CBPC Academic Paper Competition

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s (COG) is seeking to partner with
students on a topic of relevance to metropolitan Washington’s local governments. COG is an independent, nonprofit regional association with a membership of 300 elected officials from the District of Columbia and 23 surrounding cities and counties in Maryland
and Virginia. 

COG’s Chesapeake Bay and Water Resources Policy Committee (CBPC) members are interested in student perspectives of emerging best practices and policies to address real-world sustainability and water resources issues. Students are asked to develop a one-page stand-alone guidance document of actions local elected officials could implement on a particular topic, plus an accompanying paper that provides rationale for the recommendations, research methodology and sources (max. of 5 pages).

This will be an annual opportunity for students at regional schools and research institutions to provide pragmatic recommendations to an audience of local elected officials. The one-page guidance document should focus on actions, including policy changes, that our region’s local governments could implement within 90 days, 180 days, and 365 days to address a particular issue. The accompanying paper should include background context, resources for more information, and citations in APA format. Papers can synthesize already completed work and may entail a literature review.

Submissions will be scored by a panel of judges, based on these criteria: The paper provides practical, science-based solutions that local governments can implement to address a Food and Ag issue listed below, along with quality references to turn to for more information. Papers should be limited to 5 pages.

Participating students will have an opportunity to meet elected officials and other members of the CBPC, while top scoring applicants will be invited to provide a short presentation to the policy committee. Highlights will be publicized by COG’s Office of Communications.

To apply students should send an email expressing interest to CBPCresearch@mwcog.org by February 14. Students are asked to submit completed papers to COG, via email, by April 17, 2020. For more information on paper guidelines, click here.