Postcode Lottery Green Challenge

HUGE NUMBER OF ENTRIES

GREEN CHALLENGE 2009

Amsterdam, 11 August 2009 – The Postcode Lottery Green Challenge has received a record number of entries in its 2009 competition for sustainable inventions. Online entry forms have come in from 313 people around the world, with 102 entering in the Energy category, 37 in Lifestyle, 25 in Mobility, 24 in Design and 18 in IT. Last year, 235 inventors vied for the prize. Entrants compete for a € 500,000 award that helps the winner bring to market a product or service that demonstrably reduces CO2 emissions. And this year for the first time, the jury will award € 100,000 runner-up prizes to two other deserving ideas.

In the next few weeks, the preliminary jury will choose the best five to seven entries. The finalists will be invited to Amsterdam for a five-day crash course that will prepare them to present their ideas before an international jury and audience at the PICNIC multimedia event. They'll also pitch their ideas in private to the jury, made up of Liesbeth van Tongeren (Greenpeace), Niklas Zennström (Kazaa, Skype, Joost), Bas Verhart (Media Republic, PICNIC) and Jim Walker (The Climate Group).

The Green Challenge 2009 finalists will be announced on 10 September.

Preliminary Jury

The Preliminary Jury – chairwoman Femke Rotteveel (Dutch Postcode Lottery), Jeffrey Prins (DOEN Foundation), Jan Paul van Soest (Sustainability Consulting), Molly Web (The Climate Group) and Joris Kruse (Media Republic) – will evaluate the 313 entries over the next few weeks. During the Deciding Round, five to seven finalists will present their inventions on 24 September to an audience of several hundred invited guests working on behalf of sustainability. Audience members will include leading figures from international business and politics. On 25 September, the jury will announce the winners at the Award Ceremony.

The Green Challenge calls on creative, innovative people to make real contributions to the fight against climate change. The competition is open to anyone in the world with a good idea for a product or service that can reduce CO2 emissions in a user-friendly way and contribute to a sustainable lifestyle. The 2009 entry deadline was 31 July.

About the Dutch Postcode Lottery
Fifty percent of the Dutch Postcode Lottery's income goes to charity. Thanks to its 2.5 million players, the Lottery distributed more than 244 million EUR among 66 charitable organisations in 2008. The charities, which work on behalf of humanity and the environment, included UNICEF, Greenpeace, WWF, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Natuurmonumenten, and DOEN Foundation. www.postcodeloterij.nl

About PICNIC'09
PICNIC is Europe's leading event devoted to creativity and innovation in media, entertainment, technology, art and science. Now in its fourth year, PICNIC is a collaborative platform for discussion, discovery and inspiration. The ideas of the world's top creators and innovators come together at PICNIC in a world-class conference, a broad selection of specialized seminars, a program of hands-on workshops, and surprising additional events, including the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge. For more information, see www.picnicnetwork.org