2023 Challenge

This year, Grade 6-12 students in Greater Victoria are invited to submit entries to“share places, activities and things in our community that help us with One Planet Living”. Middle school students are invited to submit illustrations and Secondary school students are invited to submit illustrations or videos.

Read the One Planet Living Primer (English | French) for more background and inspiration for your submission.

Submission Guidelines

Creative Guidelines 

Select one or more of the 10 One Planet Living principles and show us elements that support One Planet Living, or imagine changes that could enable One Planet Living to thrive in our communities and personal lives. 

One Planet Living is about creating a world where everyone, everywhere lives happy, healthy lives within the limits of the planet, while also leaving space for nature. For more on One Planet Living take a look at the resources on our website (oneplanetbc.com) and read the One Planet Living Primer (English | French).

Secondary School Guidelines 

Students are invited to submit an illustration OR a video (as an individual or as a group):

• • Video (up to 3 minutes), e.g., videologue or interviews 
  • Illustration (1 image), e.g., map or visualization of a one planet community

Middle School Guidelines 

Students are invited to submit an illustration (as an individual or as a group):

• • Illustration (1 image), e.g., map or visualization of a one planet community

View the One Planet Principles below for creative ideas and tips.

Technical Guidelines 

Students should keep a copy of their submission. One Planet Saanich and One Planet BC are not responsible for their application not uploading correctly, getting damaged or lost.

All entries must be submitted to the official contest form and a file of the video or illustration must be sent directly to edna@oneearthweb.org 

Video

• • No more than 3-minutes in length
  • The file size must be 50 MB or less
  • The recommended file format is mp4, mov, flv, or avi
  • You can share your video through Google Drive, Youtube link, Dropbox or similar
  • Acceptable entries include commentary videos, interviews, how-to/instructional videos, music videos or similar content

Illustration

• • File sizes must be 50 MB or less
  • The recommended file format is PNG 
  • 1 image – can be any dimension as long it’s one complete full image
  • You can share your illustration through Google Drive, Dropbox or similar
  • Acceptable entries include map/artwork, photo collage, cartoon/painting or similar content

Content Guidelines

Submitted entries must not:

• • Contain inappropriate material like profanity or violent exploitation
  • Promote illegal behaviour
  • Support racial, religious, sexual or other invidious prejudice
  • Violate rights established by law or agreement
  • Invade the privacy of any person
  • Be otherwise inappropriate as determined by the judges and sponsors

No submission should contain copyrighted material (music, images, video clips, etc.) unless you own the copyright or have a license to use the material for this challenge.

Submissions must be received before 11:59 pm on April 28, 2023.

One Planet Principles

The One Planet Living Primer provides an introduction to the One Planet Living Framework and how to apply it to your One Planet Student Challenge project. 

Here are some potential ideas. You can build on these or create your own!

Travel and Transport: What are we doing well, or what can we do better to improve our neighbourhoods to make it easier to travel around by bike or foot?

• • Idea: Create a map or video about your favourite routes for walking, biking, rolling or taking the bus. How does this travel mode support One Planet Living, or what about your route could be improved to make One Planet Living easier?

Materials & Products: How can we make use of materials in our community that typically become waste?

• • Idea: Create an instructional video of an item (e.g., clothing/bike/recycled wallet) that you have repaired or repurposed and how this contributes to reducing waste.

Local & Sustainable Food: How can we make locally produced food more accessible in our community?

• • Idea: Create a photo collage of the edible plants around your school and in your neighbourhood. This could be a list of the top 10 edible/usable plants for this region. This could be a photo journal showing the farm-to-table journey or a recipe (or recipes using local food).

For more inspiration, explore the resources on our website.

Judging Criteria

Judging Process: 

Judges will review the submission (illustration or video) and read the statements on the application form – both will be considered during evaluation.

Application form statements include:

(1) Create an elevator pitch for your submission, that provides an overall summary of the One Planet Living idea or opportunity you are sharing

(2) Explain how your project relates to the One Planet Living principles (one or all of them).

Each judge on their own will review submissions to select a shortlist of entries as finalists in the competition.

The judges working as a panel will then select the winners, for each category and each age group. 

Judging Evaluation 

Submissions that do not meet minimum criteria will not be evaluated. At minimum submissions must not:

• • Contain inappropriate material like profanity or violent exploitation
  • Promote illegal behaviour
  • Support racial, religious, sexual or other invidious prejudice
  • Violate rights established by law or agreement
  • Invade the privacy of any person
  • Be otherwise inappropriate as determined by the judges and sponsors
  • Contain corporate logos

Judging Criteria 

Judges will consider the following criteria when assessing submissions:

Creativity

Did the submission approach the subject matter in an innovative or creative way? The judging panel will pay special attention to creativity and originality. Top marks will go to those submissions that judges think will help inspire others to learn more and act on the challenges or opportunities you are presenting.

Engagement  

Did the submission capture the viewer’s interest? [For videos: Did the viewer want to keep watching the video to the end?] 

Illumination

Did the submission effectively shine a light on the subject presented? [For videos: Did the video enable the viewer to develop a understanding of the content?]

Alignment with One Planet Living

How well does the submission align with and reflect the theme of the competition? (Where relevant: Is information presented accurate? Are scientific facts or principles clearly and accurately explained?)

Submissions must be received before 11:59 pm on April 28, 2023.

Prizes & Awards

Middle School Prizes 

Illustration

• • Winner: $200
  • Runner Up: $150

Middle schools are limited to illustration submissions.

FAQs

 Q. Is there a fee to enter the challenge?

A. There is no fee to participate in the challenge.

Q. What is One Planet Living?

A. One Planet Living is a Framework created by Bioregional UK. The framework focuses on sustainable ways of living that ensures everyone has the chance to live happy, healthy lives, everywhere, and our beautiful planet will continue to thrive. To learn more about One Planet Living and understand how to apply it to your project read the 2023 Student Challenge One Planet Living Primer (English | French).

Q. Who can enter the challenge?

A. The One Planet Student Challenge is open to all Greater Victoria students in grades 6-12. This includes students enrolled at any of the Greater Victoria school districts as well as independent, alternative schools, home-schooled students and distance education students.

Q. Can I enter more than one submission?

A. No. The Rules allow only one (1) entry per participant or group per year.

Q. Can I submit my entry in French? 

A. Yes. This year we’re accepting submissions in both French and English. We will also have people fluent in French as part of our jury. 

Q. If I win, what happens to my video or illustration submission?

A. If you win, your entry will be acknowledged at our celebration event at the end of the school year and showcased on the One Planet BC website. You will also be invited to give a short presentation on your submission during the celebration and engage in conversations with attendees.

Q. I want to enter the Student Challenge with my classmates. Can we join as a group? 

A. Yes! The contest is open to both individuals and groups. You can apply individually or work together with your classmates or friends. However, the cash prizes are the same for both individual and group submissions. 

Q. What are the submission deadlines?

A. Submissions open March 1, 2023 and close at 11:59 pm PST on April 28, 2023.

Q. When will the winners be announced?

A. The winners will be announced on our website in June before our awards ceremony. 

Q. Do I need my parent’s permission to enter this challenge?

A. Yes. For all students under 18 years old, parents must sign a consent form (English | French) and upload it as part of the submission. This includes all group members under 18.

Q. What are the Video Submission file requirements? 

A. Video entry must be 50 MB or less to upload through the submission portal. Videos can be any of the recommended file formats like mp4, mov, flv, or avi. The video must be no longer than 3 minutes in length.

Q. What are the Illustration Submission file requirements?

A. Illustration entry applicants must submit 1 image file; this can be any dimension as long as it is one complete image. The file size must be 50 MB or less; the recommended file format is PNG.

Q. What if I still have questions?

A. If you still have questions, send an email to edna@oneearthweb.org with the subject titled ‘OPSC Inquiry’ 

We are grateful to live, work, and be in relation with people from across many traditional and unceded territories, covering all regions of British Columbia.

Middle School

Runner Up: Illustration
Abbey Hancock, 13
One Planet Principles: Zero Waste
Elevator Pitch
Reduce the amount of plastic you’re using. Every plastic you recycle is one that doesn’t end up in the ocean. Participate in a beach clean up. Be conscious of your seafood consumption. Use reusable water bottles and bags try not to use balloons because they will most likely end up in the ocean.

Winner: Illustration
Nikky Anstey, 11
One Planet Principles: Local and sustainable foods, Health and happiness, Land and nature, Culture and community, Travel and transport, Sustainable water
Elevator Pitch
I have made a playdough picture of my middle school. The gorge is on the bottom, then the bike path and road. Then the school and the field, where me and my friends play. The basketball court, and the forest. On the top is the sky, where the sun and the clouds are and the birds are flying. I have also incorporated a little bit of the firsts people’s art in the sky and grass.

Runner Up: Video
Ben Hindley, 14
One Planet Principles: Land and nature
Elevator Pitch
You can protect the land and benefit the bees by instead of getting a fence, plant a few trees that way bees can collect pollen and you can cover your house. You can restore the land by whenever you take down a tree you can plant flowers or a bigger or smaller tree. In these two ways you are not only benefiting the bees and their future but also yourself.

