This cycle's Young Climate Visionary is Mohamed Salem Mohamed Ali, 23, a farmer and artist from the Sahwari refugee camps, Algeria.

Mohamed’s project, “The Nomad Garden,” is sited in Algeria’s Smara refugee camp, where the arid climate has forced Sahrawi refugees to rely heavily on humanitarian aid for their sustenance. As rising temperatures exacerbate the strain on life in this harsh environment, Mohamed is using his unique garden to experiment with alternative approaches to desert agriculture—including “sandponic” and hydroponic systems—as potential solutions to growing food insecurity within his community. But Mohamed hopes that the project doesn’t remain an oasis: The Nomad Garden is also the subject of Mohamed’s film by the same name, made to encourage more Sahrawi refugees to cultivate crops towards the group’s eventual self-reliance.

“Farming in the desert is a huge challenge,” emphasized Sheika Reem Althani, Cycle 02 juror and director of exhibitions at Qatar Museums. “Mohammed is thinking about it at scale, which is really important, because there are a lot of people in the same situation who don't have the knowledge to grow their own crops to sustain themselves. He’s become a hero in his community.”

Throughout the Prize, Mohamed has been developing strategies to expand his project with mentorship from Brendan McGetrick, creative director of Dubai’s Museum of the Future. As one of this cycle’s Young Climate Prize winners, Mohamed will present his project at The World Around Summit 2025, taking place at the end of Earth Week on April 27, and curated with New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

This cycle's Young Climate Voice is activist and storyteller @amaranwuneli, 17, from Nigeria.

G.R.E.E.N. is the latest initiative from Preserve Our Roots, a Nigeria-based youth climate justice movement Amara founded when she was just 13. Under the trailblazer’s leadership, G.R.E.E.N. is transforming an underutilized plot of land in a low-income Lagos community into a first-of-its-kind park, creating a vibrant space for climate education, activism, and recreation. Built entirely using recycled or repurposed materials, Amara and her team—now 250-strong—are minimizing the project’s environmental footprint while aiming to maximize its social impact, with a broader vision to seed a network of urban green spaces in Nigeria—and a nation-wide movement of environmental stewardship.

“Amara is a powerful communicator who is using the strength of her voice to create a movement,” Aric Chen, Cycle 02 juror and general and artistic director of Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Instituut, said in praise of the project. “And she has the determination to act on what she's advocating, which has allowed—and will continue to allow—her to bring even more people with her.”

Through the Young Climate Prize, Amara found a model mentor in Joseph Zeal-Henry, designer, curator, writer, and co-host of Sound Advice who is now part of Amara´s organization´s Advisory Board. As one of this cycle’s Young Climate Prize winners, Amara will present her project at The World Around Summit 2025, taking place at the end of Earth Week on April 27, and curated with New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

This cycle's Young Climate Designer is Kenneth Uche, 24, from Nigeria.

In Nigeria—where nearly seven in ten households use firewood for cooking—more than 98,000 women die annually due to indoor air pollution. Kenneth’s prize-winning Smokeless Briqs Energy Solutions is tackling the issue from its root with one of their latest innovations: a high-efficiency stove built from locally-sourced and recycled metals. Designed to maximize its benefit to remote communities most affected, the stove also integrates Kenneth’s own TEG technology to convert excess heat into electricity, providing a life-changing source of power to energy-deprived homes in rural Nigeria.

“So many Africans today live without 24-hour power. Creating sustainable solutions allows in modernity, and Kenneth’s system learns from existing technologies to adapt and improve them. It has so much potential to advance,” emphasized Tosin Oshinowo, Cycle 02 juror and acclaimed Lagos-based architect and designer.

Over the course of the Prize, Kenneth has been working to expand Smokeless Briqs’s impact around Nigeria with mentorship from Suchi Reddy, founder of New York City-based architecture, design, and public art practice, Reddy Made Design. As one of this cycle’s Young Climate Prize winners, Kenneth will present his project at The World Around Summit 2025, taking place at the end of Earth Week on April 27, and curated with New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

The honorary Jury Prize for Young Climate Prize Cycle 02 is Dayana Blanco, 23, from Bolivia.

Over the last 10 years, the Uru Uru Lake in the Bolivian Andes—an internationally recognized wetland reserve—has been severely polluted by urban waste and mining discharge from the nearby city of Oruro. Since 2019, Dayana Blanco, an Aymara indigenous woman, and her Uru Uru Team have been adapting the ecological knowledge of their ancestors to restore the lake to health. Using collected plastic waste and harnessing the absorptive abilities of totoras, a native reed, the team’s efforts have so far reduced contamination in parts of the lake by up to 30%.

Throughout the Young Climate Prize, Dayana has been pursuing her goal to bring the team’s efforts to a broader audience with mentorship from curator and co-founder of Trimarchi, Sebastián Acampante, using their work to advocate a role for ancient innovation in healing the planet. “These wetlands are not only important for our community, but for the world. That’s why we’re doing this. In the end, this is the only home we have,” she emphasized.”

Won over by Dayana’s initiative, the Young Climate Prize jury praised its potential to produce a deep “cultural impact” drive “systemic change.” “Dayana is engaged in a community of people interested in the same goal: applying traditional knowledge from specific local contexts, and using scarcity to produce a solution,” said Abraham Cruzvillegas, the influential visual artist behind Autoconstruido.

As one of this cycle’s Young Climate Prize winners, Dayana will present her project at The World Around Summit 2025, taking place at the end of Earth Week on April 27, and curated with New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Aric Chen is General and Artistic Director of Nieuwe Instituut, the Netherlands' national museum and institute for architecture, design and digital culture, in Rotterdam. Chen previously served as Professor and founding Director of the Curatorial Lab at the College of Design & Innovation at Tongji University in Shanghai; Curatorial Director of the Design Miami fairs in Miami Beach and Basel; Creative Director of Beijing Design Week; and Lead Curator for Design and Architecture at M+, Hong Kong, where he oversaw the formation of that new museum’s design and architecture collection and program.

Elizabeth Diller is a partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). Alongside partner Ricardo Scofidio, Diller’s cross-genre work has been distinguished with TIME’s "100 Most Influential People" list and the first MacArthur Foundation fellowship awarded in the field of architecture. She has also received the Wolf Prize in Architecture. Most recently, she led two cultural works significant to New York: The Shed and the expansion of MoMA. Diller also co- created, -directed and -produced The Mile-Long Opera, an immersive choral work staged on the High Line. Diller is a member of the UN Council on Urban Initiatives and a Professor of Architectural Design at Princeton University.

Abraham Cruzvillegas is an artist from Mexico City. His work has been part of exhibitions in institutions such as ParaSite, Hong Kong (2024); SFMoMa, San Francisco (2024); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2024); The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (2022); the Honolulu Biennial (2019); the Sydney Biennial (2018); Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte, Mexico City (2018); Kunsthaus Zürich (2018); Ginza Maison Hermès: Le Forum, Tokyo (2017); the Nicaragua Biennial (2016); Tate Modern, London (2015); Sharjah Biennial 12 (2015); Art Sonje, Seoul, (2015); Museo Jumex, Mexico City; Museo Amparo, Puebla (2014); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2014); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2013); Documenta 13, Kassel (2012); the 12th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (2011); the 6th Seoul Mediacity Biennale (2010); REDCAT, Los Angeles (2009); Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (2008); the 50th Biennale di Venezia (2003); and the 10th Biennial de Havana (1994), among others. In 2016, Harvard University Press published his collected writings ‘The Logic of Disorder.’

Tosin Oshinowo is a Lagos-based Nigerian architect and the principal and founder of Oshinowo
Studio, established in 2013. She has worked on several civic, commercial, and residential projects
throughout Nigeria and is renowned for her socially responsive approach to architecture, design,
and urbanism. Oshinowo’s key designs include a project with the United Nations Development
Programme to build a new community in northern Nigeria for a village displaced by Boko Haram
and the Maryland Mall in Lagos. Her work demonstrates a strong interest in architectural history
while embodying a contemporary perspective on African design and innovation. Her curatorial
work focuses primarily on concerns of culture and identity, embodying a contemporary perspective
of urbanism in the global South. She co-curated the second Lagos Biennial in 2019 and curated
the second Sharjah Architecture Triennial in 2023. She also partnered with Lexus International on a
conceptual design exploration for Design Miami 2020.
Oshinowo is a registered architect in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a member of the Royal
Institute of British Architects. Before founding Oshinowo Studio, she worked in the offices
Skidmore Owings & Merrill in London and the Office of Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterd
where she was part of the team that designed the 4th Mainland Bridge proposal in 2008. Returning
to Lagos, she practised at James Cubitt Architects and led notable projects, including the
corporate head office building for Nigeria LNG in Port Harcou
She has a BA in Architecture from Kingston University London, an MSc in Development and
Planning: Building and Urban Design in Development from the University College London, an AA
Diploma from the Architecture Association London, and a Master’s in Business for Architecture and
Design from IE University Madrid. She is also a 2025 Loeb Fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate
School of Design.

