Environmental Areas
To qualify for the Environmental Innovation division, projects must focus on at least one of the following environmental areas:
- Renewable Energy
- Sustainable Development
- Resource Management
- Environmental Influences on Health
- Culture, Society and the Environment
- The Greening of Products or Services
- Biodiversity
Projects must also fall into one of the accepted scientific categories of the Canada-Wide Science Fair:
- Biotechnology and pharmaceutical sciences
- Computing and information technology
- Earth and environmental sciences
- Engineering
- Health sciences
- Life sciences
- Physical and mathematical sciences
Learn More
To learn more about the judging criteria for the Environmental Innovation division click here, or go to the judging page.
Energy sources can be described as either renewable or non-renewable. Renewables continually regenerate, eg. solar, wind and geothermal energy. Non-renewable energy sources are those being consumed faster than they can be replaced. Coal and oil, for example, take millions of years to form; and at current rates of consumption, supplies will eventually be exhausted.
Projects addressing this area are to deal with the development and/or advancement of energy sources. New or existing sources may be used to deliver innovative solutions.
Sustainable development can be defined as taking action to balance the fulfillment of current needs without compromising natural resources and the environment for future generations.
Resource management refers to the dynamic work of balancing human needs while maintaining and improving the natural systems upon which we depend. Resource can be defined as knowledge, stakeholders, networks, expertise, funding, time, or any natural resource.
Projects in this category must demonstrate new, innovative or unique resource management solutions and examine one or more of these resource definitions to deliver their solution.
While progress continues to be made toward improving air, water and soil quality, human disease and injury are still often caused by environmental contaminants.
Projects in this area will address possible behavioural changes from citizens, corporations or governments that would reduce the negative health impacts of environmental contaminants. Projects may also address changes to the health care model, systems or their component parts which focus on environmental issues.
The environment and the future of our planet are popular topics of discussion today, not just in science departments, but throughout society. How can we help society make the best possible choices for an environmentally healthy future?
The goal of projects addressing this area will be to alter public and / or corporate consciousness in a lasting way through innovative communication tools, social education and forward-thinking management strategies.
Changing the habits of people, corporations or governments is a difficult task. To lessen our ecological footprint on the earth, it is necessary to make more educated choices at both an individual and community level.
Projects in this area will either take an existing product or service and transform it with environmentally friendly design, or conceive a new product or service that benefits the environment.
The term “biodiversity” can refer to genetic diversity within species, diversity among species, or diversity among whole ecosystems. It is used as a measure of the health of natural systems. In recent years, many species and even ecosystems have become endangered.
Projects in this area will focus on protection and conservation of biodiversity through changes in behaviour, either through changing an existing product, process or service, or through creating a new product, process or service.
