6th Biophilia Award
in Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences

One award will be given comprising 100,000 euros, a diploma and a commemorative artwork.

In the event that the award goes to a candidature comprising two or more persons, its monetary amount will be divided equally between them.

The BBVA Foundation will deliver the award in full to the winner(s) at a public ceremony convened for this purpose. The prize money may be spent at awardees’ discretion.

The award will be subject to the withholding and other taxes stipulated in current legislation, which will be deducted from its monetary amount.

3.1. Candidatures

Natural or legal persons of any nationality engaging professionally in any facet of environmental thought, communication or culture.

Joint entries will be accepted from two or more natural and/or legal persons that have made collaborative contributions.

Candidatures may be direct, submitted by the interested parties, or indirect, with other natural or legal persons presenting letters of nomination.

3.2. Submission period and procedure

Submissions must be completed by June 10, 2024 at 12 noon (Spanish standard time).

Entries should be submitted through the email address biophilia-award@fbbva.es with the name of the first candidate by alphabetical order stated in the subject line.

All documentation must be presented in English, with the exception of the materials substantiating the submitted contribution, which may be provided in other languages, accompanied by a short summary in English.

3.3. Required documentation

Entries should include the following documentation:

1. A duly completed entry form, signed by the person(s) presenting the candidature (downloaded from the BBVA Foundation website).
2. A description of the contributions made in environmental thought, communication and culture (maximum of 5 DIN A4 pages).
3. In the case of natural persons, a copy of the candidate(s)’ curriculum vitae.
4. Copy of or link to the most salient materials (up to a maximum of five). Where pertinent, candidates are urged to provide some indication of the audience figures reached.
5. Copy of letters of nomination or letters of support (as the case may be), up to a maximum of five. Letters of nomination and letters of support should come from experts or organizations working in nature conservation, the protection of the environment or environmental communication, humanities or social sciences, among them:
   • Scientists and/or experts of acknowledged prestige in the areas of environmental communication, humanities or social sciences.
   • Representatives and/or members of public institutions and authorities with competences in nature conservation and climate change.
   • National and international conservationist organizations.
   • Representatives and/or members of associations of media professionals.

Letters of nomination or support should be sent directly by their signatories, together with the personal data processing form, to biophilia-award@fbbva.es, with the full name of the candidature appearing in the subject line. Letters should be signed and offer a short reasoned account of the significance and scope of the candidate(s)’ contribution. Note that the signatories of letters of nomination or support must also be identified in the entry form.

The BBVA Foundation guarantees the confidentiality of all documents, which will be archived following the award decision and in no event shared with third parties.

3.4. Correction of errors

If the submission contains rectifiable errors, the BBVA Foundation will inform the candidate or nominator to this effect, giving a non-extendible period of 15 calendar days as of this notification in which to correct them, so the entry may be accepted for consideration.

3.5. Incompatibility

No candidate in this call may also submit an entry for the current edition of the Biodiversity Conservation Awards or number among their past awardees.

The selection process will be in the charge of an evaluation committee chaired by the Director of the BBVA Foundation or a person he appoints in his stead, and with from six up to a maximum of ten members designated by the BBVA Foundation, comprising researchers, experts and professionals of acknowledged prestige in the areas of nature protection and the environmental sciences and humanities.

The committee will consider all the candidates meeting the requirements of these call conditions, and will arrive at its award decision by reference to the following evaluation criteria:

• Quality, innovation and originality of the submitted contributions.
• Broad social impact, transcendence and public recognition of the contributions or activities, preferably on a global or transnational scale.

The evaluation committee may decide to merge two or more separate entries when it considers that they have made convergent contributions. In the case of candidatures made up of several persons or organizations, it may also elect to confine the award to one or some of its members in recognition of their differential contribution.

The evaluation committee may declare the award vacant.

The evaluation committee’s decision will not be open to appeal.

The membership of the evaluation committee will be publicly disclosed following the award decision.

No itemized or individual information will be provided on the submissions received or the deliberations of the evaluation committee.

The decision in this call will be made public no later than October 1, 2024.

The award will be presented at a ceremony organized by the BBVA Foundation.

By accepting the award, the winner undertakes to attend this presentation ceremony, at which they will deliver a lecture on an environmental topic of their choice.

In the event that the award goes to a legal person, it must furnish the following documents after being notified of the award decision:

• Copy of its bylaws.
• A copy of its tax identification number.
• A statement from its governing body confirming acceptance of the award.

The fact of participating in this call signifies the acceptance of its conditions and award decision, which will not be open to appeal, and renunciation of any claim in its respect of whatsoever nature.

Exceptionally, the BBVA Foundation reserves the right to modify these conditions, for duly justified reasons, to the sole end of clarifying their content, without such changes in any case implying a substantial or arbitrary alteration of the same. The text of these call conditions and of the corresponding FAQs, whose reading we recommend to candidates and nominators, will be available for the duration of this call on the BBVA Foundation website: www.biophilia-fbbva.es/en/ and/or www.fbbva.es/en/.

• Candidatures may be:
  • Direct: Submitted by natural or legal persons on their own behalf.
  • Indirect: Submitted by natural or legal persons other than the candidates.