Ben Watson serves as the Chief Creative and Product Officer for MillerKnoll. He has responsibility for the teams shaping the MillerKnoll brand, and for those leading the Herman Miller and Knoll brand’s products, design and marketing -- guiding every touch point of the brands globally from and material innovation and sustainability to showroom and store design. Ben’s fifteen years of creative leadership has been credited with re-invigorating the brand’s design heritage, connecting to new generations of talent and reaching new customer segments
Ben began his career at Knoll with roles in product management and communications. He has also served in design and brand leadership roles at Nike, Moroso and Vitra. He is a graduate of Harvard University.

Elena Ochoa Foster, Lady Foster of Thames Bank, is a Spanish publisher and art curator, and formerly
a Professor of Psychopathology. She has been the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ivorypress
since 1996 to today. She is Vice President and Trustee of the Norman Foster Foundation in London,
United Kingdom, and Madrid, Spain. She is also part of the Board of Directors of the American
Friends of the Norman Foster Foundation.
Elena Ochoa Foster was a Tenured Professor of Psychopathology at the Complutense University of
Madrid, Spain, for almost two decades. She was an Honorary Professor at King's College London until
2001. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to undertake postdoctoral studies at the University of
Illinois Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles, and afterwards becoming Visiting
Professor until 1995.
In 1992, Professor Ochoa Foster was awarded the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Education and Science
Grant to be a Visiting Scholar and Professor at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, to
undertake research on Alzheimer’s disease at Addenbrooke's Hospital. She became a By-Fellow at
Robinson College.
In 1996, in London, Elena Ochoa Foster founded Ivorypress, a private organisation that undertakes
publishing and curatorial activities. Their premises include an art gallery, a publishing house and a
bookshop focusing on photography, architecture and contemporary art. Ivorypress is based in Madrid
and operates globally.
She has curated international exhibitions in close collaboration with the Ivorypress team, including 'C
on Cities' (10th Venice Biennale of Architecture, Venice, Italy, 2006), 'Blood on Paper' (Victoria &
Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, 2008), 'Real Venice' (54th Venice Biennale of Art, Venice,
Italy, 2011; and Somerset House, London, United Kingdom, 2012) and 'ToledoContemporánea'
(Fundación El Greco, Toledo, Spain, 2014), among others.
From 2021 to 2022, to mark the occasion of Ivorypress' twenty-fifth anniversary, Ochoa Foster
curated a multi-institutional exhibitions programme involving museums and libraries across Europe
and the United States.
Elena Ochoa Foster served on the jury of the Princess of Asturias Awards for its Communication and
Humanities category from 2008 to 2010, and served on its Arts category jury from 2013 to 2017. She
is a member of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Library Council and serves on the Advisory Board
of the Prix Pictet Photography Award. As a patron, she supports a variety of international museums
and foundations including the Museo del Prado, alongside several international schools of
contemporary art and photography, such as Spain's Academy of the Arts and the Cinematographic
Sciences. She served from 2005 to 2010 as Chair of the Tate Galleries International Council (United
Kingdom), and Trustee of the Tate Foundation (United Kingdom) and the Isamu Noguchi Foundation
(United States).
Elena Ochoa Foster serves as part of the Board of Trustees of the Serpentine, and she has been the
Chair of its International Council since 2017 to today. She has served as a correspondent academician
in Switzerland for the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. She has also been a member
of the Organising Committee of the Golden Trezzini Awards for Architecture and Design since 2021.

Sheikha Reem Al-Thani is the acting deputy CEO of exhibitions, public art, and Rubaiya, as well as the director (QM). She leads a comprehensive team of museum
professionals, which services all museums and galleries under the QM umbrella. Sheikha Reem Al-Thani also oversees the development and implementation of QM's expansive exhibition schedule that brings world-class programming to Qatar and introduces Qatar's culture and emerging art scene to the rest of the world. Most recently, she has overseen the development of several successful exhibitions, including Forever Valentino, Dior Designer of Dreams, Jeff Koons Lost in America, Kaws: He Eats Alone, Making Doha: 1950- 2030 in 2019, Contemporary Art Qatar in St. Petersburg and Berlin 2018/2017, and Picasso-Giacometti in Qatar in 2017. Sheikha Reem is an adjunct professor teaching exhibition design at Virginia Commonwealth Qatar, serves on the IE School of Architecture and Design International Committee, served on the board of IN-Q Enterprises, and has 14 years of experience in museums and exhibitions.

Before her current role, Sheikha Reem Al-Thani was Head of Exhibition Design, responsible for designing and producing all temporary exhibitions organized by QM. Before joining the QM Exhibitions Department, she was an Exhibition Designer at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. While at Mathaf, she worked with notable professionals worldwide and developed her skills in international museum exhibition design.

Sheikha Reem Al-Thani is also a multidisciplinary designer who works on activating space through a human approach to design. In 2015, she became the first Qatari to hold a Master's in Design in Adaptive Reuse Interior Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Before that, she graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar in 2010 with a double major in Interior Design and Fashion Design.

Zoë Ryan is Director of the Hammer Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to taking up this post in January 2025, she was Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania. Since joining ICA in 2020, she focused on expanding the institution’s role as a launchpad for contemporary art, research, and ideas across disciplines; developing a strong institutional culture; and building community around ICA’s program as a resource within Philadelphia, nationally, and internationally.

Prior to ICA, Zoë was John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she set the vision for collecting and exhibiting modern and contemporary architecture and design as expanded fields of practice that are in dialogue with the socio-political conditions of the time. Her research explores how the arts can be a catalyst for social and cultural change and she is an active lecturer and panelist at national and international institutions.

Recent projects include a co-edited volume of writings by Cuban-Mexican designer Clara Porset, many translated into English for the first time (Concordia University Press, 2024). Past projects include the exhibition and catalogue: In a Cloud, in a Wall, in a Chair: Six Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury (2019); the edited volume: As Seen: Exhibitions that Made Architecture and Design History (2017); and major survey exhibitions of the work of architects and designers, including: Christien Meindertsma, Studio Gang, Bertrand Goldberg, Konstantin Grcic, Max Lamb, and the Ambiguous Standards Institute.

In 2014, Ryan was the curator of the second Istanbul Design Biennial: The Future is Not What it Used to Be. Ryan has taught graduate courses in design history and theory at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a member of the Design Trust International Advisory Council, Hong Kong; a Board of Advisor for MAS Context; and on the Executive Committee of the International Confederation of Architecture Museums.

The team at Viaje al Microcosmos believes that cities and nature can coexist in harmony. They combine science and art to foster citizen environmental stewardship, and bridge the historical disconnect between communities and their natural surroundings. In the context of the climate crisis, restoring urban rivers is crucial for building resilience. The team’s Water Field Journal invites locals to explore and monitor the Santa Catarina River in Monterrey, México, using printable templates. Participants document water characteristics, quality indicators, and personal reflections. With over 250 entries, this project drives evidence-based conservation and deepens our connection with water, elevating it from a resource to a fundamental element in the web of life.

Urban solid waste management poses a significant challenge for major cities in Brazil and globally. As with many social issues, the populations most affected are often the most disadvantaged, such as in Aglomerado da Serra, one of Brazil’s largest favelas, in Belo Horizonte. In response to community demands for improved local waste management, self-management strategies have been developed and assessed collaboratively with residents. The More Favela, Less Trash initiative involves the design and installation of over 400 waste hooks to keep garbage off the ground; a 20-meter mural featuring maps of waste collection sites and other key information; guidance on the proper disposal of construction debris and accessing services for vehicle removal; and the development of community gardens and vegetable plots to enhance nutritional outcomes for children.

