On 26 June, the Royal College of Art announced the ten finalists for the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s 2024 Terra Carta Design Lab. Launched in 2021, the Terra Carta Design Lab is a student-led, global competition for high-impact solutions addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis, with previous winners including a wearable device for cows to reduce methane emissions, a start-up spearheading the capture and monitoring of tyre wear, the first 100 per cent recyclable and chemical-free outdoor performance textile, and aerodynamic seed pods made from food waste for plant and tree restoration.
'I am thrilled that the Terra Carta Design Lab has gathered momentum this year to include four international design schools,' says Jony Ive, who launched the project in collaboration with His Majesty King Charles III, then HRH The Prince of Wales. 'The lab elevates the rigorous and imaginative ideas from all these students, and demonstrates the power and importance of multidisciplinary design and collaboration in meeting global challenges.'
2024 Terra Carta Design Lab: meet the finalists
The 2024 Terra Carta Design Lab is in partnership with long-term supporter, the RCA, as well as three other design universities, including Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (UAE); National Institute of Design Ahmedabad (India); and Rhode Island School of Design (USA). Students and recent alumni from the four schools were invited to develop high-impact solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis.
The RCA's shortlisted projects 'showcase a wide breadth of innovations and solutions to help address climate change and biodiversity loss and explore themes of regenerating nature, reducing waste, engaging communities, and mitigating climate change impacts,' reads a note introducing the finalists.
These include a soluble-on-demand polymer composite which deteriorates in warm water overnight to tackle e-waste, a project to improve the aerodynamics of merchant navy vessels to reduce their fuel consumption by up to 5%, a series of newly-developed textiles from truly regenerative fibres and a low-cost wildfire detection system imagined for vulnerable communities, among others.
Eight winners (two from each university) will be announced in autumn, and the teams behind the winning projects will receive funding and mentorship to further develop their innovations with a goal of scaling them to market.
'I am humbled and inspired to see the level of innovation, ambition, dedication and professionalism demonstrated by the RCA community during the competition so far,' comments Professor Christoph Lindner, President & Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art. 'These ten finalists are the tip of an iceberg filled with potential to change how we live and care for the world in the future. I can’t wait to see the impact they can make. The Sustainable Markets Initiative must be commended for its ambition and its influence in coordinating this global edition of the Terra Carta Design Lab.'
Adds Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, CEO of the Sustainable Markets Initiative: 'At the Sustainable Markets Initiative, we are accelerating a sustainable future through the collision of ideas and co-creation between the private sector and the next generation of global leaders, including our Design Lab finalists. Their work exemplifies what is possible when we put design, engineering, innovation, technology, art and global experience at the heart of systems-level change.
'[...]As one people, sharing one planet and facing one common future, we have much to learn from this optimistic, multi-disciplinary and multi-generational approach that is embodied in the Terra Carta Design Lab.'
