The Monaco Ocean Protection Challenge is now open to students, schools and universities. The objective of this challenge is to give students the opportunity to put their professional skills and their creativity and their commitment to work in the service of a “preserved natural ocean”. More than just a student project, its purpose is to make students aware of all the opportunities offered by the new forms of economy (circular, collaborative, bio-based, biomimicry, etc.) and the value that comes from respecting the environment.
Two Opportunities to Compete
Two types of challenges are offered:
- An entrepreneurial challenge, “Innovate to Protect the Oceans”: the objective is to present an innovative product or service concept (“business concept”) having a positive impact on the ocean. The project must be studied in depth and presented in the form of a business plan with a study of the market potential, needs analysis, tests or user surveys and all relevant data; these projects could take the form, in the long term, of startups.
- An institutional challenge, “Party without Balloons“: as part of an initiative by the Oceanographic Institute and the Prince’s Government aimed at proposing alternatives to the release of plastic balloons into the atmosphere which is extremely harmful to the ocean. Groups are encouraged to imagine alternatives to balloon releases in the form of an awareness and communication campaign.
Who is Eligible to Compete
To participate, it is enough to be enrolled in a graduate program (license / bachelor, master, MBA …), to be able to write and present your dossier in English and to have the will to ”engage to imagine measures that make sense and with an objective of having a positive impact on the environment, especially the ocean.”
Registrations must be made on the challenge website (www.monaco-opc.com) and projects sent before April 1, 2020.
The Grande Finale May 6, 2020
A jury of experts will announce the 6 finalists, 3 groups selected in each challenge, April 7, 2020. These finalists will have one month to prepare for their presentation, with the support of professional “mentors”, experienced entrepreneurs from the “Monaco Impact” network.
The grand finale will take place on May 6, 2020, in the prestigious conference room of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.
Awards
The awards for the finalist teams will take different forms: highlighting projects and teams in an active communication campaign, support by experts and entrepreneurs to make the project a reality, and finally seed funding.
Potentially career-enhancing opportunities to appear in high profile forums, make keynote speeches and presentations to investors and even an internship at the Oceanographic Museum are also envisaged.
Generous Spirited Organisers of this exciting initiative are:
Oceanographic Institute, Albert I Foundation, Prince of Monaco https://www.oceano.org/
International University of Monaco https://www.monaco.edu/fr/
and
Monaco Impact https://www.monaco-impact.org/fr/
Also honouring the event with their support:
The organizers of the Change Now Summit (www.changenow-summit.com) support the project with an invitation during the 2020 edition to present the challenge during a session dedicated to the ocean and will welcome in 2021 the finalist students who will be particularly distinguished for offering them a highlight at the summit (keynote speech, presentation to investors, etc.).
And for this first international edition, the Monaco Ocean Protection Challenge receives support from the Pure Ocean foundation (https://www.pure-ocean.org/) which is an endowment fund created in 2017 in Marseille. Its main mission is to support innovative research projects around the world, contributing to the protection of fragile marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
For more information on the Monaco Ocean Protection Challenge, follow the @monacoopc accounts on LinkedIn and Instagram and on the website Registration link: https://www.monaco-opc.com/join-contact
