The Eco Prize for Creativity announces its 2007 winners today (Wednesday 14th November). The Prize celebrates artistic work in any creative form which demonstrates flair and imagination inspiring others to engage in environmentally friendly lifestyles.

The winners beat competition from six other shortlisted entrants to win their awards which were presented yesterday at the Lighthouse, Scotland’s National Centre for Architecture, Design and the City, in Glasgow.

There are two winning entries, one in each of the emerging and established entry categories, with each attracting £1,000.

The Emerging Talent award was won by James Connor of East Ayrshire for his entry Glasgow Eco Design Centre.

The Established Talent award was won by Puppet State Theatre Company of Edinburgh for their entry The Man Who Planted Trees.

James Connor’s work is a design for an Eco Design Centre developed by James for his final project for an Interior Design BA (Hones) at the Glasgow School of Art. The design followed on from previous sustainable design projects and research for his dissertation works Recycling Building Materials and A World Wrapped in Plastic. The purpose of the design, positioned beneath Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens in a disused underground steam train station, is to inspire and promote designs and practices for greener living, ecology and sustainability.

The proposed student design is built up of organic forms and structures which demonstrate the potential of alternative eco materials. The interior design of the centre reflects its core values with, for example, bench seats created from plant waste, unfired hand-pressed earth brick walls and prototype composite floor tiles formed from post-industrial waste.

And receiving the Emerging Talent Award, James Connor said:

”This is really fantastic. I feel honoured to have won the Eco Prize for Creativity. This recognition of my work will help me move forward with added confidence and help others to understand the importance of realising such a centre to promote eco design. This design is still at its early stages and this award is a big step forward. However with the support of the people of Glasgow, established environmental movements and Glasgow's City Council, this could become a reality and help to promote the great work that is being done to help save our planet.”

Richard Medrington accepted the Established Talent award on behalf of the Edinburgh-based Puppet State Theatre Company. This theatrical production is a stage adaptation by the theatre company of Jean Giono’s environmental cult classic, The Man Who Planted Trees. It tells the story of how a French shepherd and his dog persevere to overcome various obstacles and transform a barren wasteland into a rich woodland ecosystem by planting thousands of trees over a period of 40 years. The production uses a unique blend of comedy, puppetry and storytelling, with multi-sensory effects of scents, wind and rain.

Experienced puppeteers Richard Medrington and Rick Conte, in association with designer/director Ailie Cohen and colleagues Elspeth Murray and Barney Strachan have engaged audiences in schools, theatres, festivals, conference centres, tents, forests and community gardens all over the UK from Campbeltown to Cambridge. Since the show premiered in May 2006 with seed funding from the Scottish Arts Council, the show has been performed nearly 300 times to approximately 30,000 people. Last month they were at the Galway Children’s Festival in Ireland and they have tours booked into 2009. Invitations have come from the USA, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Bermuda, the Middle East and Darfur.

On receiving the Established Talent Award, Richard Medrington, on behalf of the Puppet State Theatre Company said:

“The Man Who Planted Trees is a story that has inspired many environmentalists since Jean Giono wrote it in the 1950s. We’ve had a lot of fun adapting and performing it and it is a great honour to receive an award like this from people who really know both about creativity and the environment. We feel inspired to keep touring the show, though we may not manage 40 years like the guy in the story!”

The other shortlisted entrants were: in the Established Talent category, Screenmedia Design for their interactive work Great Glen House Interactive Presentation; David Watson Hood for his digital photography work Other Flowers of Scotland; and, Roddy Mathieson for his sculpture Spindrift. And, in the Emerging Talent category, Lisa Shaw for the wind turbine mural Ecological Footprints; Meleri McEwan for her Garden for Global Warming; and, Elena Corchero for the prototype solar-powered accessories collection Solar Vintage.

The judging panel was composed of: Wayne Hemingway of Hemingway Design; Kay Henning, Founder and Trustee of the Eco Trust; Lori McElroy, Project Director of Sust., The Lighthouse on Sustainability; and Duncan McLaren, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland.

The Prize is the initiative of the Eco Trust. This year the Prize is supported by its principal funder Sust., the Lighthouse on Sustainability, its contributory funder, Loch Fyne Oysters Trust and by the Russell Trust. It is run in association with leading environmental organisation, Friends of the Earth Scotland, and with The Lighthouse, Scotland’s National Centre for Architecture, Design and The City - the hub for the creative industries in Scotland.