Deadline: 10 August 2011
In the run-up to the international climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is pleased to announce the launch of a radio contest under the theme "Changing Lives".
The winners will be invited to travel to Durban to take part in a two-week programme of briefings and workshop sessions to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference (November 28 - December 9, 2011), at which the countries of the world will be working hard to develop a global response to the challenge of climate change.
The radio contest is open to all broadcasters and freelancers in Africa and is intended to raise awareness about climate change issues and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.
The CDM is a market-based mechanism that allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn tradable and saleable credits that can be used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. CDM projects are helping local communities in Africa by providing opportunities for sustainable development, creating employment or increased economic activity, improving air quality, and transferring technology, among other benefits.
We invite you to grab your microphone and recording device and create a compelling, exciting radio story that answers the following question: "How can my community/city/country benefit from the CDM?"
The stories can fall into two categories:
(1) Those that relate to a specific, registered CDM project (see information below on how to locate registered projects); and
(2) Those that do not relate to a specific registered project, but which explore the potential benefits of CDM for community/city/country (see information below on how to locate the offices of CDM designated national authorities).
Radio stories will be judged on originality, technical excellence, clarity of message, thoroughness of investigation, level of professionalism and presentation skills. The Wow Factor is also very important, so we'll be looking for radio stories able to generate and hold interest. Entries must be received no later than 10 August 2011.
Entry criteria
• All radio stories should be no more than 5 minutes in length
• All radio stories should be free of copyright material (including copyrighted background music)
• Radio stories must be in English or translated into English using voice-over production techniques
• Radio stories must be the submitter's original creation
• By submitting the audio piece for consideration, the submitter attests that the work has not been previously broadcast
• Entrants must have obtained any necessary third-party releases
• Submitters are responsible for ensuring that their radio stories are in compliance with the legal and copyright laws of their country
• The contest is open to professional radio broadcasters and freelancers in Africa
• Each submitter may submit up to two radio stories
• Stories submitted for consideration in the category relating to specific CDM projects must be about a registered project. To find a registered CDM project, possibly near you, please check the CDM website's project search facility and look for registered projects by host country: http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/projsearch.html. Contact details of CDM project developers are contained in the project design document
• Note: Information about CDM in your country can be found on the CDM website http://cdm.unfccc.int and from other sources online. Contact information for CDM designated national authorities can be found at http://cdm.unfccc.int/DNA/index.html
• More information about the benefits of the CDM can be found on this link:
http://cdm.unfccc.int/about/ccb/index.html. To find out how CDM projects
are helping local communities in Africa, you can listen to the radio stories
produced by the UNFCCC secretariat: http://cdm.unfccc.int/about/multimedia/stories/index.html.
• The UNFCCC/CDM "Changing Lives" Radio Contest closes at midnight (CET), Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Technical Specifications
Submissions must be:
• In one of the following file formats: wav, mp3, m4a, mpeg-4 sls, mpeg-4 als, mpeg-4 dst, wma
• The file size must be no larger than 100MB
Short-listed entrants will be asked to submit copies in broadcast quality, more specifically in uncompressed audio formats such as wav.
Judging Criteria
Selection and final judging will be based on the following criteria:
• Creativity and originality
• Technical excellence and quality
• Artistic merit (wow factor)
• Storytelling and presentation skills
• Variety of content (interviews over the phone or on location, sound effects, commentary, actualities, vox-pops etc)
Submitted radio stories will undergo an initial screening by the contest organizers. The top 20 radio stories will be scored by a panel of five judges, and the judges' scores will be averaged to produce a final score. In the event of a tie for highest score, the entry with the higher artistic merit (wow factor) score will be deemed the winner.
The judges will be drawn from the fields of broadcasting, civil society, and the arts. The names of the judges will be posted after the closing of the contest. The panel's decisions will be final and no correspondence will be accepted.
Conditions and Rules of Contest
By entering this contest, the radio journalists/producers indicate that they have read the rules and conditions of the contest and accept the terms listed below:
• By submitting your radio stories you assure UNFCCC/CDM that you produced the radio story, that you are the rightful owner of the radio story, and that you have obtained any necessary third-party releases.
• UNFCCC/CDM reserves the right to disqualify applicants who are not the hands-on producers of the submitted radio stories.
• Submitters retain the rights to their radio stories, but grant to the UNFCCC/CDM the right to use the submitted radio stories.
• Submitters grant UNFCCC/CDM a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, nonexclusive license to distribute and broadcast their submitted productions, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or subsequently developed, for UNFCCC/CDM non-profit public information purposes. UNFCCC/CDM will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.
• UNFCCC/CDM reserves the right to contact submitters for any purpose considered necessary.
• UNFCCC/CDM reserves the right to cancel or modify these rules at its discretion.
• Decisions of UNFCCC/CDM will be final.
• Submitters whose contact information has changed during the course of the contest should notify the Contest Focal Point.
How to submit your radio story
Once you have produced your radio story, please contact the Contest Focal Point. You will be given a user name and password to transfer your file via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software.
Ms. Irini Roumboglou
Contest Focal Point
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat
Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8
53175, Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49 228 815 1670
cdm-multimedia@unfccc.int
Contact Information:
For inquiries: cdm-multimedia@unfccc.int
Website: http://cdm.unfccc.int