County Durham’s prestigious Environment Awards are looking for entrants as they mark their 30th year.

Groups and individuals are being encouraged to sign up for the 30th celebratory County Durham Environment Awards, with entries open until Friday 12 July.

Organised by Durham County Council on behalf of the County Durham Environment Partnership, the awards celebrate the wealth of projects that improve and enhance the natural and built environment across the county.

Entrants are now being sought in the following categories:

• Built Environment

• Climate Change

• Community Partnership

• Craftmanship

• Greener Business

• Natural Environment

• Places and Spaces

• Schools and Colleges

• Volunteer Group of the Year

• Volunteer of the Year – Under 18

• Volunteer of the Year- Over 18

• Waste Management

The special 30-year milestone will be marked with a touring exhibition, showcasing interviews with key figures, exploring the past three decades of the awards and how it has evolved into County Durham’s foremost environmental accolade.

The exhibition will be showing on the following dates:

• Monday 17 June to Thursday 25 July at County Hall

• Tuesday 30 July to Thursday 29 August at Bishop Auckland Town Hall

• Tuesday 3 September to Tuesday 10 September at The Witham, Barnard Castle

• Tuesday 1 October to Monday 21 October at Hardwick Hall Visitor Centre.

The exhibition will also be on show at Hardwick Hall Hotel during a special celebration event on Wednesday 23 October, where previous green achievers will join this year’s winning nominees.

People are invited to share their memories of the awards, past and present, by using the hashtag #EnvAwards30 on social media.

Cllr Brian Stephens, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, said: “The Environment Awards have become a very important event in acknowledging, praising and encouraging some incredible green projects, that would not happen without the time and dedication of individuals, groups and private and public bodies.

“We hope the exhibition will showcase just what has and what can be achieved when people come together to make our environment a greener, greater place to be”.

Anyone can nominate a person or scheme in any one of these categories.

Visit http://www.countydurhampartnership.co.uk/envawards to find out how to make a submission, or contact the team at environment.awards@durham.gov.uk or 03000 265 545 for more information.

The County Durham Environment Partnership brings together public, private and voluntary organisations. Members include the council, Durham University, Durham Wildlife Trust, Groundwork North East, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust and a range of other local, regional and national organisations.