In humanitarian emergencies, the absence of small, practical tools can have disproportionate consequences. A simple connector, a stabilizing element, a repair component or a basic medical accessory can determine safety, functionality and dignity in fragile environments. Yet many of these objects remain unavailable, not because they are complex, but because they are not locally producible.
In this context, WDO Member Ánako APS, in collaboration with Prusa Research, has launched the Ánako – 3D Printing Design Award for Solidarity 2026, an international open call dedicated to the design of open-source, 3D-printable solutions for humanitarian contexts.
The award invites designers, engineers, makers and students worldwide to rethink 3D printing not as a prototyping tool, but as a field-ready production system. The focus is not on spectacular objects, but on simple, robust and realistically printable components designed to function in low-resource, high-constraint environments.
“With this award, we want to shift the narrative around 3D printing in crisis contexts. The goal is not innovation for its own sake, but tools that can be produced locally, repaired easily and shared openly. Design, in these situations, becomes infrastructure.” – Valerio Vinaccia, Founder of Ánako APS
Projects must be printable using FDM technology in PETG, with a maximum size of 20×20×20 cm per component, ensuring accessibility to consumer and Prosumer 3D printers. The technical constraints are deliberate: they aim to encourage realism, replicability and operational coherence.
All submitted projects will be released under a Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license, reinforcing the idea that humanitarian design should circulate, adapt and evolve rather than remain proprietary.
The award represents one of the first operational tools of the Design for Gaza programme,
currently under development, which explores how open design and distributed manufacturing can contribute to resilient systems in contexts of extreme vulnerability.
The call will run from 1 April 2026 to 31 August 2026. Selected projects will be announced on 31 October 2026. For more information, visit the Ánako APS website.
