Students develop solutions to global water crisis in AIGA’s first annual Aspen Design Challenge

Next generation of creative thinkers engaged in effort to conserve and improve access to water

Cross-disciplinary teams of students to develop ideas to be discussed at Aspen Environment Forum

NEW YORK, August 18, 2008.  AIGA, the professional association for design, today issued an ambitious call to action, tasking the next generation of creative thinkers with developing solutions to the global water crisis in its first annual Aspen Design Challenge, dubbed “Designing Water’s Future.”  The international contest challenges cross-disciplinary student teams to develop design solutions that encourage responsible water use, provide access to freshwater to those in need and increase awareness about the importance of water conservation.

The rules and guidelines for the Challenge were distributed to thousands of faculty and students at more than 250 universities from Beijing to Boston, and are available to all with the launch of the Aspen Design Challenge website (www.aspendesignchallenge.org). Winners will have the opportunity to refine and develop their concepts with world leaders and policy makers at the Aspen Environment Forum, and their solutions will be discussed during the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the World Summit on Climate Change.

The Aspen Design Challenge is a joint project developed by AIGA and INDEX:, a global nonprofit design network, with the purpose of engaging the millennial generation in solving an emerging set of global issues. The Challenge is issued as part of the Aspen Design Summit, an international conference organized for leaders from business, the public sector and nonprofit organizations. The idea for “Designing Water’s Future” grew out of discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, led by Brian Collins, chairman of Collins:, a New York-based transformation design firm, and journalist J. Carl Ganter, co-founder of Circle of Blue, an international network of leading journalists, scientists and communications designers that connects humanity to the global freshwater crisis. AIGA has partnered with Circle of Blue and Collins: for their expertise, knowledge on the issues and ability to provide resources to ensure that the students’ ideas are realized and brought to international attention.

More than five million people die each year due to contaminated drinking water, and the UN estimates that 5.5 billion people will lack adequate access to freshwater in the next 20 years. Water scarcity has emerged as a serious threat to peoples across the world. Dubbed by the news media as “the new oil,” water affects everything from health, poverty and security to climate, energy, immigration—even financial and commodities markets.

“We cannot continue to take water for granted,” said Richard Grefé, executive director of AIGA. “The idea behind the Aspen Design Challenge is that creative design can change the way people think and behave. We have every confidence that these students will devise the types of solutions we need to reframe how we think about water, how we manage it and how we save it—inventive solutions that are simple, powerful and actionable.”

About the Challenge

Students and faculty from around the world will develop ideas this fall and submit proposals by December 2008. While the opportunity to participate is still open, already there are commitments from schools in Australia, China, Denmark, Qatar and the United States. An international jury of accomplished leaders in the design and environmental fields will select contest finalists in February 2009.

Students behind the finalist proposals will have the opportunity to workshop their ideas in Aspen, improving their concepts with feedback from top designers, scientists, journalists and business and NGO leaders. The students' ideas will be presented during significant international forums, such as the Aspen Environment Forum (March 2009) and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (December 2009) in Copenhagen. The most promising project will receive The INDEX:|AIGA Aspen Design Challenge Prize in August in Copenhagen.

There are no restrictions on the type of solutions that students may submit. Print design, web applications, environment design, physical devices, data presentation tools and other approaches are all encouraged, as are proposals for the conceptual framework or method of dissemination that may propel these designs into public consciousness. Design students are encouraged to lead cross-disciplinary teams of engineers, artists, ethnographers, anthropologists and scientists, and to consider the social, cultural and scientific significance of water use.

“The global water crisis is a universally threatening and immensely complex problem,” said J. Carl Ganter, director and co-founder of Circle of Blue. “The causes are many—climate change, population growth, overuse—and the ramifications are felt in all areas from environment to security to economic development. This is where we need design students to step in. Design is the intermediary between information and understanding. Young people have the fresh perspective we need, and it is their future which is most at stake.”

For more information on the initiative and its developments throughout the fall, visit www.aspendesignchallenge.org.

About “Designing Water’s Future” Partners

I NDEX: is a nonprofit organization based in Copenhagen that focuses on design to improve life worldwide. INDEX: works through a global network to ensure access to the best knowledge on design and the cutting edge of contemporary thinking. The network consists of designers, businesses, organizations and design institutions that collaborate in disseminating and applying the latest knowledge in the field of “Design to Improve Life.” www.indexaward.dk

Circle of Blue is the international network of leading journalists, scientists and communications designers that reports and presents the information necessary to respond to the global freshwater crisis. Circle of Blue is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative and is a nonprofit affiliate of the internationally recognized water, climate and policy think tank, the Pacific Institute. Circle of Blue also publishes WaterNews, the daily go-to source for global water news and data. For more information about Circle of Blue, visit www.circleofblue.org and www.circleofblue.org/waternews.

COLLINS: is a transformation design firm based in New York. The company’s team of strategists, designers, technologists, writers and architects work with some of the most iconic organizations in the world. Through a process rooted in storytelling, COLLINS: creates communications, environments, interactions and products that transform how companies and brands connect with people in contemporary culture.

About AIGA

AIGA, the professional association for design, is the premier place for design—to discover it, discuss it, understand it, appreciate it, be inspired by it.

AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force. AIGA stimulates thinking about design through journals, conferences, competitions and exhibitions; demonstrates the value of design to business, the public and government officials; and empowers the success of designers at each stage of their careers by providing invaluable educational and social resources.

Founded in 1914, AIGA remains the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design. AIGA now represents more than 22,000 design professionals, educators and students through national activities and local programs developed by 62 chapters and 240 student groups. AIGA is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational institution.

For further information, please contact:
Steve Rogenstein
Director of marketing and communications
AIGA | the professional association for design
Tel 212 710 3121   Fax 212 807 1799
steve_rogenstein [at] aiga [dot] org

Video interviews of Mr. Grefé, Mr. Collins and Mr. Ganter are available to media.