As the world’s population reached the seven billion mark in 2011 and continues to grow, it has brought challenge and implications to the natural and urban environment and its sustainability, while opening up opportunities for actions to shape social and economic realities, challenge norms and values, and build the foundation of the world’s future.

This month’s theme of L. B. Brown Memorial Photo Contest is “Empowering the Youth,” and we invite photos that depict youth’s action in advocating, preparing for, and realising the change needed for a sustainable future, or highlight activities that educate, enable and empower young people to bring about such change.

Photo Contest Background

The World Population Day, celebrated every 11 July, is established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989 to bring the world’s attention on the urgency and importance of population issues in the context of development planning.

According to United Nations statistics, the world today has the largest-ever generation of youth population at an estimate of 1.8 billion. With a clearer vision of their potentials and given the proper tools and opportunities, young people can influence and improve the wellbeing of many future generations and the health of the environment that they live in.

In line with the the theme of the World Population Day 2015, APN highlights the importance of “Empowering the Youth” as the theme of its L. B. Brown Memorial Photo Contest for the month of July. We are inviting photography enthusiasts from the Asia-Pacific region to capture, in a creative and original manner, one of the following:

1. Images that tell a story about youth champions inspiring and promoting change and environmental sustainability, especially in local and indigenous settings;
2. Actions and voices of youth and young leaders in influencing and driving change for a sustainable future;
3. Actions and interactions that capacitate and empower youth to address global change and environmental challenges at all levels

Who can Submit?

• Amateur photographers, media practitioners and professional photographers are all welcomed to submit entries.
• APN project leaders and collaborators are especially encouraged to submit entries that are related to their project activities.

How to Submit?

1. Register an account at: http://friends.apn-gcr.org.
2. Go to “Forums”, and locate the forum where the monthly contest is held.
3. Submit your photos (up to two entries per participant) by posting a reply under the master thread.
4. Submit your photo entries, following procedure above, on or before 31 July 2015.

Eligibility

• The competition is open to all nationals of APN member countries.
• Photographs must be originally taken by the entrant within 12 months before the date of submission.
• Each photograph must be between 3mb and 6mb in size.
• Each photograph must be accompanied by a caption, which should include a description of the photo, the name of the photographer, and the date and place taken.

Selection Process

Submitted entries will be assessed based on relevance to the theme, composition, creativity and technical matters (including captions). Two sets of evaluation will be considered:

• Evaluation by a panel of judges;
• Highest number of Likes on the APN Facebook page. Eligible photo entries will be collated in a folder and posted in APN Facebook page. A period of time will be allotted for audience voting (“liking”).

Prizes

• A medal and a certificate in recognition of the awardee of the “L.B. Brown Memorial Award”.
• Monthly winners will receive a small token from the APN.

For full details and mechanics, please visit: Friends of the APN