Baltic Sustainability Awards finalists revealed

The Baltic Sustainability Awards received 243 applications. Now, 29 finalists will present their achievements at the final event in Riga on 30 November, 2022. While an international jury will select the winners of the Impact and Innovation categories, it is up to the public to determine the leading Changemakers in each Baltic country. 

Several Latvian companies have made it to the finals. In fact, the Sustainable Cities and Mobility subcategory is entirely populated by Latvian finalists. Competing for first place in this category are Tet’s intelligent street lighting system, Eco Bus’ upgrade of diesel buses to electric buses and Meredot’s wireless chargers, which significantly speed up the charging process.

Meanwhile, Tālava, as the first brewery to start bottling its craft cider in recyclable aluminium cans, earned a place among the three strongest entries in the Sustainable Resources subcategory. In the Sustainable Supply Chains subcategory, Latvia is represented by Thatday and its menstrual underwear, which significantly reduces an individual’s environmental footprint by offering an alternative to conventional feminine hygiene products.

The organisers also highlight Latvian start-up Aerones, the only company to receive nominations in several categories. Its ​​robotic tools for the remote inspection, maintenance and repairing of wind turbines have secured finalist status in the Innovation category for startups and the Renewable Energy subcategory of the Impact category.

The jury will choose the winners based on their pitches at the final event.

Public vote to determine key Changemakers 

Anyone can contribute to the Changemakers category by voting for their country’s most inspiring sustainability leaders. Latvian finalists include Daniels Trukšāns, Head of the Eco-Schools Programme, Aija Pope, CEO of TerraWaste and Laura Treimane, Founder of Zero Waste Latvia and Head of the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate and Sustainable Finance Programme. Voting is open until November 30.

Finalists reveal diverse nature of sustainable innovation 

​​”Like any changes or new ideas, a sustainable development approach takes time to be accepted as a general practice in society. Targeted and thoughtful communication and sharing of good practices and successes are essential to a successful change process. By being a part of the jury for this year’s Baltic Sustainability Awards, it was a pleasure to see many truly valuable initiatives from across the Baltics. It was not easy for our jury to make the final choice from the wide range of applications that identified problems and offered solutions in a wide range of fields and scales. Still, we believe that the shortlisted finalists show the diversity of sustainability innovation. I hope that these examples will inspire more and more companies to make positive changes,” says Nora Pastore, Head of Sustainability Development at Signet Bank and member of the Baltic Sustainability Awards jury.

The Baltic Sustainability Awards are hosted by innovation management company Helve together with founding partner Rimi Baltic. The initiative is supported by strategic methodology partner EY Baltic, partners Dokobit, Baltic Block, Signet Bank, Sorainen and informative partners IR Nauda, and Clear Channel.

Source: Press release (eng.lsm.lv). Publicity photo: Baltic Sustainability Awards 2022