Guidelines

Theme

Nature and Me

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which emcompasses 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that underlies a global commitment to achieve sustainable development in three dimensions – economic, social, and environmental.

The theme of for this year’s competition is:
“Nature and Me”

What is our role and relationship with nature and how does it relate to The 2030 Agenda?  What is your vision of a sustainable world and what can you and your community do to achieve this vision? Topics and title of the essay can be chosen by the student. 

 

Categories

Eligibility: Full-time primary school, high school, and undergraduate students enrolled in Macao schools in the 2023/2024 Academic Year. Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of September 1, 2023) in one of the following age categories found in the following table.

Upper Primary School

Students enrolled

in Grade 4-6

Word count: 150 - 250 words

Middle School

Students enrolled in

Form 1-3 / Grade 7 - 9

Word count: 250 - 450 words

Senior High School

Students enrolled in

Form 4-6 / Grade 10 - 12

Word count: 450 - 650 words

College

Full-time

Undergraduate students

Word count: 650 - 900 words

Note: Depending on the amount of entries, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to modify or cancel the number of categories and awards accordingly without notice.

Submission Format

Language: English 

File Format: Two files are required for each essay: DOC and PDF

File Name: MEEC_2023_Essay[Contestant Number].doc
MEEC_2023_Essay[Contestant Number].pdf
For Example: MEEC_2023_EssayU1023.pdf

Font: Size 12, Times New Roman

Line Spacing: All text in your document should be double-spaced

Margins: Normal margins
   Top/Bottom: 2.54cm
   Left/Right: 3.17cm

Word Count: When submitting the essay, students are asked to submit their word count. Please stay within the word length of each category as the organizer reserves the right to disqualify essays in accordance with these rules without notice.

Citation: Unlike an academic paper, it is not mandatory for contestants to use research and references for this competition. We suggest contestants reflect on the SDGs framework, contest theme, and their own ideas to write this essay. If you do choose to use references, please keep it to no more than 3 citations, referenced using APA format.

Note: Contestants should not put their name or school or any identifying information in the essay. Essays should include your contestant number and essay title at the top of the first page. Your contestant number and essay title are not included in the word count limit. 

Please do not add diagrams or photos into your essay.

Awards

Student Awards

First Prize: Certificate, Medal or Trophy (1 winner)

Second Prize: Certificate, Medal or Trophy (3 winners)

Third Prize: Certificate, Medal or Trophy (5 winners)

Honourable Mention: Certificate (8 winners)

Winners may be invited to perform their essays in our award ceremony.

Group Awards

The following awards will only be given to one organization/school:

Empowerment Award: Awarded to the school or organization with the highest number of entries 

Best Achievement Award: Awarded to the school or organization with the highest score calculated as follows: 

    First Place – 50 points
    Second Place – 20 points each
    Third Place –  10 points each
    Honourable Mention – 2 points each

Important Dates

Item

Date

Meteorology, Nature and Me Field Trip – Visiting the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau

September 16, 2023 @ 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Discover the Global Goals: Nature and Me – Competition Briefing & SDGs Discussion Panel (Online)

September 24, 2023 @ 10:30AM – 12:00 PM

Individual and Group Registration Deadline 

October  27, 2023 @11:59PM

Submission of Essay Deadline

November 13, 2023 @11:59PM

Award Announcement

January 26, 2024

Award Ceremony

March 16, 2024

Competition Procedures

  1. Contestants must complete the registration form through the website or register through their teachers or group organizers through group registration before the registration deadline.

  2. Teachers and group organizers who wish to submit a collection of essays may email essaymacao@gmail.com with the completed group registration form.

  3. After registering online, an unique contestant number will be sent to you. Contestants should not put their name or school or any identifying information in the essay. Essays should include your contestant number and essay title at the top of the first page.

  4. Entries must be submitted online before 11:59 PM of November 3, 2023. Late submissions will not be accepted.

  5. Contestants under the age of 18  (as of September 1, 2023) have to submit a scanned copy of the signed parent/guardian consent form (both the English or Chinese version of the form is accepted) to the organizing committee along with their essays on or before November 3, 2023.

Additional Notes

    1. Essays must be original, unpublished, and not have been submitted to other competitions. Each entry must be done individually representing the contestant’s own research, thinking, and writing. Plagiarized entries will be rejected and the contestant will be liable for any consequences that arise.

    2. Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizer. By entering this competition, the organizer is granted non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free license to reproduce, promote, use, and display the essay in all media formats including exhibitions without prior consultation and notice.

    3. Competition winners may be invited to perform their essays at the award ceremony

    4. Competition winners may choose to submit a photo that will be published in the essay collection. Photo must be high resolution and in full-color that is at least 2 inches by 2 inches (51mm by 51mm) in size. Selfies are not appropriate. Heavily filtered, washed out, or overexposed images will not be accepted.

    5. In accordance with Law no. 8/2005, information received during the registration process will only be used for registration and event related purposes. Photos or videos taken during the event will only be used for promotion purposes related to the event.

    6. The organizer reserves the rights of final decision and interpretation of the terms and results of this competition. Changes to the competition will be updated on the website with no additional announcements. Should there be any inconsistency or conflict between the English and Chinese versions of the rules, the English version shall be the governing and prevailing version.

Judging and Results

Submissions will be judged on content, organization, mechanics, and originality. A detailed judging rubric can be found in the downloads section of our website.

All qualifying essays will be judged blind through several rounds of judging. The decision of the judging panel on the results and rankings of the competition is final. Individual inquiries concerning competition results will not be answered.

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