The INDEX: Design Challenge continues the legacy of the INDEX:│AIGA Aspen Design Challenge, in which hundreds of students from six continents participated. The theme of this second contest is Designing for Education.

INDEX: Director of Programs and Events Lise Vejse Klint explains the need for solutions:
“Creative design can be the solution to so many obvious problems of developing countries in educating their children most effectively.  A design challenge is an excellent way to get creative minds to produce their very best examples of solution-based design, since education is one of the ways out of poverty for developing countries.”

UNICEF Supply Division, Deputy Director, Hanne Bak Pedersen:“Education, especially education of girls, is critical to reduce poverty, lower child and maternal mortality, and roll back HIV/AIDS and other preventable disease.  Development programming in the last decade has made progress to reduce the gender gap in education, however the fact remains that for every 100 boys out of school, there are 122 girls.   Designing products and processes to improve education opportunities and learning outcomes is an exciting dimension towards achieving basic education for all children, and UNICEF is delighted that the next generation of designers is inspired by that commitment.”

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SCHOOLING ISSUES

In close collaboration with UNICEF, the theme of “Designing for Education” has been chosen for the challenge.

Education is the second of the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the target is to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, are able to complete a full course of primary schooling. Achieving universal primary education means more than just full enrollment. According to the MDG, it also encompasses quality education, meaning that all children who regularly attend school learn basic literacy and numeracy skills and complete primary school on time.

According to UNESCO’s 2010 Education for All report (EFA), the number of children out of school has dropped by 33 million worldwide since 1999. South and West Asia more than halved the number of children not in school – a reduction of 21 million. But the latest numbers show that 72 million children are still out of school, and if the trend continues, 56 million children will still be out of school in 2015.
Equally important, besides ensuring more children enroll in school, those children already in school must get a good education.

Literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals, and millions of children are leaving school before acquiring basic skills. In some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, young adults with five years of education have a 40% probability of being illiterate. About 759 million adults lack literacy skills today. Two-thirds are women.

The gender disparity in education is another problem in developing countries today. Even though the share of girls out of school has declined from 58% to 54%, and the gender gap in primary education is narrowing in many countries, the difference is still a problem. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, almost 12 million girls may never enroll. In Yemen, nearly 80% of girls out of school are unlikely ever to enroll, compared with 36% of boys.

Read more about the UN Millennium Development Goals here and UNESCO’s 2010 Education For All report here.  

INTRODUCTION TO THE CHALLENGE

The INDEX: Design Challenge has three subthemes, combined with an open challenge: Improved Education Facilities, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Gender Parity in Education.

Improved Education Facilities can improve life in obvious ways by making school an enjoyable experience while increasing learning ability by improving attention.

Sanitation and Hygiene improve life of students with a healthier environment, thereby reducing illnesses and absences.

Gender Parity in Education should ensure that girls get the same opportunity to go to school as boys and thereby improve their lives through equal opportunities, eliminating gender disparity in education.

Submissions are due by November 26, 2010
Design students, teams of students, and educators wanting to enter the design challenge are required to register by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The e-mail should contain the name, title, and e-mail address of the contact person, the name and country of the institution and department, and an estimate of how many students will enter.

For further information please contact program director, Lise Vejse Klint, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jury

Nii Commey Botchway (Design Educator & Catalyst, Jury member of Design for the First World, ZA), Susan Durston (Associate Director, Education Programmes, UNICEF (US), William Fowler (Executive Director of Education, Cisco, US), Kim Fridbjørg, (Creative Director Build Identity, DK), Kigge Hvid (CEO, INDEX: Design to Improve Life), Hanne Bak Pedersen (Deputy Director, UNICEF Supply Division, DK), Ana Sepulva (Global Leadership Fellow Global Educational Initiative World Economic Forum, CH), Elizabeth Scharpf (Founder and Chief Instigating Officer, Sustainable Health Enterprises, US) Jack Sim (Founder of World Toilet Organization, SG), Professor Peter Stebbing (Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd, D).

PROFILES

INDEX: is collaborating closely with and endorsed by UNICEF on this challenge. In addition, Cumulus (the world organization in design education) has offered to assist in reaching out to educational institutions around the world.

INDEX: is a Danish-based, nonprofit organization established in 2002 that coined the concept “Design to Improve Life.” INDEX: works globally to promote and apply both design and design processes with the capacity to improve the lives of people worldwide. INDEX: is widely recognized for its biennial global design award, the INDEX:Award, the largest monetary design prize in the world, worth €500,000 and encompassing the five categories of INDEX:—Body, Home, Work, Play, and Community.

UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.  The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.  UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org

Article image courtesy of UNICEF/Pirozzi
Front page article image courtesy of UNICEF/Joshua Estey