Wasted Treasures offers a cost-effective, eco-friendly heating solution by transforming organic waste into high-calorie biomass products, addressing Lebanon’s dual energy and environmental crises. By converting waste into sustainable fuel, the project not only reduces reliance on traditional wood and fossil fuels, but also helps communities lower their heating expenses by up to 60%. Wasted Treasures’ biomass logs and pellets products are produced from organic materials such as olive mill waste and forest prunings. These materials are often underutilized, contributing to environmental hazards like deforestation and wildfires. The organization’s innovative approach not only provides a clean energy alternative, but also promotes responsible waste management, diverting waste from landfills and reducing CO2 emissions. It also engages communities in sustainable practices, creating awareness about waste reuse, circular economies, and the importance of eco-friendly energy solutions.

After Mohammed Anowar fled Myanmar with his family to a refugee camp in Bangladesh, he saw hundred of trees being cut down and decided to start a climate hub. The Community Climate Action Initiative aims to tackle pressing climate challenges such as heatwaves, landslides, and flooding through a multifaceted approach. The project includes a Tree Planting Campaign designed to combat deforestation and mitigate heat impacts by increasing local green cover. Complementing this, Climate Awareness Sessions are held to educate community members in the Kutupalong refugee camp about climate change and effective resilience strategies. Additionally, Youth Leadership Training is provided to equip young leaders with the skills needed to advocate for climate action and promote sustainable practices. The initiative is expected to yield a range of positive outcomes, including an improved local environment, heightened climate awareness, and a cadre of empowered youth spearheading climate resilience efforts in the community.

Blossom Eromosele creates sustainable solar-powered modular housing for refugees. Crafted from recycled tarpaulin and aluminum, and drawing inspiration from traditional African huts, these solar-powered housing units are locally produced in Nigeria for just $120 each. This innovative solution combines tradition with modern technology, offering dignified shelter in a sustainable manner. The project also empowers refugees through job opportunities, developing cultural connections to their heritage, and fostering a holistic and sustainable method of support.

We never fall apart, because we never fall together is an interactive, experiential assemblage exploring life, more-than-human relationships, and the expanding notion of multiplicity and selves. Using "Social Fermentation" as a concept, this work invites multiple human and nonhuman agents to collaborate and interact, forming as much appearing as disappearing.
Designed as a site for rituals and reflections, Owen’s project includes diverse formats that include a drag comedy series that interviews non-speaking objects, ceramics and film created in collaboration with the River Thames, and live cultures of bacteria and yeasts within jars of fermented tea and vegetables.

McKenna Dunbar’s project Electrivive bridges the skilled labor gap in renewable energy by training marginalized communities in Virginia, including incarcerated individuals and students, in building electrification. Developed with co-founder Jake Barnet and Flipp Inc., an accredited NABCEP NPO, Electrivive’s curriculum on energy-efficient building design, grid-interactive solutions, and IRA funding priorities has made waves. The group aims to partner with the Virginia Department of Corrections to expand Electrivive and NABCEP programming to high-need prisons and jails across the state. By equipping participants with marketable skills, Electrivive aims to reduce recidivism, foster economic growth, and promote sustainability.

With EcoWave, a trio of young activists aims to draw attention to the issues affecting four of Bangladesh’s most polluted lakes and rivers. Each body of water faces a different challenge, but all are affected by climate change and the increased temperatures and varied rainfall patterns currently impacting Bangladesh. This initiative aims to raise awareness through social media and a research journal, educating the public about the issues and connecting them to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that focus on clean water and sanitation, climate action, and life below water. This project includes a self-tutoring segment offering practical steps to restore these rivers and lakes, emphasizing the need for climate resilience, sustainable practices, and environmental stewardship.

The Uru Uru Team was initiated by Dayana Blanco and a group of Indigenous youth from the Vito community in southwestern Bolivia to protect Uru Uru Lake, which has been severely polluted by waste and mining effects from the nearby city of Oruro—threatening the Indigenous community, local flora and fauna, and an internationally recognized wetland reserve. As a solution, the team has developed floating rafts made from recycled materials, upon which they place Totoras native aquatic plants that absorb heavy metals and contaminants via phytoremediation. These rafts and plants have successfully reduced lake pollution by 30%. The team has also established a community garden to support the maintenance of the rafts and generate income, showcasing an effective model for ensuring the well-being of an Indigenous community, preserving knowledge and cultural identity, and protecting biodiversity.

Black Girl Environmentalist is a US-based organization founded by 25-year old Wawa Gatheru, dedicated to creating pathways and fostering retention for Black girls, women, and gender-expansive individuals in the climate movement. By empowering emerging climate leaders of color, the organization seeks to help them unlock their full potential and drive impactful environmental change. Gatheru is a trailblazing advocate whose accolades include Glamour College Woman of the Year, L'Oréal Paris Woman of Worth, and Forbes 30 Under 30, Black Girl Environmentalist is committed to reshaping the climate movement by centering and uplifting the voices of underrepresented communities.

Alinta Furnell is pioneering a breakthrough in material science with her Synbiote lab, developing high-performance, engineering-grade biomaterials to replace non-renewable materials. While traditional bio-based materials have so far been limited in industrial applications, Furnell’s innovative approach uses bio-waste to create sustainable alternatives that outperform conventional materials in advanced use cases. Her work not only promotes a circular supply chain but also highlights the crucial role of materials in combating the climate crisis. Furnell believes that by revolutionizing material science, we can lay the foundation for a new wave of sustainable innovation across industries.

GreenQuest is an innovative platform that leverages gamification, storytelling, and augmented reality to educate youth, small enterprises, and communities about climate change and sustainability. The platform offers both video and board games that allow players to engage in climate-related challenges, such as waste reduction, conservation, and sustainable development. As they progress, players earn rewards, empowering them to take real-world action. GreenQuest has already impacted over 1,500 children directly and engaged more than 2,000 virtually, removing over 1,000 tons of plastic waste from local communities through gamified waste-reduction challenges. By incorporating interactive learning with climate action, GreenQuest addresses the gaps in climate change education while creating a fun, inclusive environment for participants to learn and make a positive difference.

Taking Flight is Karinne Tennenbaum’s educational initiative that is inspiring the next generation of climate leaders by fostering an environmental ethic among youth through the magic of birding. There are three core pillars: research and conservation; environmental education and community engagement; and diversity, equity and inclusion. Karinne seeks to combat climate change by acknowledging and empowering the unique ornithological perspectives of students, teachers, scientists, advocates, photographers, artists, and podcasters. Founded in 2019, her initiative has impacted hundreds at the local, state, national, and international level. The project is a grassroots mission that can revolutionize the future, one young birder at a time.

Natasha Nisa Islami’s project began when she witnessed the huge amount of waste corn cobs leftover after harvest. Instead of burning or discarding the material, her organization Keebon saw the potential of these corn cobs as a wood alternative in her native Indonesia, which is experiencing deforestation due to high demand for lumber. Keebon has already processed over 170 kg of corn cobs sourced directly from farmers in Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta, and transformed them into wall panels, chairs, and other interior products. The organization aims to continue to create sustainable products and positively impact communities in the region by involving villagers in the production of eco-friendly souvenirs from agricultural waste.

Twende Green Ecocycle is a Kenyan social enterprise on a mission to combat plastic pollution and empower communities through sustainable education. The organization achieves this by collecting, primarily, marine plastic waste from Mombasa's informal settlements. This plastic is then transformed into high-quality, durable, tree-saving school furniture, specifically eco-desks, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional wood furniture. By providing affordable, eco-friendly desks, Twende Green Ecocycle not only fosters environmental responsibility, but increases access to education and creates job opportunities for young people.

Valentina Perez Escobar’s LixiLab tackles heavy-metal water contamination using a biodesign approach that bridges the gap between science and real-world applications. In collaboration with a farming community located near Colombia’s main landfill site, which is affected by soil and water contamination, LixiLab designed Bacua: an on-site, portable water filter system that employs dead bacteria to cleanse water of heavy metals intended for irrigation purposes. LixiLab also addresses concerns of crop loss and animal illnesses due to metal contamination through educational workshops that raise awareness about the issues and explain the bacteria’s performance, fostering community engagement and biotechnology appropriation, contributing to the Clean Water Sustainable Development Goal.

In Algeria’s Smara refugee camp, 23-year-old Mohamed Salem is transforming the desert with his project, The Nomad Garden, an experimental farm designed to foster self-sufficiency. As international aid dwindles and temperatures rise, Salem, a refugee, artist, and environmental visionary, is using innovative methods like sandponics and hydroponics to grow organic food. His garden -built from discarted household items like tires and plastic bottles- includes livestock, greenhouses, and a water filtration system, offering a sustainable model for communities facing similar challenges. A short film he created has inspired other refugees to adopt these practices, signaling a shift toward resilience and independence in one of the world’s harshest environments.

