All applications are screened for their eligibility. Any entity or group based in the EU is eligible to apply. Applications must explicitly refer to one or more Natura 2000 sites and can be written in any of the official EU languages except Maltese and Gaelic. All efforts are made to assess the applications in their original language, although in some cases it may be necessary to translate the application.

Applications by multiple applicants are allowed, but one of the applicants has to be designated as the lead. Applicants have to clearly present tangible results achieved in the past five years.

More information on the 2022 eligibility criteria can be found here.

All eligible applications are assessed by an independent evaluation team. They evaluate applications against five criteria: effectiveness, originality, durability, costs and benefits, and replicability. Each criterion has a different weighting depending on its importance for the category in question. Applications providing descriptive yet to the point qualitative and quantitative information are likely to score better.

The outcome of the selection phase is a shortlist of finalists, established through a ranking of the evaluation scores in each category.

More information on the 2022 selection criteria can be found here.

Based on the shortlist of finalists, a high-level Jury chooses the winners of the five category awards. In a parallel and independent process, the winner of the Citizens' Award is chosen by a public vote. The European Commissioner for Environment announces all six winners at the Award Ceremony.

You can find more information on what stage the 2022 selection and evaluation process has reached, visit the 2022 edition of the European Natura 2000 Award.