In line with the need for conservation and the various ways through which conservation can be done, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) and the Student Conservation Association (SCA) has come up with a nationwide competition to promote awareness as well as creativity when it comes to conservation. It is for this reason that the MNAO and SCA will award a brand new Mazda 3 as well as $10,000 to whoever will “discover the next big idea in conservation.” Tagged as the SCA/Mazda Conservation in Action Contest, it serves as one of the major happenings to celebrate the SCA’s 50^th anniversary. Apart from this, the said contest’s primary objective is to challenge young people to develop their skills in being action-oriented. At their young age, the people involve in MNAO and SCA deem it wise that they develop an action-oriented mindset especially when it comes to coming up with environmental solutions.

The said contest pays tribute to Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam, who served as the SCA’s founder and was the one who in the mid-1950’s by means of her senior thesis, initially proposed to have a “Student Conservation Corps.”  For those who want to join the contest, they could submit their entries in all media formats. This includes MS word, powerpoint presentations, as well as video. According to Dale Penny, who is the current SCA President, “[t]he SCA/Mazda Conservation in Action Contest will not only mark SCA’s first 50 years but expand our mark on the next fifty. More than most, SCA recognizes that young people are powerful agents of change and we look forward to evaluating their fresh ideas and putting the best of them into action.”

There are two divisions that contestants can join in. Those who are 20-25 years of age are qualified to win a 2008 MAZDA3 and $10,000 cash. As for those who are 15-19 years of age, a total amount of $15,000 will proceed to the top entrant. There will be six regional winners who will each receive $2,000 as their prize. According to Jay Amestoy, who is the vice president of public and government affairs for Mazda North American Operations, “Mazda has proudly sponsored SCA for the past ten years, annually underwriting the placement of conservation interns in all 50 states.” The people behind Mazda believe that this SCA/Mazda Conservation in Action Contest is a good move to encourage new thinking as well as dialogues and practices to better protect the environment.

For those interested to join, the deadline to pass the entries is on December 1, 2007. Judges of the said competition includes respected panelists such as Jonathon Dorn who is the Editor-in-Chief of Backpacker magazine, David Lillard, the executive producer of the American Conservation Film Festival, Bill McKibben who already published his own books aside from being a professor at Middlebury College, and last but not the least, Margaret Ronsheim who is the Director of Environmental Studies at Vassar College. For the rules of the competition and to have more information of the said contest, one can visit their websites at www.thesca.org/contest or www.mazdausa.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 8:25 pm and is filed under Mazda news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.