Every year, innovators across the world develop new solutions to address issues revolving around climate change. While many of these ideas are developed in a bubble, there is a strong need to push innovation further and enable individuals and large organizations alike to take the next evolutionary step in sustainabilty. The Katerva Challenge arose out of such need and “serves to identify, award and accelerate ingenious ideas that will enable the global community to live sustainably with the planet.” It looks for breakthrough ideas across multiple industries and practices, and beyond putting a temporary spotlight on them, attempts to connect innovators with a larger network of businesses that may enable them to refine, thrive, and create substantial change.
Researchers within the Katerva network annually investigate thousands of innovations in sustainability across ten economic, social and environmental categories, including Energy & Power, Urban Design, Behavioral Change, among others. The review process is intense and nominees must pass through a rigorous review process involving 300+ individuals, 6 filtering phases, and 12 stages of focused review. Yesterday, the Katerva Challenge recognized “Process-Zero” and the partnered efforts of HOK and Vanderweil to retrofit a 1960s federal office building to achieve zero environmental footprint for the 2011 Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition. Within the category of Urban Design, HOK and Vanderweil are finalists with an impressive caliber of organizations/projects including Architecture 2030, Bjarke Ingels Group, Freskils Park, and Hylozoic Ground.
The nominations were covered by the Guardian and Forbes Online, and inititate the final phases of review. The winner of each category will be announced in October, and the grand prize winner across all categories will be announced at Lincoln Center in December. “A winners circle of world-class companies will provide their products and services to accelerate the winners growth and impact on a global level unleashing uprecedented levels of meaningful sustainability innovation.”