Winner: Video 
Malachi Pierce, 12
One Planet Principles: Zero Waste
Elevator Pitch
My idea contributes to zero waste by demonstrating how waste can be reused through a fun example of turning waste into something useful and easy – study flash cards! Zero Waste is about eliminating waste which means we must go beyond recycling and instead be creative about continuous reuse.

High School

Runner Up: Illustration

Rekha Brackley, 15
Heather Doheny, 14
Alegra Martínez, 14
Devon Radley, 14

One Planet Principles: Zero Waste

Elevator Pitch
Our project is about how to shop environmentally friendly at the grocery store. Including how to check labels to find the most sustainable products, how to shop locally and reminders to bring reusable bags, jars etc.

Our project relates to the One Planet Living principle, Local and Sustainable Food. It relates
because it is about how to buy food in a way that is better for the environment.

Winner: Illustration
Ava Bate, 16
One Planet Principles: Local and sustainable foods, health and happiness, land and nature, travel and transport, materials and products, sustainable water, and zero waste.
Elevator Pitch
Over the past four years at Reynolds Secondary, I have thought a lot about how I, as an individual, can be of service to the environment and the community. With the help of my family, I have added these 4 habits into my life. They are simple green habits that many people can practice in their life. My poster is a creative way of sharing these green ideas which promote a healthy, resilient planet.

Runner Up: Video 
India Furtado, 15
Nancy Liu, 18
One Planet Principles: Health and happiness, Culture and community, Local and sustainable food
Elevator Pitch
To attain the goal of one planet living, it is essential to rethink. We interviewed the community to see how people were contributed to a greener future. Whether that be being conscious of plastic usage or growing sustainable, organic produce. Our group linked healthy micro-organism rich soil with levels of natural dopamine, which gives the feeling of happiness.

Winner: Video 
Matthias Spalteholz, 15
One Planet Principles: Health and happiness, Land and nature, Sustainable water
Elevator Pitch
I organized a beach cleanup to remove some abandoned docks that had washed up on a local beach. I first noticed these docks when we were camping at the nearby campground a year ago and was concerned about the polystyrene filled tires used for floatation under the docks that were falling apart and polluting the beach and surrounding area with microplastics.

Over the past year, I investigated who has ownership of these docks with no success, so I contacted
local government, beach cleanup organizations, neighbors, and landfills to determine how it could be disposed of. I contacted a local business – Arbutus RV – to sponsor the project, and on May 14, sixteen volunteers came together to cut up the docks, carry the pieces 500m to the parking lot, load them into a U-Haul trailer, disposed of 1750lbs of old tires, and reused about 1000lbs of lumber! I named the video “Change that can be seen from space” because I could see the debris from satellite photos.

Choice Award Winners

Saanich Choice Award 

Hayley Wiebe, 16
Mahum Ahmed, 16
Isabella Castillo-Empey, 16
Brody Bell, 16
One Planet Principles: Sustainable water, Local and sustainable food, Travel and transport, Materials and products, Zero waste
Elevator Pitch
As teenagers, we always learn about the same old things we need to do to help protect the environment. However, a lot of us are already doing those things, so we wanted to explore more ways we could help within our means.

Sarah Gayleard, 14
One Planet Principles: Equity and local economy, Materials and products, Zero waste
Elevator Pitch
My One Planet Living video idea video was about shopping sustainability and reusing, reducing, recycling. The video demonstrates a couple of old toys being donated and given a new life.

Honourable Mentions

High School: Video Finalist

Andrew McCloskey, 17
One Planet Principles: Culture and community, Travel and transport
Elevator Pitch
My video details easy alternative methods for transportation, while also urging people to band together and get more involved in solving these issues. If everyone tries to solve the climate crisis by themselves, change is still too far away for our reach. But if we all come together and remind each other about the problems and the solutions, we can provide real change where nobody can simply forget and move on with their day.

Saanich Choice Award: Finalist

Liam Madsen, 14
One Planet Principles: Health and happiness, Land and nature, Zero carbon
Elevator Pitch
I’m supporting land and nature by having bees. I’m supporting health and happiness by becoming someone that people can rely on. I’m supporting zero carbon by walking a lot and having an electric vehicle. The bees help the land prosper, the electric vehicle and walking reduces my carbon footprint, and my support in my community makes it a slightly better place to live.

Victoria Choice Award: Finalist

Finn Skinner, 15
One Planet Principles: Local and sustainable food
Elevator Pitch
Our video surrounds the One Planet idea of sustainable and local foods – the ways they are procured, where they can be purchased, and their benefits in our society. In our video, we showcased the benefits of shopping at local food markets. We went to Moss Street Market, a local farmer’s market, to interview the staff of various stands.

We are grateful to live, work, and be in relation with people from across many traditional and unceded territories, covering all regions of British Columbia.