City Parks awards to be held
CITY Parks's Environmental Awards, which acknowledge the efforts of employees and others who go out of their way to make Johannesburg a cleaner, greener city, will take place in Kyalami today.
Being held this year at the Theatre on the Track, the annual awards are made to individuals and companies that have contributed to preserving the environment. It will be the fifth year the awards are handed out.
The awards play a crucial role in demonstrating progress on environmental and sustainable development issues citywide. They are made by the utility to employees, companies and environmentalists who have implemented energy efficiency and conservation programmes.
The awards come at a time when the world is struggling to combat a serious global warming crisis.
Categories this year include safety and security in City Parks facilities; children in greening; youth in greening; environmental education; community-based greening; inter-governmental support; and corporate social investment.
The master of ceremonies will be Jenny Crwys Williams, the presenter from 702 Talk Radio.
To be eligible for an award, nominees must have been instrumental in identifying, reducing or solving an environmental problem or promoting public awareness and active concern for the enhancement or protection of the environment.
In 2008, 17 City Park's employees won prizes for their excellent work at Melrose Arch. They were chosen for being innovative and for their ability to use resources and comply with safety regulations.
Under the project extraordinaire category, Diepkloof Extreme Park, a park built in just 24 hours, walked away with the award for the best major project. The Nkanyezi Park in Soweto for children with disabilities won the overall award in the special project category.
Environmental institutions that were singled out for their efforts in the urban greening category were Footprint, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Working for Water, Johannesburg metro police department and the South African Green Industries Council.
In the corporate social investment category, Toyota South Africa was recognised for its river clean-up drives; Township TV for its big screen televisions in city parks, Standard Bank SA for Nkanyezi Park; and Airports Company SA for the 2010 Greening Soweto legacy project.
This year's awards ceremony starts promptly at 6.30pm. For further information, call Corne Beukes on 011 712 6788 or send an email to cbeukes@jhbcityparks.com.
