01. The contest

The Lions Club of Seregno AID Ets based in Seregno (MB), the patronage of the European Community, Lions Acqua per la vita MD108, the Province of Monza Brianza, the Municipalities of Seregno, Barlassina, Cesano Maderno, Seveso and Gruppo Solidarietà Africa, is organizing the eighth edition of the “World Water Day Photo Contest” #WWDPHC.
The #WWDPHC is hosted in conjunction to the UN-Water’s World Water Day, to raise public awareness of the critical issue of water in our era, with a particular focus on access to clean water.

The proceeds of the competition will be devolved to co-finance international humanitarian projects benefiting communities in need of water for life.

02. Theme

The competition is open to all lovers of photography enthusiasts and all supporters of environmental issues, The campaign title is ‘LEVERAGING WATER FOR PEACE’

All photographs featuring water as the main subject are eligible for submission, taken with any type of device, including cameras, smartphones, tablets, drones, and action cameras. Both color and black-and-white photos are allowed. Post-processing and editing are permitted. Photos with visible signatures, watermarks, or marks on the image are not allowed. Photos or images considered offensive, as per the discretion of the organizers and the jury, will not be accepted.

There are the following sections:

SINGLE PHOTOS ON THE THEME “WATER ENVIRONMENT.”
SINGLE PHOTOS ON THE THEME “WATER LANDSCAPE.”

Among the participants in these two categories will be awarded indistinctly from the category also.

  • The best photo taken by a young person up to 21 years of age (completed by 03/22/2024) (YOUNG CATEGORY WINNER).

  • The best photo taken by a Lions Club or Leo Club member anywhere in the world (LIONS CATEGORY WINNER).

STORYTELLING

A themed section “WATER STORIES” in which you can propose a set of photos, portfolios, photojournalism and storyboards, sequences of images that share a story related to water..

Along with the photos, the author must provide a brief description of their project, preferably in English. Entries should consist of a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 photos.

03. Registration

The contest commences on 10/15/2023 and concludes on 02/26/2024.

The competition’s website, www.worldwaterday.it\en, serves as the repository for reference information, registration and participation tools, as well as the payment and communication functionalities for the initiative..

To enter the contest it is sufficient to register on the “Participate” section of the website www.worldwaterday.it (users who have registered in previous years can log in with the same credentials), pay the registration fee, and upload the files.For both section “Themed Photos” a fixed fee of € 15.00 (fifteen Euro) is to be paid with the submission of two photso and € 5,00 (five Euro) for each subsequent photo.

For the “Storytelling” section, a fixed fee of Euro 35.00 is established, regardless of the number of photos comprising the entry (a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 photographs).

By entering the contest, participants accept this regulation and declare full ownership of the work. They also confirm that the photos do not in any way violate the rights of third parties, even if depicted, and assume all potential civil and criminal liability. Furthermore, participants take responsibility for data processing in accordance with privacy regulations.

To avoid uploading problems please follow the indications below:

  • .jpg format
  • the files must be smaller than 10 MB each

04. Awards

The awards are not cumulative and will be distributed as follows:

THEMED PHOTOS “WATER ENVIRONMENT”

1st place: Euro 1,500 + the title of “World Water Day Photo Contest 2024 Overall Winner”

2nd place: Euro 750

3rd place: Euro 400

THEMED PHOTOS “WATER LANDSCAPE”

1st place: Euro 500

2nd place: Euro 250

3rd place: Euro 150

THEMED PHOTOS YOUNG CATEGORY

1st place: Online workshop with a jury photographer

THEMED PHOTOS LIONS CATEGORY

1st place: Prizes offered by sponsors

STORYTELLING

1st place overall: Euro 750

2nd place overall: Euro 400

3rd place overall: Euro 200

OTHER AWARDS AND MENTIONS

1st place Europe: Euro 250 or Honorable Mention

1st place Asia: Euro 250 or Honorable Mention

1st place Africa: Euro 250 or Honorable Mention

1st place Oceania: Euro 250 or Honorable Mention

1st place Americas: Euro 250 or Honorable Mention

The prizes are not cumulative. Prizes for the 1st placed from Europe/Asia/Africa/Oceania/Americas will only be awarded if the number of 1,000 participants is reached. If the number of 1,000 participants is not reached will be awarded with an Honorable Mentions best from … the 1st placed from Europe/Asia/Africa/Oceania/Americas and Italy

The jury reserves the right not to award the prizes if none of the works in competition are considered worthy of the award.

