Celebrating Inspirational Innovation - Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Awards

7th April 2014

EAUC CEO Iain Patton was delighted to attend an event at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the winner of the HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize and the six inspiring finalists of the first Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Awards.

The awards, developed by Unilever in partnership with the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, aim to find innovative yet practical, tangible solutions created by young people that help make sustainable living commonplace.

Gamal Abinsaid, 24, from Indonesia, was the winner of the HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize for his initiative Garbage Clinical Insurance, which helps households in Indonesia pay for healthcare through recycling their household waste. A month’s worth of refuse can reach close to 10,000 Indonesian rupiah (€0.60) which is used to cover a patient’s treatment and run healthcare programmes and clinical services for the community, providing families with access to doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists and health volunteers.

Gamal’s simple but ingenuous idea not only helps people to afford essential healthcare, it also pays for the doctors and nurses the community require and cuts waste to landfill, a truly sustainable idea for all!

At EAUC, we welcome these awards as a great way to highlight the exciting work being carried out by young people around the world, who are showing creativity and ingenuity finding sustainable solutions for a range of problems. As we face the enormous challenge of climate change, along with other environmental and social issues in the world today, the pioneering entrepreneurial spirit on display at these awards shows us that a bright future is possible.

For more details on the awards, Gamal Abinsaid’s amazing project and the equally inspiring work carried out by the six semi-finalists, please click here.