Designing sustainable solutions to prevent and better respond
to the current humanitarian crises and natural disasters.

Deadline Extended! Sunday, February 26, 2023 EOD CET

Polish Cultural Institute New York announces Open Call for ECO Solidarity 2023 at ICFF + WantedDesign Manhattan.

If you are practicing design with empathy and thinking how to redefine sustainability in design to address the most pressing conditions of human health in response to the environmental and humanitarian crises, apply to join ECO Solidarity 2023.

ECO Solidarity will present the work of selected designers at WantedDesign Manhattan design fair taking place May 21-23, 2023 at the Javits Center (New York), under the same roof with ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) and in conjunction with NYCxDESIGN (New York’s design festival). The program will include participation in design exhibit, panel discussions, workshops and more.

Submit your design studio profile, website, portfolio of an existing finished or developing project in its final stages and description with 7-12 images and motivational letter explaining why you believe your studio profile and your design project aligns with the ECO Solidarity principles.

Please follow the project guidelines below. Only projects relevant to the ECO Solidarity selection criteria will be considered.
Submit to: izabela.gola@instytutpolski.pl

Deadline Extended! Sunday, February 26, 2023 EOD CET

Travel costs and accommodation of the selected designer for the design fair duration will be covered.
There are no participation or application fees.

ECO SOLIDARITY 2023 MISSION

Since its foundation in 2020, ECO Solidarity movement addresses urgency for reconstruction and recuperative sustainable solutions in product design, industrial design, and spatial planning, that respond to the human wellbeing, ecological, and environmental conditions subjected to the crises including the ongoing war in Ukraine and military conflicts around the world. 

The goal of this year’s edition will be to redefine the urban habitat and domestic infrastructures to protect the health and well-being of people against hazards of potential natural disasters, and in the case of war, to better accommodate displacement of the most vulnerable members of the communities. Access to resources such as clean water and air, food, medical supplies, as well as storage, mobility, transportation, and communication will be equally considered. 

Through sharing research and resources, this initiative aims to redirect the way the future post-war public spaces, living spaces, and shared environments, are envisioned.

In 2023 the goal will be to redefine the urban habitat and domestic infrastructures to protect the health and well-being of people against hazards of potential natural disasters, and in the case of war, to better accommodate displacement of the most vulnerable members of the communities. Access to resources such as clean water and air, food, medical supplies, as well as storage, mobility, transportation and communication will be equally considered. Through sharing research and resources, this initiative aims to redirect the way the future post-war public spaces, living spaces, and shared environments, are envisioned to foster design with empathy. An Ukrainian designer will be joining ECO Solidarity 2023, in addition to the 8-10 represented countries.

DESIGNERS SELECTION CRITERIA

For this edition, ECO Solidarity will mainly highlight the work of designers and architects under 30 years old. All nominees whose submitted proposals fit the conceptual theme will be considered for the selection, but priority will be given to young designers.

The initiative plans to showcase a broad range of design implementations from product design to spatial planning and architectural solutions which respond to the current issues related to resettlement and displacement of communities, refugees, and more broadly public wellbeing in public spaces, living spaces, and shared environments. The importance will be placed on ecological sustainable solutions that address ecology, climate change, and the resulting environmental and humanitarian crises. Projects should focus on one or multiple of the following goals:

• To redefine the purpose and implementation of sustainability in contemporary product design and spatial design to focus on reconstruction, recuperation, and public safety, addressing the key objectives and values in ECO Solidarity mission statement.

• To protect fractured fabric of local communities, propose on how to build better future home environments, shared spaces, and habitats to prevent hazards to human health, dignity, and overall well-being.

• To assist needs of the most vulnerable disadvantaged members of society affected by the multiple crises, like war refugees, communities forced to resettlement as a result of natural disasters or environmental crises, like storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, water shortage due to pollution, nuclear disasters, chemical spills, smog, among others.

• To foster the importance of United Nations’ human rights agenda, the key objectives of Sustainable Development Goals and Green New Deal addressing human safety and dignity, public health, public well-being as well as climate emergency, ecology, and sensitivity to integrity of natural local environments and natural habitats.

• To address climate emergency, humanitarian and public health through green technologies and sustainable materials.

• To foster a partnership with the US design communities to better respond to the global and humanitarian crises resulting from war through global implementation of sustainable design solutions.

• To support inclusivity and diversity: equal opportunity to design studio team employees of all genders and races.

COMMITMENTS FOR SELECTED DESIGNERS OR DESIGN STUDIOS

1. March to April 2023 | Advisory Committee members and ECO Solidarity exhibit 2023 curator and coordinator Deborah Wang, will engage with the EU designers and design studios to provide guidance for the exhibit and networking opportunities. 1-2 virtual meetings will be conducted every month as preparation with exhibition designer Deborah Wang, introductions to local design and architecture field representatives which will then develop and result in person meetings in May when designers visit New York. Selected projects will be prepared for shipment to the Javits Center.

2. May 2023 | Last preparations culminating in WantedDesign Manhattan 2023 exhibition at the Javits Center taking place May 21-23, 2023.

3. May 21 at 11:30 AM | 1st ECO Solidarity panel, part of the ICFF + WantedDesign Manhattan Talks Program, will explore the role of the new generation of designers, in Europe and in the US, in providing creative solutions for reconstruction time, locally and globally. A selection of designers will be invited to join this panel as speakers.

4. May 22 at 11:30 AM | 2nd ECO Solidarity panel, part of the ICFF + WantedDesign Manhattan Talks Program, will engage the designers as well as faculty members of selected EU and US-based schools. Speakers will discuss the shape of educational institutions during ongoing war and how to reshape the schools curriculum to address the challenges of the cities public spaces and infrastructure in a post-military era. A second selection of designers will be invited to join this panel as speakers.

5. May 16-19, 2023 | Opportunity for designers to take part as jury members in the WantedDesign Schools Workshop 2023 led by French design school, École Boulle. The workshop will be taking place in-person at Industry City, Brooklyn, with the participation of international design schools including Pratt Institute and Art Center.

Useful Links
About WantedDesign
About ICFF + WantedDesign Manhattan
About EUNIC
ECO Solidarity edition 2022
Best Booth at ICFF Editors Awards 2022

ECO Solidarity was founded in 2020 by the Polish Cultural Institute New York in collaboration with WantedDesign Manhattan and is supported by EUNIC European Union National Institutes for Culture in New York.

The open call for ECO Solidarity in Poland is conducted in cooperation with the City Initiative Association in Gdańsk (Stowarzyszenie Inicjatywa Miasto w Gdańsku) and the Academic Design Center in Łódź. Grafmag is a media partner of ECO Solidarity 2023 open call.

Media partner