JenJoy Roybal
jroybal [at] bfi [dot] org
718-290-9283

How to Enter
Deadline: October 4, 2010, 5pm EST

SEARCH FOR COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN
SOLUTIONS TO HUMANITY'S CRITICAL CHALLENGES LAUNCHED

SOCIALLY - RESPONSIBLE DESIGN'S HIGHEST AWARD GIVEN TO SOLUTION
BEST ABLE TO DRIVE SYSTEMIC CHANGE

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Summer 2010, New York — The Buckminster Fuller Institute is accepting application to the 2011 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, an annual $100,000 prize program to support the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential to solve humanity's most pressing problems.

In a statement about the Challenge, The Buckminster Fuller Institute explains the background of the prize program:

Short term reductionist thinking which dominates all industrialized societies is a fundamental cause of the massive social, economic and environmental deterioration our world is confronted with today. It is now painfully obvious to many that most attempts by civil, corporate, scientific, academic and government sectors to deal with these breakdowns, despite good intentions and significant investment, often exhibit little more than a reflexive default to the same reductionist approach that created the problems in the first place. Little if any attention is ever directed toward optimizing whole systems. Instead the focus remains riveted only on improving various parts in isolation. Not surprisingly, when it comes to solving complex problems, actions are typically fragmented, disjointed and piecemeal. The net result: on a global scale the level of deterioration is rapidly increasing and imbalances have already reached crisis proportions.

During the past half century pioneers like Buckminster Fuller and other visionaries responded to the failure of reductionism by developing new approaches to meeting human needs, concurrent with preserving the vital diversity of cultures and ecosystems that form the fabric of life on Earth. Their holistic approach has influenced thousands of individuals in numerous fields who continue to break new ground in how to think, plan and design.

This evolving and growing body of work contains the seeds, models and strategies for the fundamental shift in direction so urgently needed today. The work spans a range of development stages— from the conceptual phase, to prototype ready, to well proven models poised to scale up. However, most of these new approaches, even the most advanced, remain under funded, under recognized and have yet to significantly penetrate mainstream education, economic activity, media, philanthropy and public policy.

"We're looking for solutions that address multiple problems without creating new ones down the road— integrated strategies dealing with key social, economic, environmental, policy and cultural issues. Our entry criteria is deeply inspired by what Fuller termed comprehensive anticipatory design science— an approach we feel holds an important key to the design of strategies aimed at having a transformative effect on the system as a whole. We are very grateful for the recognition the prize recipients have received to date and hope this will lead to the greater understanding and wide-spread application of the whole systems, design science approach we are championing." said Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute.

After decades of tracking world resources, innovations in science and technology, and human needs, Fuller asserted that options exist to successfully surmount the crises of unprecedented scope and complexity facing all humanity— he issued an urgent call for a design science revolution to make the world work for all.


ANWERING THIS CALL IS WHAT THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE IS ALL ABOUT!

Please help us get the word out. Share this notice with your network, Thank you.
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Important Links
- The deadline for entries is 5pm (Eastern Standard Time) on MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2010.
- For the call for entries, instructions for how to enter, reference materials, and much more, visit http://challenge.bfi.org
- The members of this year's distinguished jury will be announced in October.
- To see former jury members visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/jurors
- To view entries to the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Challenge, visit the Idea Index at: http://challenge.bfi.org/ideaindex
- To view the 2008 winner visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2008
- To view the 2009 winner visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2009
- To view the 2010 winner visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2010
- Connect on Facebook

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About
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge originated in 2007 and awards $100,000 annually. Support for the program has been provided by the Atwater Kent Foundation, The Civil Society Institute, The James Dyson Foundation, The Highfield Foundation; The Jewish Communal Fund, and the members of The Buckminster Fuller Institute.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in New York, The Buckminster Fuller Institute is dedicated to accelerating the development and deployment of solutions which radically advance human well being and the health of our planet's ecosystems. BFI's programs combine unique insight into global trends and local needs with a comprehensive approach to design. BFI encourages participants to conceive and apply transformative strategies based on a crucial synthesis of whole systems thinking, Nature's fundamental principles, and an ethically driven worldview. By facilitating convergence across the disciplines of art, science, design and technology, BFI's work extends the profoundly relevant legacy of R. Buckminster Fuller. For further information visit www.bfi.org