Prizes: All applications

BioReactor transforms polluted urban waters into living ecosystems. The floating wetland mimics natural water purification, using microorganisms and plant absorption to remove pollutants and improve water quality. By restoring biodiversity and creating green landscapes on the water, the project reconnects people with nature. Starting with a pilot in heart of Chisinau it demonstrates how cities can regenerate waterways through innovative, nature-based design.

Phora is an AI-driven traffic management concept that improves safety, reduces congestion, and lowers emissions in urban areas. By using real-time data to prioritise pedestrians, public transport, emergency vehicles, and vulnerable road users, it helps create streets that are more inclusive, efficient, and human-centred. Phora aims to make everyday mobility safer and more sustainable while improving the overall urban experience.

In a city shaped by pressure and comparison, The Imperfect Mind Garden transforms a post-construction void in central Rzeszów, Poland, into a therapeutic landscape where imperfection becomes a shared value. Merging sensory design, brain neuroplasticity, and therapy-inspired installations, it teaches how NOT to be perfect, how to turn fear of failure into resilience. It restores urban biodiversity and makes mental health visible, inclusive, and part of everyday public life.

The concept envisions the revitalization of the Old Municipal Slaughterhouse into cultural and entertainment spaces, along with the expansion of residential buildings. These initiatives respect the historic fabric and the principles of sustainable development, combining existing structures with energy-efficient new development. The inspiration came from events in 2022, when local artists (including myself) created a one-day exhibition and performance showcasing its potential.

“Sponge Cities Albania” transforms urban spaces into green, permeable areas that manage floods naturally. Using recycled materials and nature-based solutions, it turns sidewalks, parks, and public areas into multifunctional zones that reduce surface runoff, enhance biodiversity, and improve microclimates. Sensors and a web dashboard monitor rainfall, soil moisture, and temperature, helping communities, researchers, and decision-makers. It makes cities greener, safer, and more resilient.

Formform helps architects turn vague client conversations into clear design input before key decisions are made. Through an adaptive, research-informed digital process, it captures routines, priorities, emotional needs, and household dynamics, then translates them into design input architects can use directly. By improving the brief, Formform supports more inclusive, meaningful, and better-fitting homes.

Project Mirus, a project of the Enactus USP São Carlos team, in partnership with a waste pickers’ cooperative, aims to generate added value from plastic through the implementation of a recycling laboratory equipped with specific machinery for manufacturing plastic products, such as an extruder, injection machine, hot press, and shredder, creating items that can be sold. Through the training of cooperative members, the project seeks to promote circular economy and social inclusion.

Kore is a community-owned tiny house on a regenerative farm near Helsinki, built at Aalto University. Co-owned by 20–50 members, it serves as a living lab for regeneration, hosting overnight stays, workshops, co-farming days, and design residencies rooted in nature.

A solidarity kiosk transforms a simple architectural structure into a true "social engine" for the neighborhood. Precisely for this reason, we can define it as a sort of "Neighborhood Concierge" or a "Mutual Aid Hub." It features a hexagonal honeycomb design symbolizing community cooperation. Fully sustainable and reversible, it uses dry-assembly steel, hemp insulation, rainwater harvesting, and solar Sicilian Tiles’’ coppi’’ for net-zero energy.

64% of Gen Z search second-hand before buying new, yet universities are not capturing the benefits of this behaviour. Most resale happens through platforms like Vinted or Facebook Marketplace, involving postage, packaging, or uncertain meet-ups with strangers. REBOXD is a secure, hyperlocal platform integrated into university portals that enables students to share and reuse everyday items at no cost, while universities gain verified data on waste reduction, cost savings, and carbon impact.