Filbert Minja uses documentary filmmaking to raise awareness about the pressing issues of climate change, through authentic and engaging storytelling. His focus is on amplifying the voices of underrepresented individuals from marginalized communities who are at the forefront of climate action, but often overlooked. Through a series of documentaries and short films, their stories of resilience, innovation, and determination are shared with local and global audiences, connecting viewers to the human side of climate change while presenting actionable solutions. A unique aspect of this project is the integration of on-the-ground restoration efforts alongside the films’ storytelling. Filbert organizes community film screenings twice a year, allowing local communities to engage with the content and discuss the importance of environmental conservation. Additionally, he has established a community tree nursery as part of the project near the Rau forest reserve in Kilimanjaro region, contributing directly to reforestation and enhancing local climate resilience.

Fowota Mortoo’s project seeks to preserve the ecological and cultural heritage of Keta, a town on the southeastern coast of Ghana. Having experienced significant sea erosion over the past few decades, much of Keta’s ecological knowledge has similarly been eroded, with many words from the local Ewe language fading out of use or being replaced by English. Conscious of how language functions as an archive of our relation to place, Fowota is developing a series of maps of Keta, shaped by Ewe words and composed of images and stories that safeguard the town’s history.

Francesca Norrington’s project, The Ocean Nation, is an exploration of political imagination grounded in legal frameworks. It proposes the idea of recognising the High Seas as an independent country, to highlight its essential role in the survival of both human and more-than-human realms, and address the disconnection between people and nature. The project draws on two key perspectives: one rooted in art, history, and philosophy; the other focused on the political, social, and economic structures that have led to the exploitation of marine resources. Francesca proposes a framework for the High Seas, with a parliament comprising scientists, artists, and historians, who would act as guardians or representatives of the more-than-human realm. This governance model advocates for the protection of the ocean, addressing flaws in current treaties and conservation efforts, and potentially overruling existing extractive policy.

The GREEN Sustainability Park is an initiative from Amara´s organization Preserve Our Roots that is transforming an underutilized area in a low-income Lagos community into a sustainable hub for environmental education, youth empowerment, and recreation. Constructed entirely from recycled and repurposed materials, this park aims to achieve a minimal environmental footprint while serving as a vibrant space for social interaction, outdoor activities, and climate action. As the central hub for all Preserve Our Roots operations, the park will host workshops, educational programs, and capacity-building initiatives that empower young people to lead climate justice efforts and implement sustainable practices within their communities.

Optim Energy, founded by Jeremiah Thoronka, is a pioneering social enterprise dedicated to eradicating energy poverty in Sierra Leone through innovative, sustainable solutions. The initiative specializes in harnessing local resources and developing solar mini-grids for energy-deprived communities. Jeremiah’s mission is to illuminate lives and empower communities, enhancing livelihoods and fostering socioeconomic growth. By transitioning households and educational institutions away from fossil fuels, Optim Energy promotes environmental stewardship, climate education, and entrepreneurship through energy projects, making sure the true social value of energy is experienced by each member of the community Jeremiah’s team works with.

Kenneth Uche and his team created Smokeless Briqs Energy Solution as an eco-inclusive energy project that harnesses clean-energy technologies and agricultural waste to address energy poverty, indoor air pollution, environmental degradation, and climate change in underserved communities in Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, more than 80% of the households in rural Nigeria use kerosene and firewood fuel for cooking, placing high demand on the country’s fast-disappearing forests. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) claims that over 98,000 Nigerian women die annually from smoke inhaled while cooking with firewood—the leading cause of death after malaria and HIV—while kerosene use is the leading cause of lung cancer and leukemia globally. In this context, Kenneth hopes to positively affect deforestation and health through his Smokeless Briqs project.

Balay Yatu (Balay: home in Filipino; Yatu: earth or memory in Kapampangan), set in Manila, is poised to become Asia’s first youth-curated creative space focused on regenerating traditional cultural and ecological knowledge for nature-based climate solutions. Founded by sisters Natasha and Isabella Tanjutco, the project connects urban spaces with a network of island community museums across the Philippines, designed using neo-vernacular architecture. With the Philippines on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the sisters collaborate with designers, artists, and youth movements to reimagine climate solutions through spatial experiences, product design, and research that fosters intergenerational co-creation. Natasha and Isabella were recently featured in Vogue Philippines.

The H2O (Help-2-Others) Solutions for Climate Action initiative addresses the urgent crisis of safe water and sanitation access in rural Pakistan, where 80% of rural women are responsible for collecting water from distant sources using heavy traditional clay pots. The H2O Wheel—a climate-smart, labor-saving 40L water-carrying device—alleviates the physical burden of water collection. It reduces the physical strain by 90% and cuts water-collection time in half, giving women more time for productive activities. Additionally, the H2O initiative works with rural women to produce menstrual Pads, creating an income-generating opportunity and empowering them and their communities to manage menstruation confidently.

Formafantasma is a research-based design studio investigating the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping the discipline of design today. Whether designing for a client or developing self – initiated projects, the studio applies the same rigorous attention to context, processes and details. Formafantasma’s analytical nature translates in meticulous visual outcomes, products and strategies.

Hella Jongerius is one of the world’s leading designers, known for her research-driven approach and vigorous work on uniting craftsmanship and industrial production, infusing mass produced objects with imperfection, sensibility and character. She founded her Jongeriuslab design studio in 1993, and has worked on commissioned projects for Vitra, Maharam, the interior design of the Delegates’ Lounge of the United Nations Headquarters and the cabin interiors for the Dutch airline KLM. Jongerius’s work can be found in the permanent collections including the MoMA, the Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Die Neue Sammlung and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. Originally from the Netherlands, Jongerius has lived and worked in Berlin since 2009.

Amy Kean is a creative sociologist, bestselling author and the CEO and creative director of Good Shout: a social L&D company that helps people find their voice. Her 20-year advertising career featured leadership innovation roles in some of the world's biggest agencies for some of the world's most culturally relevant brands, but now she spends her time helping people communicate in a way that's real, confident and completely unforgettable.

Mariam Issoufou is the founder and principal of architecture and research practice, atelier masōmī. The firm tackles public, cultural, residential, commercial and urban design projects. It is headquartered in Niamey, with a design studio in New York. The firm’s completed projects include the Hikma Community Complex, which won two Global LafargeHolcim Awards for sustainable architecture and Niamey 2000 Housing project, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Issoufou is a professor of Architecture Heritage and Sustainability at ETH Zurich.

Liam Young is a designer, director and BAFTA nominated producer who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. Described by the BBC as ‘the man designing our futures’, his visionary films and speculative worlds are both extraordinary images of tomorrow and urgent examinations of the environmental questions facing us today.

Suchi Reddy founded Reddymade in 2002 with an approach to design that privileges the emotional quality of human engagement with space. Guided by her mantra “form follows feeling,” Reddy’s architectural and artistic practice is informed by her research at the intersection of neuroscience and the arts. Working towards a larger idea of “design justice,” she is dedicated to expanding our notions of empathy, equity, and agency—where the importance of design is recognized as an asset for the benefit of all, not just for some.

Germane Barnes is a Chicago-born, Miami-based architect, designer, and founder of Studio Barnes, a research and design practice. He is an Associate Professor and the Director of The Community Housing & Identity Lab (CHIL) at the University of Miami School of Architecture, a platform for investigations of architecture’s social and political resiliency. His work has also been featured and acquired to the permanent collections of international institutions most notably San Francisco MoMA, The Art Institute of Chicago, The New York Times, and The National Museum of African American History and Culture. His project, Griot was widely published, as a participant in Biennale Architettura 2023, Laboratory of the Future.

Arancha Martinez has led the creation of People's Protection App a solution that uses the power of AI to help make visible "invisible" people that lack of an ID to give them access to their fundamental rights. She has received some important awards, such as the Citizens Award for her work in the field of human rights or the European Commission Innovator Woman 2020. Since 2017, she leads Comgo, from where she is helping make Impact Management & Measurement mainstream, providing efficiency, traceability and transparency to the emerging impact industry.

