Award Categories and Criteria:

Trail Design and Sustainability Award
For excellence in sustainable trail design, construction, or maintenance.
Questions:

• Describe the sustainable materials or techniques you used and why they were chosen.
• Share quantitative data on environmental metrics (e.g., erosion rates, vegetation health) before and after your intervention.
• Outline your long-term maintenance and resource-management plan to preserve trail integrity.
• Explain how you engaged ecological experts or community stakeholders in sustainable practices.
• What innovations did you introduce to minimize ecological footprint?
• Describe challenges you faced in upholding sustainability standards and how you overcame them.

Community Engagement Award
For trail projects that successfully engage local communities or volunteers.
Questions:

• Detail how you recruited, trained, and coordinated volunteers or community groups.
• Provide metrics on volunteer hours, event attendance, or new member sign-ups.
• Explain outreach strategies (workshops, social media, partnerships) and their effectiveness.
• How did you ensure inclusivity across age, background, or ability?
• Describe a community-led innovation or idea that improved the project.
• Share feedback from participants and how it shaped the project’s evolution.

Trail Tourism Award
For contributions to trail-based tourism and economic development.
Questions:

• Provide data on increased visitor numbers, local spending, or job creation linked to your trail.
• Describe marketing or partnership strategies that drove tourism growth.
• How did you balance increased footfall with environmental and community well-being?
• Share testimonials from local businesses, tourists, or government bodies.
• What infrastructure or services did you introduce to enhance visitor experience?

Arts & Cultural Heritage Award
For trails that highlight and preserve cultural or historical significance.
Questions:

• Explain the cultural or historical narrative your trail conveys.
• Describe collaborations with heritage experts or indigenous communities.
• Provide evidence of interpretive materials (signage, guides, apps) and usage stats.
• How have you ensured authenticity and respect in storytelling?
• Detail any educational programs or events you ran.

Trail Accessibility Award
For efforts to improve accessibility and inclusivity in trail use.
Questions:

• Detail physical adaptations (surface, grade, access points) made to improve accessibility.
• Provide user-feedback metrics from people with disabilities or special needs.
• Explain design standards or guidelines you followed (e.g., ADA, universal design).
• How did you engage users with disabilities during planning and testing?
• Describe training or resources provided to staff or volunteers on accessibility awareness.

Awards Terms and Conditions:

• Nominations will be accepted from World Trails Network member organisations.
• There is no application fee for any of the 5 World Trails Network Award categories
• All winning organisations receive a trophy, runner-up organisations will receive a certificate
• Nominations will only be accepted for organisations, not individuals.
• The WTN Awards will be held every 2 years in conjunction with the World Trails Conference, after being launched at WTC2026 Perth.
• Previous winners of a specific award will NOT be considered for that award for a minimum of two years.
• All nominations will be assessed by the World Trails Network Award Committee.
• If a World Trails Network Award Committee member is associated with an award nominee, then that member will be excluded from the evaluation process for that award category.
• The World Trails Network Award Committee decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the decision or the selection process.
• A minimum of three nominees are required for each award category to be considered for judging.
• World Trails Network Award Committee expects that all nominees will act ethically, morally and safely in the delivery of their chosen activity/service and that any award recipient found to be in breach of this expectation will have their award revoked.
• Photos submitted during the nomination process will be used by the WTN as part of the awards.