• Yes.

• All entries must be submitted through the email address biophilia-award@fbbva.es with the name of the first candidate by alphabetical order stated in the subject line.

• The submission period for this award closes on June 10, 2024 at 12 noon (Spanish standard time).

• If the submission contains rectifiable errors, the BBVA Foundation will inform the candidate or nominator to this effect, giving a non-extendible period of 15 calendar days as of this notification in which to correct them, so the entry may be accepted for consideration.

• No candidate in this call may also submit an entry for the current edition of the BBVA Foundation Awards for Biodiversity Conservation or number among their past awardees.

1/ A correctly completed submission form, indicating all the materials making up the candidature, and with file names provided for each document.

• In the case of individual direct candidatures, the form should be signed by the candidate.
• In the case of joint direct candidatures, the form should be signed by at least one candidate. The remaining natural and/or legal persons making up the candidature should sign this Personal Data Processing form.
• In the case of indirect candidatures, the form should be signed by the persons submitting it.
• In both direct and indirect candidatures, the signatories of the letters of support or nomination should sign the corresponding submission form or, failing that, this Personal Data Processing form.

2/ A description of the contributions made in environmental thought, communication and culture (maximum of 5 DIN A4 pages).

3/ In the case of natural persons, a curriculum vitae should be provided for each candidate.

4/ A copy of or link to the most salient materials that have achieved the greatest impact (up to a maximum of five). Where relevant, include some indication of audience figures. Documents including more than one link in each will not be accepted.

5/ A copy of letters of nomination (at least one in indirect candidatures) and/or letters of support (as the case may be), up to a maximum of five.

• In the case of joint entries comprising natural persons, the documentation is exactly the same, except that a curriculum vitae must be provided for each of the candidates. No CV is required if the candidate is a legal person.
• A description of the contributions made in environmental thought, communication and culture (maximum of 5 DIN A4 pages, in English), laying special emphasis on the candidates’ shared contributions, and including reasoned arguments for their inclusion in a joint candidature.
• In the case of joint direct candidatures, the submission form should be signed by at least one of the people submitting it. Remaining candidates should provide a signed copy of the Personal Data Processing form.

• All documentation must be presented in English, with the exception of the materials substantiating the submitted contribution, which may be submitted in other languages, accompanied by a short summary in English.

• No, except in the case of the submission form.

• Letters of nomination are provided in the case of indirect candidatures.
• Letters of support are provided in the case of both direct and indirect candidatures.
• The presenters of letters of support or nomination are required to also sign the submission form or provide a signed copy of the Personal Data Processing form.

• No.

• In the case of indirect nominations, at least one letter of nomination needs to be provided.

• Yes, indirect candidatures can come with both letters of support and letters of nomination, up to a maximum of five.

• Letters of support should be sent directly by their signatories to biophilia-award@fbbva.es with the name of the candidature stated clearly in the subject line.
• The signatories of these letters must be identified in the submission form, which they should likewise sign (failing which they must provide a signed copy of the Personal Data Processing form).

• In cases where a nomination coordinator has been appointed, he or she should send the letters of nomination together with the remaining materials making up the candidature.
• The signatories of these letters must be identified in the submission form, which they should likewise sign (failing which they must provide a signed copy of the Personal Data Processing form).
• Letters of nomination may also be sent directly by their signatories, as previously identified in the corresponding submission form, to biophilia-award@fbbva.es.

• Letters of nomination and letters of support should come from experts or organizations working in nature conservation, the protection of the environment or environmental communication, humanities or social sciences, among them:
  • Scientists and/or experts of acknowledged prestige in the areas of environmental communication, humanities or social sciences.
  • Representatives and/or members of public institutions and authorities with competences in nature conservation and climate change.
  • National and international conservationist organizations.
  • Representatives and/or members of associations of media professionals.

• A short reasoned account of the significance and scope of the trajectory and/or contribution being presented.
• In the case of joint candidatures, special emphasis should be laid on the candidates’ collaborative contributions.

• A single award of 100,000 euros, a diploma and a commemorative artwork.
• The award will be subject to the withholding and other taxes stipulated in current legislation, which will be deducted from its monetary amount.
• The BBVA Foundation will deliver the award in full to the winner or winners at a public ceremony convened for this purpose.

• In the event that the award goes to a candidature comprising two or more natural or legal persons, its monetary amount will be divided equally between them.

• The prize money may be spent at the awardee(s)’ discretion. However by accepting the award they agree to attend its presentation ceremony, at which they will deliver a lecture on the environmental topic of their choice.

• The award decision will be made public no later than October 1, 2024.
• Following the decision, the name of the awardee(s) and the membership of the evaluation committee will be posted on this website.
• The evaluation committee may decide to merge two or more separate entries when it considers that they have made convergent contributions. In the case of candidatures made up of several persons or organizations, it may also elect to confine the award to one or some of its members in recognition of their differential contribution.
• The evaluation committee may declare the award partially or wholly vacant.
• The decision of the evaluation committee will not be open to appeal.
• No itemized or individual information will be provided on the submissions received or the deliberations of the evaluation committee.