Brendan McGetrick is a writer, designer and curator. His work has appeared in publications in over thirty countries, including The New York Times, Wired, The Financial Times, Art Review, Der Spiegel, Domus, and Vogue Nippon. In 2014, he co-curated Fair Enough in the Russian pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. From 2015-2019, McGetrick served as Director of Global Grad Show, an annual exhibition of graduate projects from the world’s leading design and technology schools, held as part of Dubai Design Week. Since 2019 he has served as Creative Director of Museum of the Future in Dubai. Brendan McGetrick is the Creative Director of the Museum of the Future in Dubai.

Gurmeet Sian is an Architect and the founder of Office Sian Architecture + Design, with work that has been recognised in local and national awards. He is passionate about collaborating with communities to understand how places can be improved through the built environment and design, and to benefit the well-being of people from all backgrounds of society.
Gurmeet is Chair of the London Borough of Southwark Community Design Review Panel, is a Design Review Panel member at the London Borough of Redbridge, Camden and Harrow, and is a Design Council Expert. He is a winner of the RIBA London Project Architect of the Year award.

The inaugural curator in charge of contemporary art and programming at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Claudia Schmuckli is also a co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Collective Art+Climate Action dedicated to building a sustainable art world. Since 2020, A+CA unites and supports museums, galleries, and artists in their efforts to understand and address the art sector’s climate impacts while supporting and generating exhibitions and programs that address the climate emergency. At the Fine Arts Museums, Schmuckli has curated several important exhibitions concerned with the intersection of environmental and social justice, including Specters of Disruption in 2018, Uncanny Valley: Being Human in the Age of AI in 2020, Wangechi Mutu: I Am Speaking, Are you Listening? in 2021, Judy Chicago: A Retrospective in 2021, and most recently Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care in 2024.

CG Foisy makes audio + visual work. Through a range of influences, including Jill Freedman, Brian Eno, Erroll Morris and Chris Marker, hee has sought to develop a style that combines his interests in time capsules, retro-futurism, decisive moments, duck-rabbits, uncanny valleys, Gödel sentences, and prog- rock troubadouria. CG's work has appeared on stage at Symphony Space, 92Y, NYC River to River Music Festival, CMJ Music Marathon and the Guggenheim Museum. On screen his work has been shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, Houston Cinema Arts Society, DOC NYC; in-flight with Delta Airlines and even in orbit aboard the International Space Station. He enjoys experiments with archival materials and has done collaborations with NYC’s venerable programmers of media ephemera (Cinema 16, WFMU radio, Anthology Film Archives). He works as an adjunct faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books.

Joseph Zeal-Henry is a designer, curator and writer whose work attempts to bring the world of public policy and cultural production together in the practice of city-making. He is currently the 2024 ArtLab Loeb Fellow at Harvard University and co-curator of “Dancing Before the Moon” at the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. He is co-host of SOUND ADVICE and previously held roles at City Hall in London and specialised in the development of cultural infrastructure for the Mayor of London. Joseph has written for TANK magazine, Dezeen and Casbella and is a trustee of UD Music, a charity supporting the next generation of talent in British Black Music.

A nationally recognized design leader, researcher, prolific writer, and educator, Katie Swenson is a Senior Principal at MASS Design Group, where she leads the Advocacy team with Amie Shao. Katie’s work explores how critical design practice can, and should, promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities. She has over 20 years of experience in the theoretical and practical applications of design thinking and is a talented global public speaker and thought leader. Katie teaches at the Parsons School of Design at The New School and lectures extensively on sustainable community development and affordable housing. Katie was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2019.

Dong-Ping Wong is an architect and Founding Director of Food Architects, an international environmental design practice located in Chinatown, New York.

Artist Lucy McRae leads a multi-disciplinary, art-research studio investigating the impact future technologies have on human evolution. By designing hypothetical worlds that use speculation as a tool, Lucy's work provokes an exploration of who we are, and where we are headed.

Justin McGuirk is the director of Future Observatory, the UK's design research programme for the green transition, and the former chief curator of the Design Museum. A writer and curator, he has produced numerous high-profile exhibitions and publishing projects. In 2012 he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. He is a regular speaker at universities and conferences around the world, and his writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the Guardian, e-flux and numerous art and design journals. He is the author or editor of several books, including Radical Cities (Verso, 2014), Waste Age (2022) and Ai Weiwei: Making Sense (2023).

Focusing on communities marginalized by expansive urban developments, King’s research has carried her across the globe; from analyzing the impacts of mass-migration on the micro-economies of UK high streets, to designing decentralized sanitation systems for sprawling ad hoc settlements in New Delhi. Wherever these projects lead them, King and her team adopt a methodology of “unlearning”: of leaving behind what they have been taught, to allow themselves to learn from the world anew, working closely with communities to design and test alternative, site-based strategies towards building their own visions for the future.

LI Hu and HUANG Wenjing are founding partners of OPEN Architecture, Kenzo Tange Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, visiting professors at Tsinghua University and China Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Led by LI Hu and HUANG Wenjing, major projects by OPEN include: UCCA Dune Art Museum, Chapel of Sound, Sun Tower, Tank Shanghai, Shanfeng Academy, Shanghai Qingpu Pinghe International School, Pingshan Performing Arts Center, Tsinghua Ocean Center, Garden School/Beijing No.4 High School Fangshan Campus, and Gehua Youth and Cultural Center.
OPEN’s work has been widely recognized, with recent awards including the AIA International Design Awards Honor Award (US), Arcasia Awards Gold (AS), LEAF Awards (EU), AR Future Project Awards (UK), P/A Awards (US), Civic Trust Awards (UK), and Iconic Awards Best of Best (GER), among many others.

Scott Massing is an intrapreneur within MillerKnoll’s Global Innovation group, where he works to integrate emerging technologies within scalable business models. He draws from over two decades of broad experiences in start-ups, corporate R&D, and product development consultancies. Currently, Scott is focused on enabling carbon footprint reductions across MillerKnoll's product portfolio by integrating biomass-balanced foam technologies.

Throughout his career, Scott has developed hundreds of products for more than 50 corporate clients across industries. His work has encompassed the full industry lifecycle, from emerging technologies to mature business models under disruption. He is adept at using design thinking methodologies to uncover new growth opportunities and apply the lenses of feasibility, viability, and desirability to scale products that optimize the triple bottom line.

Diana Campbell is the Artistic Director of the Dhaka-based Samdani Art Foundation in Bangladesh and the Chief Curator of Dhaka Art Summit, having led its critically acclaimed editions from 2014 to 2023, and is currently envisioning the 7th edition. Concurrently, she is the Artistic Director of the inaugural edition of the Bukhara Biennial launching in September 2025 and Head of Global Initiatives of the Hartwig Art Foundation and Facilitation Group member of AFIELD. Campbell writes extensively on indigeneity, art, and architecture.

Acampante is a catalyst for Latinamerican design. He is the co-founder of TRIMARCHI, a design gathering that has brought together thousands of designers inside a stadium for the past 20 years.
He was part of the “Latinamerican Identities” program (UNESCO), where he learned methods to study city cultural scenes; since then he continued developing on the global scale of Domestika, where he led curating teams in Paris, Milan, New York, San Pablo, and Berlin. Expanding Latam´s imaginary, he collaborated with DieGestaltenVerlag (Germany) and NaverPress (Corea) on their volumes around Latinamerican design and joined the LondonDesignBiennale as curator. Actually, he resides in Mexico, as Jury President and Curator at the Mexican Bienal of Illustration.

Cambodian-born Malika Leiper is a writer and cultural strategist. After receiving her master's in urban planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design she joined the industrial design studio Stephen Burks Man Made as the director of cultural affairs. There, she helped launch the studio's traveling solo exhibition "Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place" synthesizing the last ten years of practice uniting art, craft and community. In parallel she was an inaugural fellow of the Het Nieuwe Instituut's Design Drafts program for emerging design writers and her work has been published in places such as Domus, Disegno Journal, and The Architect's Newspaper.

Paulo Tavares is an architect, author, and educator. His practice dwells at the frontiers between architecture, visual cultures, and advocacy. Tavares’s projects have been featured in various exhibitions and publications worldwide, including Oslo Architecture Triennial, Istanbul Design Biennale, São Paulo Art Biennial, and most recently the Venice Biennale 2023. He is the author of several books questioning the colonial legacies of modernity, including Des-Habitat (2019), Lucio Costa era Racista? (2022), and Derechos No-Humanos (2022). The curatorial project Terra, was awarded the Golden Lion for best national participation at La Biennale di Venecia 2023. He was co-curator of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial and was part of the advisory curatorial board of Sharjah Biennial 2023. Tavares teaches at Columbia GSAPP and at the University of Brasília, and leads the spatial advocacy agency autonoma.

