Celebrating long-form environmental writing
The Eric Zencey Prize in Ecological Economics celebrates outstanding writing on the environmental limits of our finite planet.
Named after pioneering scholar Eric Zencey (1954-2019), the prize recognizes the best current affairs book or long-form journalism that advances public understanding of real-world environmental challenges using the principles of ecological economics, a field that explores the relationships between economics and Earth’s limited natural resources.
The biannual prize is currently valued at $4,000.
Zencey Prize criteria:
- Current affairs book or long-form journalism
- Written for a general audience
- Published in 2018 or 2019
- Addresses real-world environmental challenges
- Uses principles of ecological economics
- English language
The term “ecological economics” need not appear in submitted works, but the field’s underlying goals – understanding links among ecological, economic and social systems and advancing sustainability, equity, and human well-being – must be evident.
“I hope this prize will inspire future generations of environmental writers and ecological economists to communicate real-world solutions beyond ‘the Ivory Tower,’” said Eric Zencey (1954-2019), an esteemed scholar and public intellectual who worked to understand and address the great environmental challenges we face.
The Zencey Prize is awarded by the Gund Institute, in collaboration with the U.S. Society of Ecological Economics.