Place Brand Impact Awards
The Place Brand Impact Awards celebrate excellence in place branding that contributes to sustainable and regenerative development.
The inaugural award winners, Royal Djurgarden and Tasmania, were celebrated at Place X Nordic in Uppsala in May 2025.
Ready to submit your story? Registration of interest for the 2026 Awards is now open!
Meet 2025 Winners & Finalists
From innovation to impact, these place branding initiatives set new benchmarks—meet the winners and finalists of the 2025 Place Brand Impact Awards!
Barnet Zero
About the Awards
Joining the Place Brand Impact Awards is a great opportunity for cities, regions and countries looking to gain international recognition for their place branding initiatives: and to argue internally for impact, justifying budgets.
Aligned with the principles of the IPBA Place Branding Manifesto and the UNSDGs, the awards offer a unique opportunity to showcase place branding achievements.
Why Participate?
Showcase Your Initiative
Gain recognition for your work and the impact you are making. Highlight your commitment to responsible, future-proof place branding.
Advocate for Sustainability
Demonstrate how your place branding initiative contributes positively to both your local community and the broader goals of global sustainability.
Collaborate with Leaders
Join a network of leaders in place branding to exchange ideas, share best practices, and innovate together.
Receive Recognition
Your efforts in advancing the field of place branding deserve recognition.
Who Can Join?
What is a good Place Brand Impact Story?
Submitted stories focus on one or more of the UNSDGs.
A well-crafted place brand impact story should inspire and inform - showcasing the progress of your place branding. It should be:
- Compelling: Your story should captivate from the start, with a clear narrative that unfolds logically and engages.
- Emotionally Resonant: It should make your place's journey relatable and memorable through genuine emotional connections.
- Meaningful: Beyond storytelling, offer insights and lessons that encourage reflection and inspire action.
How It Works
1. Registration & Submission
Before you submit your story for the Place Brand Impact Awards, we strongly recommend you to check if it aligns with the Place Branding Manifesto, a code of ethics developed by the International Place Branding Association to encourage best practice. We use this as benchmark when assessing registrations for eligibility.
We also encourage you to read our story guide and to preview the submission form, so you know what to expect before you are invited to submit your story. And: have a look at finalists and winners of previous years!
Steps:
- Register: Complete and submit the registration form.
- Eligibility Check: Our team checks if your planned submission fits the awards.
- Invitation to Submit: If eligible, you will receive a link to the form to submit your story.
2. Judging & Evaluation Period
Our judges evaluate submissions using a 10-point scale, focusing on five key areas: Completeness of Documentation, Originality, Effectiveness, Transferability, and Longevity.
3. Recognition & Awards
Once the judging process is complete, the top stories will be recognized for their outstanding contribution to demonstrating how place branding can align with sustainable development priorities.
Winning place brand impact stories will receive:
- Global Visibility: Featured prominently across the TPBO publishing platform.
- Industry Recognition: Highlighted in a special section of the Place Brand Leaders Yearbook.
- Conference Spotlight: Celebrated as part of an international conference (2025 at PLACE X Nordic in Uppsala, Sweden, 2026 TBC).
Evaluation Criteria
Our judges evaluated submissions using a 10-point scale, focusing on five key areas:
- ✔ Completeness of Documentation (20%)
Does the submission provide strong supporting evidence (e.g., images, web references, impact data)?
Submissions with little or no supporting evidence score lower, while those with comprehensive proof demonstrating significant impact receive higher scores. - ✔ Originality (20%)
How innovative is the approach in integrating sustainability within place branding?
Basic, conventional strategies score lower, whereas highly creative and inventive approaches receive higher marks. - ✔ Effectiveness (30%)
What are the measurable outcomes of the initiative?
Limited or unclear impact results in lower scores, while well-documented, tangible contributions to sustainability and community identity score higher. - ✔ Transferability (20%)
Can this initiative be applied in other places with similar effectiveness?
If the strategy is difficult to adapt elsewhere, it scores lower; highly adaptable strategies receive higher scores. - ✔ Longevity (10%)
Does the initiative align with long-term place branding strategies?
Short-term efforts receive lower scores, while initiatives designed for lasting impact and reputation-building score higher.
Roadmap
Meet the 2026 Award Judges
Aoife O'Shaughnessy
IrelandCamilla Zedendahl
SwedenCecilia Cassinger
SwedenChris Wade
UKHjörtur Smárason
DenmarkJess Radford
AustraliaJoao Freire
PortugalJonathon Day
USAMagdalena Florek
PolandRobert Govers
BelgiumStella Kladou
GreeceStu Speirs
AustraliaFAQ
Any organization involved in place branding, including cities, regions, and countries, is eligible to enter the competition. Agencies representing places are also allowed to submit stories on behalf of their clients, so long as they have been authorized to do so.
No, there is no fee to participate.
Submissions should be made through the official submission form, following the provided format and guidelines. The first step is to register your interest. Once your registration has been received and checked, you will receive the link to the story submission form.
The submission deadline for the 2026 awards is 30 Nov 2025.
Judging is based on Completeness of Documentation (20%), Originality (20%), Effectiveness (30%), Transferability (20%), and Longevity (10%). Submissions are evaluated for evidence-backed storytelling, innovative solutions to sustainable development challenges through place branding, measurable outcomes benefiting community identity, adaptability of solutions to other contexts, and how well they embody and enhance the place’s brand identity and reputation over the long term (longevity).
Winners will be announced on the PlaceBrandObserver.com website and via our LinkedIn page, as well as in the Place Brand Leaders Yearbook. We will also notify winners by email.
Yes, participants are allowed to submit multiple projects, provided each submission (story) is unique and focuses on a different UNSDG or place branding initiative.
Personal data provided during submission will be used solely for the purposes of administering the competition and will not be shared without consent.
Winners will receive official recognition and opportunities for promotion through The Place Brand Observer's platforms and during partner events, such as the PLACE x nordic conference .
Currently, all submissions must be in English to ensure a fair evaluation process by our judging panel.
Contact
You have a question about our Place Brand Impact Story Awards? Please write us: