大象传媒

On 14 November, 大象传媒 World News will broadcast World Challenge Five Years On 鈥� a one-off programme to celebrate the competition鈥檚 fifth anniversary, looking back on the past five years of the 'World Challenge' series.聽 聽

The annual competition, run by 大象传媒 World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell, was launched in 2005.聽 It seeks to identify and reward projects and small businesses from across the globe that demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit working for the benefit of the community whilst adopting a responsible approach. Since its foundation, 'World Challenge' has awarded financial grants to twelve projects from around the world.

'World Challenge Five Years On' re-visits the previous winners to see first-hand how the grant has helped them expand their projects and make a real difference to their local communities.聽 The winners are:

• 2005: 鈥淐oconets鈥� 鈥� Coconuts for Erosion Control, Philippines 鈥� using coconut husks to make nets that act as surrogate tree roots by holding loose soils together. In little more than two generations, the Philippines has seen nearly all its jungle vanish. With little regard to the future, loggers and squatters have destroyed watersheds. This is an eco-friendly solution to preventing landslides sweeping away topsoil.

• 2006: 鈥淓lephant Paper鈥� 鈥� Maximus, Sri Lanka 鈥� a papermaking firm that makes high-quality products from a variety of wastes, including paper from offices and bark from banana trees. The firm set up shop in Kegalle, Sri Lanka, in 1997, not far from an elephant orphanage. In Sri Lanka there is competition between elephants and a growing human population for land.

• 2007: 鈥淧otato Goldmine鈥� 鈥� T鈥檌kapapa, Peru 鈥� bridging the gap between the farmers of Peru鈥檚 high Andes and the potato market. The region is home to three thousand varieties of potato and T鈥檌kapapa allows the farmers to reap the benefit of their premium goods. 聽The project鈥檚 鈥榩articipatory market chain approach鈥� is now being applied to potato chips and other value-added products.

• 2008: 鈥淧lan Bee鈥� 鈥� The Hashoo Foundation, Pakistan - sweetening the deal for the women beekeepers of northern Pakistan, by selling their top-quality honey in luxury hotels.

The winner of World Challenge 09 will be announced in an awards ceremony in The Hague in December.

Paul Gibbs, Head of Programming for 大象传媒 World News said: "Since its launch in 2005, 'World Challenge' has championed and rewarded local entrepreneurs who are making a positive and lasting difference to their communities.聽 The competition provides a global platform for these fantastic projects and, as a result, other small businesses and charities have been inspired to develop similar initiatives. We look forward to discovering many more exciting local, innovative projects in the years to come.鈥�

'World Challenge Five Years On' airs on 大象传媒 World News on Saturday 14 November. The 'World Challenge' 5 year milestone will also feature as a double page spread in the Newsweek issue on sale 16 November.

For more information on 'World Challenge 09' and the competition鈥檚 winners and runners-up from the past five years, visit our website , join our Facebook group 鈥榃orld Challenge 09鈥� or follow us on Twitter at .

Transmission times:
Saturday 14 November 2009 at 1430 GMT
Repeated Sunday 15 November 2009 at 0330 GMT, 0830 GMT and 1830 GMT