Eco-Age and Method Create the First Ever NFT Award Prize to Recognise Young Leaders at the Renaissance Awards
The Renaissance Awards is taking a revolutionary step by replacing the physical statuettes of mainstream award shows with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to each of the winners – international young leaders dedicated to sustainability. The NFTs are designed in collaboration by strategic partner method, a leading household brand that has been a leader in the cleaning aisle with its future-friendly products.
As pioneers of the first NFT awards in history, method based their design on aspects of sustainability represented by the award categories to help bring a reimagined and more inclusive definition of sustainability to life. Inspiration from a universal symbol of renewal, the butterfly, was used to create the NFT design that embodies the positive-growth and impact of The Renaissance Awards’ young leaders and resonates across cultures and generations. method, who is recognized for its history of using creativity to drive change, has developed a meaningful symbol that creates a visually compelling interpretation of change through modern technology and design shared through The Renaissance Awards’ partnership.
In a ground-breaking move, the NFT will be minted on the Cardano blockchain. Cardano truly is a pioneer in this space, as a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that was founded on peer reviewed research and has dedicated its business to ensure it is creating an ethical and environmentally sound blockchain. With its newly announced partnership with Veritree to create the Cardano Impact Challenge, Cardano is inviting its community to also look at its impact.
Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, said “At Cardano we are delighted to see that the NFTs donated to The Renaissance Awards will be minted using our blockchain. These awards will pay homage to the incredible work done by young activists coming together to tackle our most pressing social and environmental issues. At Cardano, we are also doing our bit through our Global Impact Challenge, which aims to plant 1 million trees. Internal data collection and network surveys from the Climate Neutral Cardano Group suggest that if we achieve our goal, we will help reduce our carbon footprint by an estimate of over four times. Now more than ever, there is a growing importance for organizations to ramp up their focus on social responsibility and do their part to make the world a better place for all.”
The NFTs donated by method will be awarded to the 12 young leaders recognised for their outstanding work for environmental and social justice at The Renaissance Awards. But this is not just a unique award given to each awardee but also a considered a prize award with a smart contract embedded that will ensure a percentage of the profits of all and any future sales in perpetuity will always come back to fund the enterprise of the young leader - a first of a kind and new benchmark in award prize giving!
“In truly passing the mic to the young leaders we considered what would resonate with them and what could be most valuable to them as an award. So, as opposed to the traditional physical statuette award, the NFT idea came about in dialogue with method and we felt it would be amazing to reward the young leaders with a prize which can have an infinite and compounding value to fund their enterprise. At the same time, we set the tone for how NFTs can be used as a force for good not purely for sales, and in proudly partnering with Cardano we illustrate how critical the ethical and environmental implications are in the NFT space,” says Simon Whitehouse, CEO, Eco-Age.
