Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award Call Launched in Anticipation of Next Arctic Futures Symposium

The call for submissions for the second annual Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award have been opened in anticipation of the 14th annual Arctic Futures Symposium, which will take place on Tuesday, November 28th and Wednesday, November 29th at Town Hall Europe in Brussels' EU Quarter.

Managed by IPF and funded by theTrân Family Foundation, Consisting of 7500 Euros awarded every November at the annual Arctic Futures Symposium in Brussels, the Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award aims to help a young entrepreneur or startup to move their fledgeling business to the next level.

The winner will be invited to attend the Arctic Futures Symposium in person to present their project and take part in a panel discussion.

After its successful first iteration at the last Arctic Futures Symposium in November 2022, which saw innovative Swedish startup Containing Greens SE win for its re-use of heat from data centres to grow local produce and therefore cutting the local carbon footprint of food production, the the International Polar Foundation and the Trân Family Foundation have opened a call for applications to young entrepreneurs living in the Arctic for the 2nd edition of the award.

A page on the Arctic Futures Symposium website has been set up to give applicants all the information they need to apply for the award. Anyone living in the Arctic regions described on the application page are eligible to apply. Applicants must be 35 years old or younger and must be registered as living in one of the Arctic regions identified on the page.

A jury of experts from across the Arctic from organisations specialised in fostering young entrepreneurs will select the winning candidate based on criteria outlined on the application page, including the project’s environmental sustainability, how it helps its local Arctic community and social sustainability, how innovate the project is, how mature and scalable the business idea is, and to what extent the award will have a positive effect on the startup and the local Arctic community.

In addition to a press release going out, IPF's Arctic stakeholder partners, who play an active role in organising and supporting the Arctic Futures Symposium, are spreading information about the prize to their networks in Arctic communities in their home countries.

We look forward to learning about your innovative ideas! from Arctic residents.