Klaus Thymann is a Danish explorer, scientist, multi-award-winning photographer, journalist and filmmaker with a focus on contemporary issues and the climate emergency. Klaus Thymann has an incredible track record of making newsworthy scientific and environmental discoveries repeatedly featured in premium global media outlets. He is a consulting scientist with Technical University of Denmark, a Fellow at the Explorers Club of New York, and a Fellow at the United Kingdom's Royal Geographical Society. His past work has received funding from Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. He collaborates with academic institutions including Cambridge University, Stockholm University and Oxford University. Thymann has been the subject of films for CNN and The Guardian and has been featured by New Scientist several times.

Amy Luthman is the Senior Manager at Sustainable Product Design & Innovation for MillerKnoll and has
over 20 years of experience in the contract furniture industry. She leads the Design for Environment Engineering team at MillerKnoll, to set goals, drive innovative solutions, and positively impact people and the planet. Amy was instrumental in MillerKnoll’s participation in NextWave Plastics, a pioneering consortium dedicated to combating ocean-bound plastic waste by creating a scalable supply chain.

Ana Gutierréz is the creator of Colombian-based research and community architecture practice, Organizmo. Her practice is informed by a view to making visible the abundance that exists in all territories. As a first approach, she obtained a BFA in Architectural Design at the Parsons School of Design in New York City and a Master's Degree in Interactive Telecommunications, ITP-from New York University. She found the power of doing and community construction by creating Organizmo-Research Center for regeneration and exchange of intercultural knowledge. Moved by the fragile strength of local knowledge and resources, she creates experiences around research for the development of Sustainable Habitats. In love with the earth as a construction material and aware of the need to recover vernacular architecture in rural areas of Colombia, she becomes an explorer and manager of possible worlds, creating new paradigms of spatiality where infrastructures are an invitation to the beginning of dialogues with the non-human and the creation of new rituals.

Dr. Sean Connelly is a Pacific Islander American artist born, residing, and working in Honolulu, Kona, Oʻahu. Sean's multifaceted practice encompasses sculpture, installation, film, design, and cartography, frequently integrating experimental methodologies. Their work delves into the interplay with the built environment, intersecting oceanic intellect and futures in contemporary practice, spanning both tangible and theoretical domains. This exploration is informed by cultural, ecological, historical, material, water, food sovereignty, and land justice themes. In addition to their active art practice, Sean runs AFTEROCEANIC Built Environments Lab.

Rosario Hevia is the founder of ECOCITEX, a textile circular economy model based in Chile. Hevia studied industrial engineering while actively volunteering. After a finance career, her children's birth inspired a shift: in 2018, she founded TRAVIESO, a children's clothing exchange store with a charitable twist. In 2020, Hevia launched ECOCITEX. The company recycles 5 tons of clothing monthly, transforming it into high-quality threads while offering marginalized women jobs. Her initiatives combat textile waste, igniting global awareness.

Hunter Braithwaite is Senior Vice President of Cultural Counsel. Over the years he has led strategic communication campaigns for numerous organizations in the fields of contemporary art, architecture, and philanthropy. A longtime art writer, his work has appeared in various publications. He serves on the Board of Directors of Storefront for Art and Architecture.

Chicago native, Stephen Burks is an industrial designer, product development consultant, and educator whose innovative approach to design synthesizes craft, community, and industry. Independently and through association with various non-profits, he has collaborated with artisans and craftspeople in over ten countries on six continents. Stephen and his studio, Stephen Burks Man Made, have been commissioned by many of the world’s leading design-driven brands to develop collections that engage hand production as a strategy for innovation to express a more pluralistic vision of design. His socially engaged practice seeks to broaden the limits of design consciousness by challenging who benefits from and participates in contemporary design.

Namra Khalid was cycle 01´s YOUNG CLIMATE VISIONARY! Namra Khalid understands that redesigning the city of Karachi, Pakistán without fully understanding its current state and potential precarity "will only exacerbate dysfunctionality," so she is producing the first socio-climatic map of the urban area in its entirety through her project Karachi Cartography. This monumental task will uncover the evolution of the city through maps, and facilitate the creation of projections for its future. As said by the Jury: "Mapping and cartography are extremely necessary and essential in solving climate issues, particularly in Pakistan, where catastrophic flooding occurred just months ago. The immediacy of this issue is ever-prevalent, and makes Namra's work all the more urgent. Her project is clear in its intentions and is very promising on all levels." Khalid's Young Climate Prize mentor was Henk Ovink, the Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Netherlands and Sherpa for the UN 2023 Water Conference. As former advisor for President Obama's Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, Ovink is much familiar with the impacts of extreme weather that Khalid hopes to plan for.

Pamela Elizarraráz Actores was cycle 01´s YOUNG CLIMATE VOICE! Pamela EA is a documentary photographer and explorer from México who focuses on gender equality and climate justice, and aims to increase accessibility to literacy in the evolving field of climate education through her work. She is a co-founder of Climate Words, a growing database of climate lexicon and images, which was created to demystify the conversation around climate justice. Her project, Climate Words, is an online database building a lexicon to make climate literacy more accessible by inviting pioneers in climate discourse to define a word central to their work in their own voice. With a focus on design and storytelling, the project bridges the gap in climate knowledge, facilitating learning and inspiring new climate advocates to take action. As said by the Jury: "Super compelling, interesting, dynamic, and powerful. Finding the right words and common definitions for talking about climate change, and, importantly, educating around these terms, is an invaluable tool, since creating accessible language can and will lead to definitive action. Pamela's project has the potential to achieve great things beyond the world of art, and to become highly impactful in reality." Pamela´s Young Climate Prize mentor was writer and curator Mariana Pestana.

Foday David Kamara was cycle 01´s YOUNG CLIMATE DESIGNER!
Foday David Kamara's project, Ecovironment, reflects and builds upon on his childhood "surrounded by plastic waste." The student-turned-entrepreneur originally from Sierra Leone, has turned his idea for reducing plastic pollution into a social enterprise in Rwanda. Ecovironment uses plastic extrusion technology to transform waste into bricks and paving tiles, reducing reliance on imported cement bricks. This aspect alone boosts inbuilt resilience in a community that can rely on itself for building materials, as well as addressing the environmental issues caused by post-consumer plastic waste and unsustainable building materials. Foday´s project, has so far created 60 jobs, recycled 460 tonnes of plastics, and used its profits to feed 1,500 school children. As said by the jury: "This project stands out not only for the idea of recycling plastic waste in a realistic and scalable way, but also for the emphasis on systems, training, and education, and the plan to embed these broader ideas into local communities. The project can also be applied to other countries and has the potential for truly global impact." Kamara´s Young Climate Prize mentor was Dominic Leong, a founding partner at Leong Leong,an internationally recognized architecture studio and co-founder of Hawai'i Nonlinear.

Aziba Ekio received a special Jury Prize on this year's Young Climate Prize!
Countering the statistical numbness of conversations surrounding the climate crisis, Aziba Ekio provides a vivid portrait of the "subtle, emotional, and social effects" of climate change on the Nigerian population through her writing. Her locality, Abuja, is already facing the effects of global warming that the majority of the global North is yet to see, and her poem anthology, The color, Green, is her "contribution to the fight for climate action. It contains 50 poems about the material impacts of extreme weather and pollution on her own life, and the lives of others who receive minimal media attention. As said by the Jury: "As one of the oldest tools of communication, poetry still manages to remain so powerful today, and helps to grow a collective weight around issues. Aziba's poetry is extremely stirring, uplifting, passionate, and moving, and her strong voice in the fight to tackle the climate crisis will undoubtedly be heard." Ekio´s Young Climate Prize mentor was founder and director of Counterspace and architect, Sumayya Vally.

Tackling issues of fast fashion, sustainable consumption, and empowering young people, Muhammed Dimma Mawejje’s project combines banana fibers and organic cotton with textile waste like fabric offcuts and second-hand clothes to create bags, earrings, dresses, and other fashion merchandise. The company, Mawejje Creations is based in Uganda and its profits are then used to promote his company’s social enterprises, which include teaching vulnerable young people the “hands-on skills” required for garment production.

