Resilient by Nature — EEA photo competition 2026

The Earth has been telling its story for billions of years. Landscapes shift and evolve as wind moves soils and shapes hills, rivers carve valleys and forests grow and regenerate. Countless species interact in a delicate interplay, creating systems that endure and adapt over time. These natural systems do more than sustain themselves, they provide the foundations for our societies: clean air, water and food that support our health and well-being.

Today, this relationship is increasingly shaped by a changing climate, calling for Europe to adapt and prepare for the challenges ahead. Strengthening Europe’s capacity to face crises goes hand in hand with safeguarding nature and the services it provides.

This photo competition invites you to capture how nature underpins Europe’s resilience, how natural systems are organized and support our societies, how climate-related and human pressures disrupt this harmony, and how people are finding ways to restore and strengthen the systems we all depend on. Through your photos, we would like to see the hidden stories of nature, the moments of change, and the actions that help our planet and societies, adapt and find a new equilibrium.

Why participate? Win exciting prizes and have your work featured in our publications and other communication activities.

How to enter? Select your best shots (maximum 5) and submit them via our online form under one or more categories between 18 May and 10 August 2026. We welcome close-up pictures, bird’s-eye views or eye-level shots. Please carefully read our Competition rules and Terms and Conditions before applying.

Categories

Showcase your creativity as a photographer under these categories:

Harmony

Disruption

Renewal

Selection process

30-50 finalists and 5 winners

• The best photographs in each category will be selected by a pre-selection committee consisting of communication and environment experts designated by the EEA. 
• An independent jury of environmental communication experts from across Europe, sourced from our Eionet knowledge network, will assess the finalist photos. The jury will determine the winners of all prizes, except for the Public Choice Award.
• For the Public Choice Award, the finalist entries selected by the pre-selection committee will be open to a public vote from 14 to 27 September 2026.
• The winners of all prizes will be announced on 9 October 2026.

Prizes

Eligibility criteria

Check before submitting

• The competition is open to the citizens of the EU 27 Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye; under the stabilisation and association agreements: North Macedonia, Albania, , Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• The photos must be taken in the countries mentioned above.

• All participants must be 18 or older.

• You must have full copyrights to the submitted material.

• Photos should comply with the manipulation rules set out in the Terms and Conditions (article 14).

• You may submit maximum 5 entries in the competition. Each entry will be handled separately so you need to fill out a new submission form for each entry.

• By submitting an entry, you will be presumed to have agreed to accept the Competition rules and the Terms and Conditions.

Participate

Submit your entry (max 5)

Entry is free of charge. Submission of an entry will be taken to mean acceptance of the Competition rules and the Terms and Conditions.

The copyright of the photos submitted for this competition remains with the respective participants. However, each entrant grants the EEA and its partners the right to use the submitted photos in their digital and print material, crediting the copyright owners.