Montreal (Canada) 9 April 2013 – The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) has launched the World Design Impact Prize 2013-2014 with a new brand identity that aims to encourage a larger audience to be a part of the submission process of projects that showcase responsible design and innovation.
This is the second cycle of Icsid’s biennial prize honouring exceptional industrial design driven projects that make a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and/or environmental quality of life. The first iteration of this award saw over 30 projects submitted from five continents, from which seven projects were shortlisted and one winner, the Community Cooker was selected.
The Community Cooker is a significant recycling initiative conceptualised to address the reoccurring issue regarding massive accumulations of waste throughout Africa.
It not only provides a public cooking facility to neighbourhoods with limited electricity, but its impact reverberates throughout the community by providing jobs, safe cooking facilities, clean water and a cleaner environment.
Since being awarded the World Design Impact Prize, the Community Cooker has completed three more cookers, based on the original prototype, which are fully operational and an additional seven orders from international queries from Bali, the United Kingdom and Nigeria. “We are very proud of the accomplishments that the Community Cooker Foundation has been able to achieve and hope that this cycle of the Prize will also see projects that have a profound impact on their communities,” said Icsid President Soon-in Lee, who presented the first award in February 2012.
This cycle, Icsid has expanded the project submission process to be more inclusive. While nominating and voting for projects remains an exclusive right of Icsid Members, a phase has been added prior to nominations that will allow the public to offer suggestions. From 9 April to 19 May 2013, the public is invited to share socially responsible design-driven projects via Icsid’s Facebook and Twitter pages using the hashtag #wdip. The intent is that these recommendations will bring more projects of scale to Icsid’s attention and come June, will be submitted to Icsid Members for nominations.
“We really want to encourage the public to participate in the World Design Impact Prize because these are products and systems they see and interact with in their community. Icsid can elevate these projects by bringing them to the attention of the wider industrial design community. We’re aiming to get people to talk about and share tangible examples of impactful design. This crucial element of communication is in fact what we are highlighting with the new World Design Impact Prize logo. We need to speak to each other about socially responsible design, speak to designers, speak to leaders in our community and share these projects so they can get the attention they deserve” continued Lee.
The public’s suggestions should be socially responsible industrial design or design thinking driven, where positive change is created through community or civilian participation in resolving the issues that affect them.
The official guidelines are available for download at worlddesignimpact.org.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Mariam Masud
Icsid Project Development Officer
t: + 1 514 448 4949 ext. 228
e: mmasud@icsid.org
www.facbook.com/Icsid
www.twitter.com/Icsid
About the World Design Impact Prize
The World Design Impact Prize is a biennial designation created to recognise, empower and stimulate socially responsible design projects around the world. Established by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), the World Design Impact Prize will honour and reward industrial design driven projects that are making a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and/or environmental quality of life.
By drawing from the expertise of Icsid’s network, the World Design Impact Prize creates an exciting opportunity for members and the general public to play an active role in recognising and honouring projects, and project partners, that create a better world through design. Furthermore, the establishment of a prize specifically for industrial design driven projects will produce tangible examples, best practices and socially responsible industrial designs that will help shape the future of the profession.
