There were more than two thousand images from all regions of the country and after a fierce race for votes on social media, which surpassed the 7 thousand organic likes required by the contest, the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) revealed, during the Sustainable Congress 2018, the winning image of the #sustentavel2018 photo contest. With more than 1,800 votes, the image that portrays one of Rio de Janeiro's new landmarks was crowned champion: the Museum of Tomorrow, by Marcelo Fonseca. The competition will also award second place, a prize won by the young man Gabriel Cosenza, from Rio de Janeiro, and third place, from John Silveira Santos, from Ceara.
Created to promote sustainability, supported by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the #sustentavel2018 contest mobilized social media in two stages. First, on Instagram, CEBDS encouraged people to post images answering the question "what is sustainable for you?", tagging the photo with the hashtag #sustainable2018Throughout the month of August, 31 images were selected, one per day. On September 1st, when public voting began, the 32nd image, chosen by the Board of Trustees, was released. The photographs were then submitted to a public vote on the CEBDS Facebook page, garnering over five thousand votes.
"The competition is a fun way to raise the discussion about sustainability with the potential to reach a wider audience. It's extremely important to spread the idea that sustainability is more than just the environment. It's about reducing inequalities, renewable energy, and, above all, people," argues CEBDS president Marina Grossi.
The images portray important aspects of sustainability, such as encouraging less polluting transportation, environmental stewardship, more people-friendly cities, and more resilient businesses. And this message is conveyed with beauty and skill.
"Images were received from all over the country, from young people and adults, men and women. The contest reflected the diversity that sustainability promotes and raised important topics for public debate. It was an event that certainly left a lasting impression on the participants and those who interacted during the contest," believes Marina.
