Do Good, Get Prizes

Social innovation challenges are cropping up around the world. 

Competitions always bring out the best in people, especially if there’s money in the game. Since the start of 2010, we’ve noticed a surprising number of challenges in the social innovation field, a sign that doing better for the planet and for the world’s people is as important to the global community as it’s ever been. Here are a few competitions worth the effort.  

The World Innovation Challenge
Sponsor: Katerva
Prize: $250,000
In this competition, teams of five will compete by coming up with new, impactful ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.worldinnovationchallenge.com

Progressive Automotive X Prize
Sponsor: Progressive
Prize: $10,000,000
The goal of this challenge is to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change.
http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/prize-details

Wireless Innovation Project
Sponsor: Vodafone
Prize: $300,000
The winner will show the best innovations using wireless related technology to address critical social issues around the world.
http://project.vodafone-us.com/about.html

Lighting for Tomorrow Competition
Sponsor: Lighting for Tomorrow
Lighting for Tomorrow launched its 2010 competition with a focus on lighting control devices and solid state lighting (SSL) fixtures and replacement lamps. Originally, the competition began in 2002 with the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, the American Lighting Association, and the Department of Energy. These three organizations created a joint effort to increase the market share of decorative energy efficient fixtures that are aesthetically pleasing in addition to delivering energy savings.
http://www.lightingfortomorrow.org/2010/pdfs/2010_LFT_press_release.pdf

MIT IDEAS Competition
Sponsor: MIT
Prize: $50,000
The IDEAS Competition encourages teams to develop and implement projects that make a positive change in the world.
http://web.mit.edu/ideas/www/index.htm

MIT Clean Energy Prize
Sponsor: MIT
The MIT Clean Energy Prize was established in 2007 to encourage innovation in the energy space, specifically with regard to clean energy.
http://www.mitcep.org

Social e-Challenge
Sponsor: Stanford
Prize: $50,000
The Social E-Challenge is a business plan competition for entrepreneurial ventures whose primary goal is to effect social and/or environmental change. Participants range from for-profit businesses with a strong sense of social responsibility to nonprofits with sustainable revenue-generation models. The common denominator is that these companies seek to have a positive impact on our society and/or the environment.
http://bases.stanford.edu/social-e-challenge

Innovators Challenge
Sponsor: Deshpande
The goal here is to create solutions through social innovation and entrepreneurship for some of the top issues that NGOs face in the Sandbox region of Northwestern Karnataka, India.   
http://swearercenter.brown.edu/sii/internships/294/deshpande-foundation-2010-innovators-challenge

Ignite Clean Energy Business Plan Competition
Prize: $35,000
The Ignite Clean Energy Competition’s objective is to foster, nurture and energize the emergence of world-class renewable energy technology firms.
http://www.ignitecleanenergy.com/vision

Social Innovation Competition
Sponsor: Sparkseed
Prize: $11,000
Sparkseed offers a comprehensive program for collegiate social innovators. This program is designed to hone your entrepreneurial skills, expand your network, and provide the support you need to make your venture a success.
http://www.sparkseed.org/apply

IEEE Presidents' Change the World Competition
Sponsor: IEEE
Prize: $10,000
The 2010 IEEE Presidents' Change the World Competition is open to college and university students who demonstrate excellence in the development, design and implementation of technology that can solve a life challenge for the benefit of humanity.
http://www.ieeechangetheworld.org

We Can Change the World Challenge
Sponsor: Siemens
Prize: Various
The Siemens “We Can Change the World Challenge” offers students the opportunity to make a sustainable change, matched to science, math, and reading/language arts concepts and skills students are required to learn.
http://siemens.discoveryeducation.com
 

Sam is the director of publishing for frog where he oversees frog's global content, editorial, and digital publishing strategy. He is also the editor of design mind, frog's print and online media platform. Sam is the author of numerous books of non fiction and has written for Dwell, Metropolis, GOOD, and other magazines.