• General public living in Abu Dhabi
• Private companies & industrial facilities in Abu Dhabi
• Research Institutions in general, e.g., higher education Institutes that focus on the environment, and research scholars in Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Environmental Medal: The Medal is for Individuals located in Abu Dhabi who have a positive impact on the environment. The sub-categories are:

• Optimal Natural Resource User (fishermen, farmers, owners of groundwater wells, falconers ... etc.)
• The Environmental Influencer
• The Environmental Initiators

Environmental Research Award: This category recognises best scientific research in the field of Environmentally Sustainable Development, submitted individually or by research Institutions located in Abu Dhabi. The sub-categories are:

• Environmental Research Institution
• Environmental Research Projects

Environmental Performance Award: This category recognises industrial facilities located in Abu Dhabi that recognizes best practices or innovative practices to achieve Environmentally Sustainable Development

• The winners of the awards will be announced in a prestigious ceremony and through social media platforms
• The winners will gain international visibility and get the opportunity to showcase their achievements and enhance their reputation
• The winners will present their success stories and share their outstanding performance through the conference and awareness and training sessions
• The winning entities have the right to put the award logo on their documents, publications, website and in advertising campaigns, until announcing the results of the next cycle
• The shortlisted applicants will receive a highly valued feedback report that identifies their strengths and opportunities for improvement
• The winners of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Environmental Medal will receive a medal, and a certificate of merit and a financial reward
• The winners of the Environmental Research Award will receive a trophy and a certificate of merit and a financial reward
• The winners of Environmental Performance Award will receive a trophy and a certificate of merit
• Institutions and industrial establishments participating in the Environmental Performance Award can benefit from:

• Facilitating and accelerating environmental licensing and approval procedures
• Classification of the winning establishment as low-risk facilities, and reducing the number of environmental inspection visits
• Facilitating the one-year permit process for industrial establishments 

• The application should be completed within the stated due date
• The applicant can’t participate in more than one category of the award
• Any incomplete application will not be considered eligible, and the applicant will not go further to the assessment phase
• All the applications will be checked for its eligibility based on the criteria stated in this manual, if the application is eligible; the award team will contact the applicant to attend an awareness session on how to write the award submission. Non-eligible applications will receive a notification from the award team
• The eligible applications will receive a link to the EFQM Assess Base to upload their submission, within the due date stated by the Award team
• The assessors will conduct a desktop review of the submissions and choose the shortlisted applications
• The award team will contact the shortlisted applicant to go further with the assessment, through the interview for the Medal and Research categories, and site visit assessment for the Performance category
• The assessors will conduct the interviews/ site visit assessment, where the applicant should be ready with a short presentation describing the effort exerted toward environmental sustainability and based on the award model and criteria
• The winners will be announced in a prestigious ceremony
• The shortlisted applicants will receive a valuable feedback report on their strengths and areas for improvement
• The winners ‘success stories will be published in EAD website and social media
• The winners might participate in the awareness sessions conducted by the Award team, and the seminars and conferences conducted by EAD