1 GENERAL REGULATIONS

1.1 Warnings

This regulation is subject to changes due to organizational needs by the Organizing Committee (CO). Any modifications will be communicated via the website, social channels, and directly to registered participants.

1.2 Participation

Participation in the Speleofotocontest 2025 is free of charge. Only registrations made through the appropriate form on the website www.speleofotocontest.com starting from March 1st 2025 will be accepted. Any registrations sent by other means will automatically be considered INVALID.

2 CONTEST

2.1 Maximum number of submissions

Each author can submit up to 3 works per category. The CO will evaluate the submitted works and will pre-select, at its sole discretion, the works that will enter the competition and will be exhibited both publicly and online.

2.2 Categories

Photos selected by the CO will enter the categories for which they were submitted.

• Each author can interpret the theme of the categories freely.

• Authors can register in one or more categories, with a maximum of 3 photos per category. Each photo can be entered in multiple categories.

• Each photo can win the Sentry Award in every category for which it is properly registered.

• Winners will be selected by an external, independent technical jury.

2.3 Photos not accepted

• Photos created using UV lamps will not be accepted.

• Photos created using artificial intelligence software will not be accepted.

2.4 Format and submission method

Works must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and be submitted digitally through the appropriate form on the website by August 31, 2025. Any request submitted beyond the deadline or via other means will not be considered.

2.5 Instructions and attachments

Every registration must be accompanied by:

• a signed copy of this regulation,

• the release form for the use of the works,

These are available for download on the website www.speleofotocontest.com

3 PRIZES AND CATEGORIES

3.1 Prizes

Each winner will receive a trophy depicting the “sentry,” the symbol of the association. Additional prizes may be provided by sponsors or institutions.

3.2 Categories

Sentry award SFC25 Artificial Cavities

Sentry award SFC25 Subaquatic Speleology

Sentry award SFC25 Biology

Sentry award SFC25 Free Shot (Any image not falling into other categories)

Sentry award SFC25 Climate Change, in collaboration with the Underground Climate Change Project, interpreting the theme of climate change and its effects in caves.

will also be decreed:

Sentry award SFC25 Best photo Memorial Marco Ottalevi

At the same time the winning works of the online voting prizes will be decreed

Sentry award SFC25 “Web” section

And by vote of the exhibition visitors on the days of the Congress

Sentry award SFC25 “Popular” section

3.3 Web Prize

Votes will be collected via the Facebook page, with the winner determined by the number of likes or reactions.

3.4 Popular Prize

Visitors to the exhibition at the CapoVolta National Speleology Meeting in Volta Mantovana (MN) Italy, October 30 – November 2, 2025 will vote for the Popular Prize.

4 JURY AND VOTING

4.1 Jury President and Jurors

• The Jury President (PdG) will be appointed by the CO and will select jurors.

• The jury will decide the criteria and methods for evaluating the photos and will choose the winners in an unquestionable manner. No CO member or juror can participate in the contest.

• The jury will determine the winners of the 6 categories and the main prize based on their unquestionable judgment, and the jury will decide the criteria for awarding the prizes.

• The jurors are required to evaluate the competing photos after viewing them online. The CO will provide jurors with access to a cloud folder where the photos can be viewed.

• The verdict on the 6 minor prizes and the main prize will be communicated in writing to the CO by 00:00 on October 20, 2025.

• The jurors must not publicly express opinions or judgments about the competing photos to avoid influencing the votes for the other two popular prizes (in-person and online).

• Jurors and members of the CO are not allowed to participate in the contest.

5 PRIZE AWARDING AND COPYRIGHTS

5.1 Award Ceremony

The award ceremony will take place on November 1, 2025. If winners cannot attend, prizes will be sent by mail, with the CO covering shipping costs but not responsible for delays or losses.

5.2 Copyrights

The CO reserves the right to publish in the future the images received excluding any commercial use, unless further permission is granted free of charge, and in any case guaranteeing the citation of the author who, upon registration, grants Speleofotocontest a license to use them in Creative Common BY-NC.

The author declares that he/she is aware that the photos entered in the contest may be transferred to entities or associations pursuing the same dissemination purposes as Speleofotocontest with a license to use them in Creative Common BY-NC and that they can always be viewed via the web by third parties, no responsibility will be attributed to the Speleofotocontest assoociation in case of unauthorized use by third parties.

5.3 Return

The works will not be returned and will remain as assets of the organizing committee for exhibitions in subsequent

editions of Speleofotocontest or for other social initiatives of speleophotographic dissemination. The O.C. will

retain all image rights of the author and excludes any use of a commercial nature unless authorized free of charge

by the author.

5.4 Liability
The Cultural Association Speleofotocontest will not be responsible for any improper use and/or unauthorized distribution by third parties.

Registration for Speleofotocontest 2025 implies full acceptance of these Regulations.

Date: ____________ Name_______________________Surname_____________________________________

Readable signature __________________________________________________

I declare that I have read the regulations and expressly accept them without reservation with

specific reference to points 5.2 Copyright, 5.3 Return and 5.4 Liability

Date: ____________ Name________________________Surname_____________________________________

Readable signature __________________________________________________

For minors, the disclaimer must be signed by both the curator parents and in any case by the person (s)

exercising parental authority over the minor:

Data: ______________________ For acceptance of the parents/curator and in any case of the person (s)

exercising the authority

Name_________________Surname_____________________Birth place__________________ date__________

Readable Signature _______________________________ Specify if the only person exercising the authority

Name_________________Surname_____________________Birth place__________________ date__________

Readable Signature ________________________________

Rules for the “Web” section

To participate in the prize, you must be a registered member of the Speleofotocontest 2025. All photos admitted after the pre-selection of the jury, in the Speleofotocontest 2025 are at the same time admitted in the “Web Prize”.

From the september 1st 2025, all regularly received works will be published on the official Facebook page www.facebook.com/speleofotocontest in a specially created album that will be regularly shared on the page itself as well as on Twitter Instagram and Tik Tok Speleofotocontest profiles.

On Sunday 1st November 2025 at 12:00 AM, the data relating to the likes received by each photo will be gathered and the photo with the most likes will win the prize.

Each user will be able to vote for all photos but only once according to Facebook’s way of attributing likes. Both likes and other forms of judgement proposed by Facebook with all types of emoticons will be considered valid votes.

Each author will be free to share the link to their work on social networks and other sites. It is allowed to share both on personal profiles and on other pages or groups or other websites.

However, should the Organising Committee find any anomalies or irregularities committed by the authors of the photos, such as the use of software or other means aimed at fraudulently increasing the number of likes, it reserves the right to penalise the photo until definitive exclusion from the single prize or from the entire competition.

Registration for Speleofotocontest 2025 implies full and unreserved acceptance of these rules.

Date: ______________Name_______________________Surname____________________________________

Readable signature __________________________________________________