By buying the banana-plant fibers, farmers receive extra income from what would otherwise be a waste product, and since they are processed using locally designed machines into an entirely biodegradable material, the project benefits both the community and the environment.

The city of Karachi, Pakistan is forecast to be entirely underwater in just 37 years. Namra Khalid understands that redesigning the city without fully understanding its current state and potential precarity “will only exacerbate dysfunctionality,” so she is producing the first socio-climatic map of the urban area in its entirety. This monumental task will uncover the evolution of the city through maps, and facilitate the creation of projections for its future.

Khalid's mentor is Henk Ovink is Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Netherlands and Sherpa for the UN 2023 Water Conference. As former advisor for President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, Ovink is much familiar with the impacts of extreme weather that Khalid hopes to plan for.

Mangaliso Ngcobo is an architecture student whose “eye and pen have largely been informed by Johannesburg” where he grew up. He shares a passion for art and writing with his friend and fellow student Sam Harding. Together they founded TWI ST Magazine, a biannual publication that focuses on the environment and uses art “as an operating system for engaging with a world in crisis” through articles, photo essays and more.

Anushka Shahdadpuri grew up in a refugee colony in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, where the government failed to provide basic infrastructure, and developed ambitions to help others in similar situations access WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) services. Her project, Tanki, is a novel water distribution system, harnessing rainwater to bring one million liters of water a year to public toilets in the city, which has the potential to scale and provide access to clean running water for millions of people.

This is particularly important for girls and women in India. Decentralizing the water system could also prevent residents being unjustly charged to use services that are not properly maintained.

Drawing parallels between hot money and financial liquidity, and the warm, wet climate of the tropics, Alfonse Chiu’s Thermotropicana is a long-term art and research project that plots the pathways of capital in and out of the tropical regions. The writer, artist, and curator – who is also the founder of the Centre for Urban Mythologies – has so far produced several “chapters” of their project, including Glossaries for Unwritten Knowledges, an exhibition exploring the survival of indigenous culture in Malaysia, in collaboration with local non-profit GERMIS and indigenous practitioners.

Another chapter, Fruit Atlas, is a knowledge-sharing and production platform that imagines and tests how alliances within the tropics could occur, taking inspiration from the circulation of tropical fruits. As part of the Young Climate Prize, Alfonse is being mentored by MoMA’s senior curator Paola Antonelli.

Hannah Segerkrantz, a product designer from Estonia, is exploring how to use the CO2-absorbing material hempcrete as a design tool.

Segerkrantz has so far been examining the unique properties of hempcrete at furniture scale, using fabric to create formwork for pouring and setting the hempcrete, and combining volumes into a variety of different forms. She then shares her own instruction manual “Hemp-it-Yourself”, so that others can create her designs, creating an open-source library accessible to anyone that empowers a network of global makers.

As part of the Young Climate Prize, Hannah is receiving mentorship from Wael Al Awar. Wael is a co-founder and principal architect at waiwai. Waiwai presented their innovative material research project WETLAND that shows radical alternatives to concrete at The World Around Summit 2021.

After 24-year-old Joseph Nguthiru’s boat became caught in water hyacinths in the middle of Lake Naivasha, Kenya, he began to devise and experiment with solutions to combat the wider issues caused by this aquatic plant – which blocks waterways used for trade and transport, and damages ecosystems.

Through his project HyaPak, Joseph decided to tackle two pressing issues at the same time by creating a biodegradable alternative to plastic using hyacinths. Joseph is being mentored by Jan Boelen, a curator of design, architecture, and contemporary art, and artistic director of Atelier LUMA.

Pamela EA is a documentary photographer and explorer from México who focuses on gender equality and climate justice, and aims to increase accessibility to literacy in the evolving field of climate education through her work. She is a co-founder of Climate Words, a growing database of climate lexicon and images, which was created to demystify the conversation around climate justice. With a focus on design and storytelling, the project bridges the gap in climate knowledge, facilitating learning and inspiring new climate advocates to take action.

David Andrés Vega Monsalve, from Bogotá, Colombia, has created an immersive digital environment in which a user can experience first-hand the potential devastation caused by extreme weather. Wearing a headset, they are placed in areas of Pakistan shown as they exist today; then shown imagery that depicts how these same locations might look in the future after being ravaged by catastrophic climate events.

As one of our 25 under 25s, David is being mentored by Camila Marambio, a self described “curator, private investigator, permaculture enthusiast, amateur dancer, and collaborative writer”. In 2010, she founded the research programme, Ensayos, based on the archipelago of Karokynka/ Tierra del Fuego

The acidification of the Mediterranean Sea has led to a decrease of fish in the area. For cities like Port Said in Egypt, that depends on the fishing industry, this is not only a climatic disaster but also an economic one.

When architecture student Moemen Sobh, whose family have been fishing in Port Said for generations, discovered that tonnes of fish “waste” was thrown to the Mediterranean Sea every year, he considered turning the unwanted fish skins into something useful. This led to the creation of “Visenleer”, a fish-skin leather that makes use of this byproduct and allows fishermen to make more money per fish sold. Sobh’s vision for this biomaterial ranges from producing clothing items to tents. He also uses the project to teach school and university students about sustainability goals and best practices. Nelly Ben Hayoun is Sobh’s mentor, an artist and experience designer based in London. Among her diverse achievements are the foundation of NASA’s International Space Orchestra, and collaborations with the likes of Noam Chomsky and Kid Cudi. In 2022, Nelly launched the Tour De Moon – a lunar-inspired programme of live events and immersive experiences all across the UK.

oung Climate Prize finalist from Nigeria, Stanley Anigbogu, created a system that recycles e-waste into solar-powered lighting solutions when combined with locally sourced materials and called it LightEd. LightEd’s program “The Light for Peace” has already provided over 22,000 internally displaced refugees and 500 students with clean energy sources to replace kerosene lamps and candles.

This access to consistent light has huge social and economic benefits: enabling students to extend their working hours, small business owners to lengthen their trading hours, and making rural areas more safe and accessible.

Supporting Anigbogu as a mentor is Harry Pearce. Pearce is a graphic designer, artist, and Pentagram partner. Pentagram is an independently owned design studio, where the 22 partners are the owners and the creators of the work. Pearce has worked on design identities for clients as diverse as Liberty, Thames & Hudson, Abu Dhabi cultural quarter, and Pink Floyd.

Nastia Volynova interrogates the modes through which work can be made more equitable beyond nation-state systems through her Terra-Collar Work project, which spans the fields of economics, design, environmentalism, and infrastructure. The project has grown to acknowledge all of the different actors that contribute to the maintenance of current systems of work, and has come to a necessary intersection with the climate emergency.

Based in Russia, Volynova’s work has been exhibited in Amsterdam, Cambridge, Glasgow, Lisbon, London, and Venice among others. Her project manifests itself as workshops, lectures, seminars, and other collaborative modes of sharing knowledge.

As part of the Young Climate Prize, Nastia will receive mentorship from Carson Chan, the inaugural director of MoMA’s Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and Natural Environment.

in Gao, originally from China, gathered research on bees in high-altitude Bogotá, and used his findings to design a low-cost monitor that can be installed into a standard beehive. This allows beekeepers to perform remote inspections, rather than causing disruption to the hives prematurely, and maintain the health of the species. Alongside the monitoring system, Gao suggests environmental improvements to the hives, including how some can be insulated to help raise survival rates of their inhabitants in a changing ecosystem.

Alder Keleman Saxena is Gao’s mentor during the three month period of the Young Climate Prize. Alder is an environmental anthropologist who carries out similar work that Gao has spearheaded with SmartHive, drawing connections between locally specific ethnobotanical and biocultural practices and larger political-economic contexts. Alder is a co- editor of Feral Atlas: the More-Than-Human Anthropocene @feralatlas who participated in The World Around Summit 2021.

Originally in local schools and campuses around India, Sahithi Radha and her team hold “awareness sessions” to educate students about the dangers of electronic waste. In collaboration with recycling partners, they also safely recycle and refurbish items collected from these sessions, as part of her project E-Cycl.

Sahithi is being mentored by Cyra Levenson, the Guggenheim’s deputy director and head of Education and Public Engagement Department. Through this role, Cyra aims to reach out to a broad audience through programming, content development, academic partnerships and community.

