayns, CEO, Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management
- Dr Tim Hill, Chief Scientist, Natural England
Prizes
Each winner will receive a trophy and NHBS vouchers to the value of:
- Local Government Ecologist of the Year (Winner) – £200
- Local Government Ecologist of the Year (Runner-up) – £100
- Young Local Government Ecologist of the Year – £150