The NBN Trust has been running the annual NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording for eight years. During that time we have celebrated the work and achievements of over 65 biological recorders! Before we launched the 2023 Awards’ scheme with the same format as previously, we thought it was time for a thorough review to see how we might be able to make them even better.
As a result, we engaged in an in-depth market research exercise earlier this year with NBN Trust members, Network News subscribers and former NBN Award nominators as well as with Award recipients. A big thank you to all those who took part in this review and gave their time, as well as such valuable feedback.
Main findings
The main findings and suggestions from the NBN Awards’ review questionnaires and focus groups are:
- to change the nomination period – to January to March – instead of May to July, in order to avoid ecologists’ busy field-season
- to review the current NBN Award categories
- to simplify the nomination process further
- to publicise the NBN Awards more widely.
NBN Awards for 2023 and 2024
In order to make the suggested improvements to the NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording – and avoid having another nomination period during peak field-season – we have decided not to run the NBN Awards this year and will instead launch the revamped Awards for nominations in January 2024.
We do, however, plan to have a celebration of previous NBN Award recipients at the NBN Conference in November 2023. We will bring you more information about this in due course.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the NBN Awards in the past and we look forward to recognising the work, dedication and achievements of even more wildlife recorders next year!