BEIJING, CHINA - Media OutReach - 27 September 2021 - The British Council launched Making Matters, China Design Challenge. Themed "fall in love with the future through circular design", the Challenge aims to discover young creative talents and to facilitate an exchange of dialogue around circular design. The Challenge is part of Making Matters, sponsored by IM Motors and co-developed by Manchester Metropolitan University and Young Green Tech. Chinese university students in Mainland China and the UK are invited to apply by 8 November 2021 through WeChat account Younggreentech.
Making Matters was launched in 2018 by the British
Council with an aim to explore how principles of the circular economy can be a
catalyst for creativity, collaboration and regenerative thinking within
architecture, design and fashion practice through its multi-disciplinary
programme. Circular design involves creating products and services that
minimise the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste, pollution and
carbon emissions to result in less waste and more value added to the ecosystem.
Open to Chinese students in universities in Mainland China and the UK, Making
Matters, China Design Challenge encourages students to rethink the role of
design today and how to create positive change through circular design.
Eligible applicants can apply individually or form a team of up to 6 members to submit a proposal outlining an issue or concern that their circular design addresses by 8 November 2021. The judging panel will evaluate the proposals based on the following criteria in two phases:
30 semi-finalists will be
shortlisted on 15 November 2021 and invited for an in-person presentation in
Shanghai. 15 finalists will be selected to enter the second stage. In April
2022 for the final presentation in Beijing, one grand champion and 4 runners-up
will be announced. The grand champion and runners-up will receive a prize of
CNY 24,000 (~GBP 2,210/ USD 3,720) and CNY 12,000 (~GBP 1,350/ USD 1,860)
respectively, with an internship opportunity with IM Motors, Young Green Tech and other supporting organisations.
A documentary will be produced to record all the finalists' projects.
While the semi-finalists will be selected by the organisers, a judging panel will be responsible to select 15 finalists. Details of the judges will be announced in due course.
Rehana Mughal, Director Arts China at British Council and Counsellor (Culture and the Arts) at Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy said, "Making Matters is all about supporting emerging talents from the world of design, giving them the opportunity to showcase innovation, creativity and solutions to reduce our impact on the environment. Climate Change is one of the biggest shared challenges we all face, and all of us can make a difference in reducing our impact on the environment. We hope that through this exciting collaboration, rising stars of design can benefit from international collaborations and partnership needs to take their ideas from the drawing board to reality."
For further details on the Making Matters, China
Design Challenge, please visit https://www.britishcouncil.cn/en/programmes/arts/making-matters
Making Matters, China Design Challenge
Organiser: British Council
Strategic partner: IM Motors
Co-organisers: Manchester Metropolitan University and Young Green Tech (YGT)
Programme portal: https://www.britishcouncil.cn/en/programmes/arts/making-matters
British Council WeChat 'bc-china' and 'UK_NOW'
British Council Weibo @英国大使馆文化教育处, @艺述英国
Strategic Partner:
IM Motors
IM Motors - Spearheading the Intelligent Mobility.
Jointly founded by SAIC Motor, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech
Group and Alibaba Group on December 25, 2020. A hi-tech company leveraging big
data from consumer engagement to drive innovations of green and intelligent
mobility. A pioneer in redefining the relationship between consumers and
enterprises in the era of artificial intelligence.
Co-organisers:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a great
modern university, in a great global city, here to make an impact on
Manchester, our nation and beyond, with a driving ambition to discover and
disseminate knowledge, and make higher education accessible and beneficial to
all those with the passion and ability to succeed. We work closely with our city, with business,
the community and our academic peers – locally, nationally and internationally
- to be inventive and creative, generate great opportunities, and enable our
students, colleagues and everyone whose lives we touch to make an impact.
Young Green Tech (YGT)
YGT is an exchange program that empowers young creators and doers to create transformative solutions. YGT aims to encourage the youth generation to use innovative methods and ideas to propose solutions to the environmental challenges we face. Every year, we select the most potential and innovative youth environmental protection business projects from all over the world, and help them succeed through mentor guidance, public display, in-depth training and docking investment, so as to cultivate young environmental protection entrepreneurs who changed the world and produce greater social demonstration effect.