Welcome to the "Geotourism Challenge 2009: Power of Place – Sustaining the Future of Destinations" Collaborative Competition.

The goal of the Geotourism Challenge is to identify and showcase innovators – individuals and organizations – that directly or indirectly support good destination stewardship and the approach known as geotourism.  Geotourism is defined by National Geographic as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place: its environment, heritage, culture, aesthetics, and the well-being of its residents.

Eligibility Criteria

The competition will be open to all types of organizations (charitable organizations, private companies, or public entities) from all countries. We consider all entries that:

• Reflect the theme of the competition: geotourism.
• Entries are invited from organizations in all countries.
• We are looking for innovations that are beyond the idea stage.
• Entries must be submitted in English or in Spanish and be complete in order to be eligible.

Assessment Criteria

The winners of this Changemakers Collaborative Competition will be those entries that best meet the following criteria:

• Innovation: Your entry must describe how your program or activity is new and different. Please be clear and explicit: How is your innovation directly or indirectly advancing tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place, its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents? This criterion is mandatory for inclusion in the Geotourism Challenge.
• Social Impact: Your innovation must already be showing results. Your demonstrable success may be local, regional, or global. Regardless of extent, the innovation should show potential to affect the world and not just one place. Describe clearly and precisely how your innovation can be replicated and scaled up.
• Sustainability/Viability: Your innovation must be self-sustaining to be effective. Explain your plan for financial and other bases of support for the long-term. Include not only current financing, but the business plan for the future. Describe as much as you are comfortable disclosing.

Competition Deadlines, Procedures, and Rules

The phases in the competition are:

• Entry Stage – February 18, 2009 to May 25, 2009: Entries can be submitted until 11:59 pm EST time on May 25, 2009. Online review and discussion can go on during this entire entry period. Entrants are strongly encouraged to consider feedback and edit and revise their blueprint throughout the entry period.
• Online Review and Judging - May 26, 2009 - July 15, 2009: Online idea review discussion continues. In parallel, a panel of judges well-versed in the topic and Ashoka staff select the competition finalists.
• Voting - July 15, 2009 - August 12, 2009: The Changemakers community votes online to select the three award winners from the field of finalists.
• Winners Announced - September 9, 2009: The Changemakers Collaborative Competition winners, the three finalists that receive the most votes, will each receive a cash prize of US$5,000.

Participating in the competition provides the chance to receive feedback on your innovation from fellow entrants, Changemakers staff, judges and the Changemakers community. Showcasing your work and the challenges involved in creating social impact advises potential investors about how best to change funding/investing patterns for the sector and to maximize the strategic impact and effectiveness of their future investments.

Disclaimer - Compliance with Legal Restrictions

Ashoka complies fully with all U.S. laws and regulations, including Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations, export control, and anti-money laundering laws. All grants will be awarded subject to compliance with such laws. Ashoka will not make any grant if it finds that to do so would be unlawful. This may prohibit awards in certain countries and/or to certain individuals or entities. All recipients will comply with these laws to the extent they are applicable to such recipients. No recipient will take any action that would cause Ashoka to violate any laws. Additionally, Ashoka will not make any grant to a company involved in the promotion of tobacco use.

This contest is open only to those aged thirteen or over, and for whom entry is allowed under the laws of their jurisdiction. Entrants under age 18 affirm that they have their parent's consent to provide personally-identifiable information and to enter the contest.
For more information, contact geotourismchallenge@ashoka.org.