At age 12, Joshua Keghnen Ichor, now an innovator and Geoscientist, became seriously ill with Typhoid Fever, a disease caused by water scarcity and pollution that almost took his life. He now dedicates his practice in Nigeria to developing technologies that could help prevent these issues, which are ever-more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa’s rural communities as a result of climate change.

Ichor will receive mentorship from Max Fraser, an independent design commentator who works across books, magazines, exhibitions, video, and events to broaden the conversation around contemporary design. Fraser is the author of multiple design books and contributes articles to a wide variety of publications around the world.

Esther Oluwabunmi Olalude is the CEO of Venille @venille_ ,a company that is tackling both period poverty and sustainable product development in Nigeria. She has created an affordable and biodegradable alternative to traditional sanitary pads which feature an absorbent core derived from a wool-like material made from broken-down banana stems.

As part of the Young Climate Prize, Esther is receiving mentorship from Etta Madete. Etta is a Nigerian architect and the founder of BuildX Studio and BuildHer Collective; through them Madete advocates for the sustainable use of cross-laminated timber and encourages women into the world of construction, design and questions of land ownership.

In Indonesia, where the government is failing to seriously discuss plans for a future in danger of disappearing because of climate change, Raihan Rabbannee Hendrawan is utilizing creative storytelling and a passion for climate justice to educate his peers through his project Ketika Kita Muda (When We Were Young).

Raihan is mentored by Emma Osore, founding member of BlackSpace, an urbanist collective formed of Black planners, architects, artists and designers. Raihan is also participating in The World Around´s Design Academy, an ongoing series of exclusive workshops for our Young Climate Prize finalists.

Aida Namukose “fell into climate storytelling by mistake,” yet beautifully documents the lives of women in Uganda most affected by the impacts of climate change through photography. Pairing words and imagery, she illustrates the stories of women in the food industry, aiming to combat the “lack of empowerment” among these communities of women by sharing their experiences through her art. This photo-journalistic approach uncovered stories of community resilience that would otherwise go untold.

As part of the Young Climate Prize program, Aida is mentored by José Esparza Chong Cuy, a curator, writer, and architect from Mexico, currently serving as the Executive Director and Chief Curator at Storefront for Art and Architecture.

Gabriela Angelina Bernal Ibáñez has an innate passion for change within the building industry, and full confidence that her self-started project, Gama has the potential to revolutionize the way we build and develop. Through one-on-one mentorship sessions Gabriela is receiving guidance from architects Antón Garcia Abril and Débora Mesa, founders of Ensamble, who participated in The World Around’s 2021 summit. Their work innovates typologies, technologies and methodologies to address issues as diverse as the construction of the landscape or the prefabrication of the house; this innovative spirit is shared with their mentee. We are proud to connect Gabriela and Ensamble for the Young Climate Prize.

Countering the statistical numbness of conversations surrounding the climate crisis, Aziba Ekio provides a vivid portrait of the “subtle, emotional, and social effects” of climate change on the Nigerian population through her writing. Her locality, Abuja, is already facing the effects of global warming that the majority of the global North is yet to see, and her poem anthology, the color, Green, is her “contribution to the fight for climate action.” As part of the 25 under 25, Aziba is receiving mentorship from architect Sumayya Vally, founder and director of Counterspace.

Covalence (now Covalence Global @covalenceglobal ), is the brainchild of Sophia Tabibian and Lulu Goulet-Hofsass, who began with a group of 10 picking up 500 pounds of trash. Learning more about the scale of the climate crisis, Tabibian then considered how to connect those leading important work in their local areas to foster a global community. Covalence Global has since built “covalent bonds” with youth leaders on five continents.

The group recently held a three-day virtual conference, where 10 youth speakers and three climate-focused organizations discussed myriad climate-related issues. Next, the network is developing a Young Climate Change Curriculum, with the view to increase climate literacy around the globe. A chapter program also honors the work of Covalence San Francisco, and allows local youths to continue organizing events.

Sophia and Lulu are being mentored by the iconic designer Bruce Mau, a former speaker at The World Around who has worked as a designer, innovator, educator and author on a broad spectrum of projects.

Foday David Kamara, one of our 25 under 25s, uses plastic extrusion technology to transform waste into bricks and paving tiles, reducing reliance on imported cement bricks. This aspect alone boosts inbuilt resilience in a community that can rely on itself for building materials, as well as addressing the environmental issues caused by post-consumer plastic waste and unsustainable building materials. Ecovironment, Foday´s project, has so far created 60 jobs, recycled 460 tonnes of plastics, and used its profits to feed 1,500 school children.

Faced with dire unemployment during the Covid-19 pandemic, young people from Shariffa Amolo Anguria’s village in Kenya turned to gold- mining jobs, which led to mercury and cyanide exposure and mass deforestation in the area. So she founded Gold 4 Climate Action, in partnership with Rising to Greatness, a female-led community organization where she acts as an outreach officer. As part of the Young Climate Prize, Shariffa is attending The World Around´s Design Academy, a series of workshops designed to support the process of the cohort.

In Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America, there's only one garbage processing plant, no recycling facilities, and voracious winds that regularly exceed 62mph. This means that plastic waste, much of which is carried there by ocean currents from other countries and deposited on the shore, ends up being blown all over the picturesque island. Marilita Quintana Molina, from the indigenous Selk'nam community, collects this waste and uses it in her art to shed light on the magnitude of this issue.

“To clean up nature is to clean up our home,” she says. As part of the Young Climate Prize, Marilita is being mentored by Abraham Cruzvillegas, a visual artist from Mexico. Since 2007, he has produced a body of work he calls “autoconstrucción”. Taking inspiration from his hometown, a village built through collaborative construction with recycled and found materials, Cruzvillage’s sculptural installations are often playfully composed from inexpensive materials.

Lagos-based Nigerian architect and designer. The founder and principal of Oshinowo Studio, which she formed in 2013, Oshinowo has worked on a number of civic, commercial and residential projects throughout Nigeria. She is renowned for her insights into socially responsive approaches to architecture, design and urbanism.

Documentary photographer from Mexico, who has built a body of visual work and campaigns around climate action and gender equality. Co-Founder of Climate Words, member of Latinas for Change and Young Climate Voice Winner of 2023.

World leading graphic designer, artist and photographer. He joined Pentagram in 2006 and works globally devising identities, installations, and books for clients as diverse as Guggenheim, Liberty, Abu Dhabi cultural quarter, PEN International and the UN.

Graduate student at MIT, pursuing combined interests in urban research, product design, and computer science. He intends to acquire a robust, cross-disciplinary skillset to find innovative ways to contribute to the technology-driven world. Gao was part of the Young Climate Prize Cohort, 2023.

Co-founder and executive director of the Sweet Water Foundation, a nonprofit based on Chicago’s South Side that engages local residents in the cultivation and regeneration of social, environmental, and economic resources in their neighborhoods. Pratt was awarded the MacArthur ‘Genius’ grant in 2019.

Writer, entrepreneur and educator. Hunter is the founder of the London School of Architecture, which he conceived in 2010 as an alternative educational model to widen access into the architectural profession. He was executive editor of the Architectural Review and is cofounder of Citizen magazine.

Architect, climate organizer and teacher of Sustainable Systems at Parsons School of Design in New York. His work focuses on integrating climate knowledge into design, and documenting the evolving language of climate change. Co-Founder and Project Director of Climate Words.

Leading luxury fashion executive. Aboah's leadership has been instrumental in guiding renowned brands such as LVMH/Donna Karan, Alexander Wang, Urban Zen, and Atelier Jolie. Her multifaceted career underscores a commitment to excellence and social impact.

British design writer, editor, and consultant based who is responsible for the communications of The World Around. Dan works as an editorial, branding, and communications advisor for creative companies and regularly writes for titles including Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Sight Unseen, and Dezeen.

Associate Director of Sustainability at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Prior to joining the Guggenheim, Whitney practiced law for ten years with a focus on fashion and art industries. She founded Sustainable Brooklyn, a community-based consultancy and think tank dedicated to concretizing equity within the sustainability movement.

Utilizing his professional background as a scientist, Joseph Nguthiru created HyaPak, a startup that converts hyacinths -a highly problematic water plant- into a biodegradable material that can be used in place of single-use plastics, which are now banned in Kenya. His project therefore combats both plastic waste pollution and alleviates freshwater bodies of the invasive species, while also generating employment opportunities for those living near to infested waters. Nguthiru was part of the inaugural Young Climate Prize cohort and has, since then, become a fellow at the 776 foundation and an alumni of the Obama Foundation.