Three sets of Awards will be given with total value of US $3,750:
- The Vetiver Champion Award. This Award will be given in recognition of an individual’s impact at the country or regional level in promoting Vetiver Grass Technology to communities and/or for public good. The process for nominations will be carried out online so that the more than 4,000 Vetiver Network members who participate in social media sites – Facebook, including the many affiliated Facebook pages around the world, the Vetiver Blog, the TVNI website, and the various online forums/communities – can identify and nominate deserving individuals. The winner, in addition to a certificate, will receive $1,500. The winner, if they attend ICV-7, will receive their Award on-stage and be given the opportunity to make a full presentation of his/her work and vision for the future.
- Vetiver Grass Technology – Lessons, experiences, and the path forward. Three awards will be given for the best papers that address and bring together/focus on applying and building upon past research, bring lessons and experience from the field, analyze constraints, and propose priorities and practical strategies for future development and expansion of the use of the Vetiver System in the following areas: (a) agriculture and soil and water conservation (b) infrastructure protection and disaster mitigation and (c) contaminated land and water.
Overall, TVNI is seeking to move forward and scale up the use of the Vetiver System (VS) in the face of Climate Change; all papers should address VS and climate change resilience/adaptation and/or mitigation in their particular context. The three winners, in addition to a certificate, will receive $750 each. The papers receiving Awards will be announced at ICV-7 and be published in the Conference Proceedings.
- Exceptional Individual Contributions. In honor of four individuals who during their lifetimes made exceptional contributions to the promotion, development, and expansion of Vetiver System knowledge, TVNI will award:
- The Monty Yudelman Award for exceptional contributions in sustainable agriculture and food security.
- The Mark Dafforn Award for exceptional contributions in science and research.
- The Nick Dolphin Award for exceptional contributions and success in community engagement and effective participation.
- The John Greenfield Award for exceptional contributions in the promotion and application of Vetiver Grass Technology, especially for poor and rainfed farmers, in on-farm soil and moisture conservation.
Deadlines
- The Vetiver Champion Award: Nominations from the online community will be accepted until 15 January 2023. Selected semi-finalists will be requested to produce a short (maximum 1,000 words) description of their work and vision for the future and submit it to TVNI by 1 May 2023. The winner will be announced at ICV-7.
- Vetiver Grass Technology – Lessons, experiences, and the path forward: Submissions will be accepted until 1 April 2023 and the winners will be announced at ICV-7.
- Exceptional Individual Contributions: Nominations will be accepted until 1 April 2023 and the winners will be announced at ICV-7.
Eligibility
Individuals or groups who have shown initiative in research, utilization, or promotion of specific Vetiver Grass Technologies and/or of the broader Vetiver System are eligible. These may include farmers, technicians, NGOs, students, scientists, researchers, private companies, innovators, etc., who have produced and documented concrete, repeatable results. Anyone other than members of the TVNI Board of Directors and their families who are not eligible, can be nominated. Self-nominations will be accepted.
To be eligible, the work presented must have been carried out by the individual or individuals submitting the paper and the actual, physical locations of the work must be georeferenced and reported in the submittal. This can be done, preferably, using the “The Vetiver System” project on the iNaturalist website, or the iNaturalist app which is available at the IPhone App Store (IOS) or Google Play Store (Android). Individuals that have difficulty accessing or cannot use the app in their country, may instead provide the coordinates (latitude and longitude) of their applications. Note that most smart phones come with Apps that will provide coordinates (e.g., IPhone Compass) or one can utilize Google Earth or Google Maps. Submittals that do not provide georeferenced locations will not be considered.
To allow full participation of TVNI Board members in the review of nominations and submittals, all submissions must be in English. Where this is beyond the capability of the individual making the nomination or submittal, Google Translate (or other machine translation facility) may be used to translate from the original language and both the machine translation and the original should be submitted. Due to the imprecision of machine translation, it should be understood that errors and ambiguities in the translation may affect the review committee’s decision.
Procedures and Documentation
- The Vetiver Champion Award. TVNI requests its members and users/participants in Vetiver-related social media (TVNI Facebook page and affiliated Facebook pages, Vetiver Blog, TVNI website, and the various online forums/communities) to nominate individuals who they believe have (a) made very significant and noteworthy contributions, including to the online community; (b) have put forward and demonstrated innovative ideas and applications; and (c) are individuals who are highly likely to have a great impact in the future. Nominations should include a short (maximum 1 page) description of the work and contributions of the individual being nominated and a justification for why this individual deserves to be selected for the Vetiver Champion Award. Self-nominations are accepted.
A TVNI committee will select the 10 best nominations and, by 15 February 2023 will request the selected nominees to produce and submit a short description of their work and vision for the future. The submittal may contain up to 10 photos. Following the semi-finalists submittals by 1 May 2023, the TVNI committee review and announce the award winner at ICV-7. The submittals of all 10 semi-finalists will be published in The Proceedings of ICV-7.
- Vetiver Grass Technology – Lessons, experiences and the path forward. There are no requirements as to maximum or minimum number of pages. Papers should be complete and provide the necessary information that is requested, i.e., that the paper address and bring together/focus on applying and building upon past research, bring lessons and experience from the field, analyze constraints, and propose priorities and practical strategies for future development and expansion of the use of the Vetiver System in the following areas in one (and only one) of the three areas of: (a) climate smart agriculture and soil and water conservation (b) infrastructure protection and disaster mitigation and (c) contaminated land and water. The documentation included may consist of many types of information (personal accounts, reports, articles, photographs, lab reports, scientific papers, testimonials, etc.). Quality photographs (especially showing before and after vetiver installation, where relevant) should be included to both illustrate the work carried out, as well as evidence of the work. Authors may be as brief as they desire, but clarity is essential. Simple summaries will not be sufficient.
- Exceptional Individual Contributions. All persons receiving nominations for “The Vetiver Champion Award” will be automatically considered for these awards, as will those submitting papers for TVNI or King of Thailand Awards. Direct nominations may also be made. Nominations should include a description of the work and contributions of the individual being nominated and a justification for why this individual deserves to be selected for the proposed Award. There are no requirements as to maximum or minimum number of pages, but the nomination should provide ample evidence of the individual’s actual work, contributions, and direct impacts in one of the four areas. Quality photographs (especially showing before and after vetiver installation, where relevant) should be included to both illustrate the work carried out, as well as evidence of the work. Simple summaries will not be sufficient.
Information Required
- Name and address of the nominee, postal address, email and telephone number if possible
- Name and address of the nominator, postal address, email and telephone if possible
- Project (in its widest sense) information:
- Location of the project or work.
- Description of the project or work.
- Accomplishments of the project or work.
- Importance of the project or work.
- Supporting documentation is required for determining awards, including photographs and georeferencing of project or work locations of applications and installations.
- Name and address of a reference that is familiar with the project.
Electronic submission via email with attachments is required, and should be sent to the following e-mail addresses:
1-Jim Smyle <[email protected]>
2-Paul Truong <[email protected]>
3-Dick Grimshaw <[email protected]>
Emailed documents should be either in .doc, docx or .pdf format. If pictures are sent which are not embedded in the document, they should be in .jpg format. The maximum size of the document cannot exceed 8MB including embedded photos, charts, graphics, and appendices. If more than 8MB, you should submit via DropBox, Google Drive, or similar and share the link with [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]
TVNI will email the applicant to confirm receipt of the award nomination by TVNI.