The jury and Lions Club Seregno AID reserve the right to change the category of particularly deserving photos

The prizes not awarded will be destined to the purpose of this competition as per article no. 1 of this Announcement.

05. Exhibitions and publications

The best ranked photos selected by the jury will be featured in the traveling exhibitions of the World Water Day Photo Contest. These exhibitions may take place from April 2024 to February 2025 around the world.

The winning photos will be published on the competition’s website and across its social media platforms. Additionally, the competition’s social media channels may feature participant photos for the sole purpose of promoting the World Water Day Photo Contest and all its non-profit activities. Furthermore, they may be published through the channels of contest partners, such as UN Water or Lions Water for Life MD108, among others.

06. Jury

The photos/storytelling will be evaluated by an international jury. The images will be judged category by category. The evaluation is anonymous. Judges are not aware of the names or details of the participants. Each judge will assess the images for visual impact, composition, originality, technique, and creativity, as well as their ability to convey a message, a feeling, or an emotion. The jury team selected for the World Water Day Photo Contest consists of respected photographers, editors, publishers, curators, and photographic image experts. Sponsors and partners are not part of the jury. All images participating in the World Water Day Photo Contest are evaluated online, allowing all jurors to view the images independently, regardless of their location in the world. The best photos/storytelling in each category are chosen based on the total number of scores received. The top photos/storytelling are considered for the final evaluation round. The number of finalists varies from category to category and depends on the overall level of entries received.

Jury decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

All judges collaborate “pro bono” with the World Water Day Photo Contest.

The shortlist will be published by March 15, 2024, on the contest’s website and social media, and the list of winners will be published after the awards ceremony on March 22, 2024, also on the contest’s website and social media channels.

07. Payment methods

For the payment of the registration fee, electronic payment methods through the telematic channels available in the dedicated section on the contest website are provided.

For alternative payment methods (PayPal / bank transfer), please contact the organizers at info@worldwaterday.it.

08. Copyright

Each photographer retains the moral and intellectual property rights to their submitted works. Each author grants Lions Club Seregno AID the non-exclusive right to use the winning/selected images for the promotion/advertisement of the association’s non-profit activities. No photographs entered for World Water Day Photo Contest will be offered for sale or used by any of World Water Day Photo Contest sponsors and partners for any commercial purposes

Any photograph used by Lions Club Seregno AID must be accompanied by the author’s name. Any omission in providing such acknowledgment shall not be deemed a violation, provided Lions Club Seregno AID makes every reasonable effort to rectify such omission within a reasonable period from the date of notification of such omission.

09. Language

The text of this regulation will be drafted in Italian and English. In the event of any discrepancies between the various texts, the text drafted in the English language shall prevail.

10. Contest cancellation

If, for any reason, the contest cannot proceed as planned due to computer viruses, bugs, worms, trojans, attacks, tampering, unauthorized interventions, fraud, technical failures, or any other cause that corrupts or affects the management, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the contest, LIONS CLUB Seregno Aid reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who alters the registration process and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest. LIONS CLUB Seregno Aid is not responsible for any cancellation or modification of prizes offered by partner sponsors. In the event of contest cancellation or suspension, LIONS CLUB Seregno Aid will not retain any rights to the submitted photographs and will refund the registration fee, net of any bank charges.

11. Privacy

By filling out the entry form, all authors automatically accept what is established by Italian Privacy law D.Lgs 196/2003 and the following updates and by European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Participants allow the use of their personal data that the Lions Club Seregno AID necessitates for the contest or for legal reasons. Personal data will also be used by the Organizing Committee to diffuse contest results and information about exhibitions and future contests