The Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Terra Carta Design Lab has returned on a global scale to discover student-led, high-impact design solutions to the climate crisis. 

His Majesty King Charles III, in his former role as the Prince of Wales, and Sir Jony Ive launched the Terra Carta Design Lab in 2021, in partnership with the Royal College of Art.   

Last year’s winners in order of appearance

1. @thetyrecollective - Tyre wear is the second largest microplastic pollutant in our environment. The Tyre Collective is developing the first patent-pending device to capture tyre wear at the wheel.
2. @francisconorris There are 1.6 billion cattle, each exhaling 400 litres of methane per day. ZELP has designed a wearable device for cattle to neutralise methane emissions in real-time.
3. @aerseeds - AERSEEDS are aerodynamic nutrient and seed pods made from food waste, that work with nature to accelerate regeneration up to 10 times.
4. @amphico.uk - AMPHITEX is the first 100% recyclable and chemical-free outdoor performance textile, resulting in a world-first carbon-negative performance textile.

This year’s Design Lab has expanded its search to partner with four design schools from across the world; Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (UAE), National Institute of Design Ahmedabad (India), Rhode Island School of Design (USA) and the Royal College of Art (UK). 

The SMI is inviting students and recent alumni from the four schools to address the devastating damage being done to our planet and create breakthrough design solutions.

The challenge will bring to light innovative, scalable solutions and continue to highlight the urgent need to focus on the creative collaboration between art, science, design, and engineering. 

All submissions will be judged by a panel of experts at each school, before they each present a top ten shortlist to the Global Judging Panel for final judging, spearheaded by Sir Jony Ive. The winning eight designs will be announced in Autumn 2024.