Idea Awards

Idea Awards recognize and honor powerful and provocative social change concepts.

One award of $1,000 and two awards of $500 each will be given to students whose innovative project ideas have the potential to ignite positive social change. Winning projects will be highlighted on the Design Ignites Change website and promoted through the program’s outreach efforts.

These awards are for project ideas only; plans for implementation are not required. Concepts may range from the pragmatic to the provocative, from the feasible to the fanciful, as long as they address a pressing social need within a community and apply innovation and design thinking to solve a problem.

2013 deadline

All applications must be received by January 4th, 2013. Awards will be announced in early February.

Eligibility

Applicants must be pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in art, architecture or design at any accredited college or university worldwide. Projects developed in 2012 and 2013 are eligible.

Submitting your application

Applicants must register as a participant and also submit their Idea Award applications by email or mail. Additionally, applicants must post their project’s case study to the Design Ignites Change website.

To register, first find your school on the Design Ignites Change participant list by clicking here. You can register through your Design Ignites Change faculty contact. If you do not know who your faculty contact is, please email us to request this information.

If your school is not a participant, download the registration form at the left to become an individual participant.