The Challenge is organized around the familiar model of a business plan competition, but, instead of producing structured profit-making strategies, Social-M participants will have six weeks to design and implement their own high-impact social movements. The best realized plans will be awarded a total of $15,000 in seed funding and will gain access to exclusive consulting support.

To better focus the scope of the Challenge, each year will be centered on a theme. In 2010, eligible movements are those that aspire to change collective behavior or social norms in the pursuit of environmental sustainability. For example, movements may aim install behaviors that reduce material waste, improve energy efficiency, or better environmental justice. These guiding examples should be interpreted broadly and the list should not be considered exhaustive.

Converge, a special all-day kickoff event will be held on Saturday, January 9th in the Yang & Yamazaki Energy and Environment Building. This event will serve as an idea boot-camp, networking extravaganza, and momentum-building summit. Additional details and registration information is available here.

The six-week contest will take place in two phases spanning Saturday, January 9th to Monday, February 22nd. The first phase focuses on movement design and the second on implementation. Specific judging criteria for both phases will be made available following Converge on January 9th.