Antrix Corporation Ltd. / ISRO (The Indian Space Research Organization) are acknowledged by the Globe Sustainability Research Award 2010 for the most original and challenging research within the sustainability field. The award ceremony will take place on April 29th at gala dinner at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Globe Sustainability Research Award is now presented for the fourth consecutive year. The goal is to discover and recognize researchers that contribute to advancing knowledge on sustainability. The general mission of the Globe Sustainability Awards is to highlight and acknowledge particular cases and initiatives within the sustainability field.

“The Globe Sustainability Research Award is presented to Antrix Corporation, ISRO for outstanding work that is both original and practical. This well planned and implemented research has led to sustainable poverty reduction and vulnerability reduction. It has demonstrated clear gains in all three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental”, the jury states in its motivation.

The jury group for the Globe Award’s Sustainability Research Award is chaired by Professor Mohan Munasinghe, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate as Vice Chair of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and Chairman of MIND.

“Antrix Corporation fully deserves the Globe Sustainability Research Award for its exceptional contributions, which provide sustainable livelihoods to the rural poor in India, and reduces their vulnerability to climate risks. The work is both original and practical. I am especially pleased that it is an excellent application of the Sustainomics framework, showing how companies and individuals can and must act now, to make development more sustainable. The project has yielded significant benefits with respect to all three aspects of the sustainable development triangle – economic, social and environmental. Striving together, we can make the planet a better and safer place for our children and grand children”, says Professor Mohan Munasinghe, jury Chairman.

The applications for the Globe Sustainable Research Award were sent from three continents. After fruitful discussions the jury chose five nominees: Antrix Corporation, ISRO, India; Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP), China; CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants), UK; Scandinavian Enviro Systems, Sweden; Sustainable Cities Initiative, USA. It was however Antrix Corporation / ISRO that impressed the jury the most with their unique work showcasing great understanding of improving sustainability in the world.

This is the second year in a row that the Globe Sustainability Research Award is given to Indian researchers. Last year’s Research laureate was NARI, Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute.

For more information please contact:

Lars-Olle Larsson, Chairman of the Globe Award jury, Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sweden
Mobile: +46-709 29 39 83, e-mail: lars-olle.larsson@se.pwc.com

Martina Nee, Manager Globe Award, Globe Forum, Stockholm, Sweden
Mobile: +46-733 17 53 55, e-mail: martina.nee@globeforum.com

Carin Balfe Arbman. Press Contact Globe Forum, Stockholm, Sweden
Mobile: +46-706 33 35 08, e-mail carin.balfe.arbman@globeforum.com


The Globe Sustainability Awards

The Globe Sustainability Awards have been given out since 2007 in four cathegories: Sustainable Research, Innovation, Reporting - and since 2009 - Sustainable City. This year’s Globe Award laureates will be honoured at a prestigious gala dinner April 29th held at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, in connection the Globe Forum sustainability conference on April 28-29th of April in Stockholm. For more information about Globe Award please see www.globeaward.org.


About the Karnataka watershed project:

Antrix Corporations, ISRO, India - The Karnataka watershed development project (Sujala) was implemented to sustainably aleviate poverty in predominantly rainfed areas by improving the productive potential of selected degraded watersheds, enhancing production and livelihood systems, and strengthening community and institutional arrangements for better natural resource management. The project encourages the participation of communities in designing their own destiny, setting up their priorities, identifying constraints and arriving at their own solutions – to build a sustainable future with their own hands, with the help of scientific inputs. www.isro.gov.in


The jury:

The jury consists of highly experienced and internationally recognized experts. The overall chairman of all jury groups is Lars-Olle Larsson, Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sweden

Prof. Mohan Munasinghe – Jury Chairman, Chairman, Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND) in Colombo, Director, Sustainable Consumption Institute, Manchester University, Sri Lanka

Dr. Tommy Borglund – Head of CSR services at Hallvarsson & Halvarsson, Stockholm, Sweden

Dr. Fred C. Dubee – Senior Advisor, United Nations, Global Compact, UK

Prof. Shiqiu Zhang – College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE), Director, Institute of Environment and Economy (IoEE) Peking University, Beijing, China