A New Prize for Design and Social Impact
Posted in: Uncategorized
The Leveraged Freedom Chair, a wheelchair optimized for rural terrain. All images courtesy Icsid.
As the field of design for social impact grows, so does the discourse around it. Here at Core77, we recognize Social Impact as its own category in our own Design awards [Ed. Note: Which are now open for entries], and sites like Change Observer and the Design Altruism Project regularly highlight design and its role in social change. The World Design Impact Prize, started last year by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), is one such prize, a new development in recognizing and rewarding innovations in the field.
“The goal of the World Design Impact Prize is to recognise and elevate industrial design driven solutions to societal challenges,” noted Icsid Project Development Officer Mariam Masud. “By sharing these solutions, and the challenges they address the prize hopes to raise awareness of perhaps unknown obstacles and encourage a global exchange of ideas.”
Food design for social change: a repurposing of the popular Indian snack called a “laddoo”, with rich nutrients to fight malnutrition.
The shortlist of projects met the standards of basic selection criteria that extend past basic questions of design aesthetics and functionality that an industrial design competition might be focused on. Rather, jurors are asked to consider questions around Impact, Innovation, Context and Ease of Use. “Are there elements of the project (best practices) that can be universally shared?” “How well does the project compliment or build on the existing infrastructure (physical, political, cultural etc.)?” “Is the project easy to maintain and are replacement parts easily available?”
Post a Comment