Do you have questions to add to the list? You can reach us via: challenge@whatdesigncando.com
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About the challenge
WHAT IS THE CLEAN ENERGY CHALLENGE?
Fossil fuels are the biggest cause of climate change and are still our primary source of energy. Most energy is used in metropolitan areas. That’s why What Design Can Do focuses its Clean Energy Challenge on urban energy issues. Together with IKEA Foundation and many local partners we invite designers and creative entrepreneurs to rethink how we produce, distribute and use energy in our cities. This new creative competition includes design briefs for five cities: São Paulo, México City, Amsterdam, Nairobi and Delhi. There are separate tracks and awards for students, professionals and start-ups.
WHO IS BEHIND THE CHALLENGE?
The Clean Energy Challenge is an initiative by Amsterdam-based design platform What Design Can Do together with IKEA Foundation. The challenge is supported by our local partners in each city
> Learn more about Our PartnersWHAT IS THE TIMELINE & THE KEY MILESTONES OF THE CHALLENGE?
The Clean Energy Challenge runs from September 2018 to July 2019.
4 Sept: Launch Open Call
5 Dec: Deadline Open Call
25 Jan: Nominees announced
25 Jan – 10 feb : Refinement Phase
10 feb : Final submission deadline nominees
6 March: Jury announce winners at WDCD Mexico
March – Jun 2019: Acceleration programme
> Learn more about the Challenge ProcessWHAT CAN YOU WIN?
There are separate tracks and awards for students, professionals and start-ups. The winners, selected and evaluated by an international jury, each are are rewarded a package which includes a production budget and a tailor-made acceleration programme aimed at making the winning ideas, prototypes or startups investment ready. When submitting a project, you must indicate which of the three tracks you want to participate in.
How will my idea be developed?
Next to the design and research grants awarded to each winner, the final stage of the Clean Energy Challenge includes an Impact Development Programme that will be aimed at maximizing the potential and impact of each winning idea. Each individual programme is tailor-made to the needs of each project composed and offers both face-to-face and online components.
DO I HAVE TO LIVE IN AMSTERDAM, NAIROBI, DELHI, MÉXICO CITY OR SÃO PAULO TO SUBMIT MY IDEA?
No, you can submit from anywhere in the world! If you don’t live or work in the city that you are planning to apply for we ask for one condition; that you are aware of the local situation and you have connections with a local partner.
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Submitting your idea
HOW TO ENTER?
All proposals should be entered via challenge platform website. You must register an account before you can submit a proposal. Entrants who don’t wish to share their ideas publicly (for competitive reasons) can indicate so on entry form. After your submission has been uploaded and approved you can still adjust your submission if necessary. Specific requirements for students, professionals and start-ups can be found on the entry form.
> Learn more about how to submit a projectWHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE WHEN SUBMITTING AN IDEA?
Together with our research partner STBY and our local partners in Amsterdam, Nairobi, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Delhi, we have compiled a City Pack. The City Pack contains background information, the design briefing, impact areas and useful links. These and more documents such as the Workshopkit for organising independent idea-generating workshop for the challenge can be found on the city pages.
Can I submit an PROJECT I have already been working on?
Of course! This probably means you have done your research and are already refining your idea. Once you have read the Citypack and you feel your idea suits the briefing you can start submitting your project. If you are working on a project or product that is already in a further stage of development and is being implemented you can still join the challenge on the condition that your reason for entering is that you want to scale up.
I HAVE SUBMITTED MY PROJECT. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
As soon as an entry is submitted it needs be checked to see if it is complete. The only reason for your project to not be approved is when you are missing profile or idea information or if your idea is not relevant to the Challenge. You will receive a notification as soon as your submission has been approved. During the Initiate Phase (until 5 December) you can still edit your submission.
WHAT HAPPENS TO MY IDEA?
As an entrant, you retain full ownership (Intellectual Property) of your idea. Should you choose to share your proposal on the online platform, you give WDCD and its partners the right to publish your idea on all possible media channels throughout the challenge. Should you choose to make your proposal available exclusively to the jury, and you are amongst the finalists (the shortlist), we will ask your permission for publication to the press. Should a potential implementation partner or investor express an interest in developing or supporting your idea (even if you are not among the finalists), you are free to decide how to share your intellectual property. If so desired, we can assist and advise you.
> Learn more about our Terms & ConditionsMy project is not visible – what’s wrong?
In the submission form, entrants must indicate if their idea is visible only to jury members or to the public. You can adjust your project settings at any time during the Initiate phase. If your idea is still not visible after changing your settings from private to public, it may have been put on hold due to language identified by the platform. If a problem persists, please contact us at challenge@whatdesigncando.com
I want to join forces with another participant. How can I do that?
You can link other users as team members to your project. This option can be found in the editing view of your project page. Their names will appear on the right sidebar of your project page – please notice that a project can only have 1 primary maker.
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Selection
WHEN DO I MOVE TO THE NEXT PHASE?
After the initial approval, entries that are made public will be added to the platform’s Entries gallery. On 5 December 2018, all approved entries will be closed for editing and moved to the Nominate phase, where a selection committee from each city will judge the entries and establish a shortlist. All nominated projects will be announced on January 25th 2019. Dates and information relating to the Challenge phases and process are located on the Timeline page.
HOW DOES THE NOMINATE PHASE WORK AND HOW WILL THE SHORTLIST BE CREATED?
The Challenge selection committee is comprised of members of What Design Can Do, IKEA Foundation, our local partners and various creative professionals, climate and social business experts. During the Nominate phase they will put together a shortlist of top ideas in each track for each city. Every entry will be considered and evaluated on the judging criteria: Relevance, Impact, Feasibility, Scalability, Excitement and Commitment. The nominees will be announced on January 25th 2019.
Who will select the winners?
An international jury of leading experts representing all 5 cities city will select and announce the winning projects during WDCD Live in México City in March 2019.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MY PROJECT DOES NOT GET NOMINATED?
We hope you will keep on working on your idea and find other resources to continue. Ideas that have not been selected for nominations and will not move to the next phase, are labeled on the website as ‘Archived’. They will still be visible in our project gallery, unless you have indicated otherwise. Projects which have been ‘Archived’ are no longer editable, but you can always contact us with any special requests.