Montreal (Canada) – The World Design Impact Prize provides a platform for designers to not only exchange best practices, but also to educate the public about their ‘challenge statement’, essentially the problem they are addressing – and solving – through their design. On 19 March 2014 the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States invited the finalists of the World Design Impact Prize 2013-2014 to share their process, motivation, challenges and projects with the community through one webinar in a series called “Learning from Abroad – How did they do it?”.
Dr. David Swann represented A Behaviour Changing (ABC) Syringe, the World Design Impact Prize 2013-2014 winner, nominated by Icsid Member the Royal College of Art (hyperlink) and spoke about how 40% of injections worldwide are administered without being sterilised.
Anton Jungren spoke on behalf of BioLite HomeStove, a project nominated by Good Design Australia (hyperlink). He highlighted that the number of deaths every year from toxic smoke inhalation from indoor cookstoves is greater than the deaths caused by HIV and malaria combined.
Johan Karlsson introduced the Refugee Housing Unit (RHU) project, also nominated by the Good Design Australia. RHU aims to provide temporary but robust housing for refugees that would replace the traditional tents. The impetus for this project came from the realisation that the average lifespan of a refugee tent was 6 months, while refugees remained in camps for an average of 12 years.
A recorded version of the webinar is now available at http://arts.gov/video/nea-design-learning-abroad-webinar-series-march-2014#sthash.EOYtuWAs.dpuf
NEA webinar with World Design Impact Prize 2013-2014 finalists
For more information about World Design Impact Prize, please contact:
Mariam Masud
Project Development Officer
t: + 1 514 448 4949 ext. 228
e: mmasud@icsid.org
Natalie Dutil
Communications Officer
t: + 1 514 448 4949 ext. 223
e: ndutil@icsid.org
About NEA
The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector.
http://arts.gov
About World Design Impact Prize
The World Design Impact Prize is an initiative of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, who are guest-hosting this webinar. The biennial award recognises projects from around the world that use industrial design-focused solutions to improve the social, economic, and environmental quality of life. Hear the prize finalists talk about their design process and how they engage and empower citizens by creating products and systems that leverage indigenous technology.