HeidelbergCement Group

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History

The Quarry Life Award (QLA) is an international scientific and educational contest where HeidelbergCement invites researchers, students and citizens to submit a biodiversity projects in its quarries around the world. The competition takes place every two years and runs simultaneously at national and international levels. Its aim is to raise the awareness of the organic value of mining sites and to find new ways to further enhance it.
Deadline to submit a project proposal: 20 November 2017.

Find out more here [http://www.quarrylifeaward.com/about/how-participate]

A mining site provides a great variety of landscapes and habitats and presents low level of disturbance from human activities. As a leading cement & aggregates producer, HeidelbergCement is committed to managing biodiversity during and after extraction. In more than 1000 quarries and pits worldwide we strive to promote the exceptional local flora and fauna. We believe that research projects can raise the knowledge of the biological value of mining sites and contribute to further protect and promote biodiversity. Today, students and researchers help us reach that goal!

Over the past 3 editions of the Quarry Life Award, more than 1100 projects proposals were submitted, out of which 269 were selected to take part in the research period. These projects involved nearly a thousand researchers and reached out to thousands of stakeholders. In 3 editions, the national and international winners were granted over 750.000 EUR in prize money.

The Quarry Life Award offers a unique opportunity to add true ecological and educational value to a mining environment. Every two years, our quarries open their doors from January to September to the selected participants. During this period, participants can study ants, bats, bees, birds, crayfish, invertebrates and sheep in the quarry habitats. They can also investigate grass vegetation, wetland species, species living in rocky areas, etc., and can analyse their biodiversity richness. In the past editions contestants not only studied specific species or habitat, they also came up with concrete ideas to create biodiversity parks, nature trails and educational material. While others dedicated their report to alternative rehabilitation ideas or to creative action plans to better manage specific species during extraction time.

Check the archive projects on www.quarrylifeaward.com [http://www.quarrylifeaward.com/archive] for inspiration. Projects are impressive!

As soon as participants are selected and start their outdoor activities, they are offered a blog to post project updates with comments and pictures. Follow them live on www.quarrylifeaward.com. This is the best way to follow their work and vote for your favourite projects.

Project categories:
To allow a fairer competition for all participants, the edition 2018 has been split in two streams, each having 3 project categories.

In the research stream, the categories are:
• Biodiversity management
• Habitat and species research
• Beyond quarry borders

In the community stream, the categories are:
• Biodiversity & education
• Connecting quarries and local communities
• Student class project (for primary and secondary students)