Every year the Buckminster Fuller Institute asks scientists, artists, entrepreneurs and planers for ideas for a sustainable future. The Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2016 has started. The Call for Proposals is open until 1st of March. For the first time, student proposals will undergo a separate review and selection process. The 100.000 US-Dollar grand prize is awarded to one outstanding strategy.

The competition searches for whole-system-solutions that both demonstrate a clear grasp of the ‘big-picture’ and focus on a well-defined need of critical importance. The strategy should simultaneously address key social, environmental and economic factors.

Buckminster Fuller (1895 – 1983) was a philosopher, architect, constructor and author. He developed a comprehensive systems approach to understanding complex global problems. Fuller conceived and prototyped new strategies intended to enable all of humanity to live free and comfortable lives, without negatively impacting the earth’s ecosystems or the biosphere’s regenerative capacity. He called for a “Design Science Revolution”. Answering this call is what the Challenge is about.

More information

This video presents the main aspects of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge and former participants and winners:

2015 the project GreenWave by Bren Smith won. His non-profit-organisation focuses on the rehabilitation of the ecosystem of the ocean: