Design Competition:
Responsible future designers:
Design for Inclusion
and Sustainability
Important update:
29/09/2025
We are delighted to share that the Responsible Future Designers: Design for Inclusion and Sustainability competition has received more submissions than we anticipated. Due to the high volume and the need to ensure a fair and thorough judging process, the announcement of results will be delayed. We sincerely apologise for the wait and greatly appreciate your patience and understanding.
Our judging panel is working carefully through all entries, and we aim to release the final results by the 20th October.
Thank you once again to everyone who submitted—we are excited to celebrate your creativity and commitment to inclusion and sustainability.
This design competition invites students and recent graduates from the UK, China, and beyond to respond creatively to the pressing global challenges of our time. Through the lens of inclusion and sustainability, participants are encouraged to propose thoughtful, innovative design solutions that reflect empathy, responsibility, and forward-thinking.
The competition is a key activity within the “Women in Design” programme, celebrating diverse voices in the design community and supporting new talent in both countries.
Who can participate
This competition is open to current students and recent graduates* from universities in the UK and China; applications from other countries are also welcome.
Submissions are welcomed from areas including but not limited to:
- Industrial/product design
- Interaction/UX design
- Service design
- Graphic design/communication design
All submitted work must clearly address a challenge related to either sustainability (e.g., designing for circularity, behaviour change for sustainability), inclusive design (e.g.,addressing gender equity, age inclusion, and/or underrepresented user groups), or both. Participants are expected to articulate how their proposal responds to these themes in the design rationale.
* Participants are expected to be affiliated with higher education institutions. Recent graduates are also welcome, provided the submitted work was completed during their period of study. If you’re unsure about your eligibility, please contact us at rfd2024@163.com.
Prizes
- 🥇 First prize (1 winner) – £500
- 🥈 Second prize (2 winners) – £200
- 🥉 Third prize (2 winners) – £100
- 🎖 Honourable mentions (up to 10) – Certificate and online showcase
Top entries will also be showcased online, included in the project report, and promoted through social media and partner networks.
Please note: Final prizes will be issued in the form of gift vouchers of equivalent value.
Submission requirements
Participants must submit:
Participants must submit:
1. Design boards (digital)
- Maximum two A3 pages, in PDF format
- Please ensure a good level of resolution for future printability (no larger than 300 dpi)
- To ensure accessibility, texts used in the board must not be smaller than 14pt
- No personal identifiers (e.g. name, institution, logos) should appear on the boards
2. Design rationale form
Please fill this form below and submit it together with the boards. Identifiable information (e.g., name, contact details, university) should only be submitted via this form, not included in the creative materials.
All submission (the boards and the form) must be in English.
Please submit your work via the Submission page.
Key dates
| Submission deadline | 20 August 2025 |
| Winner announcement | Mid Sept 2025 (to be jointly held with other events of this project) |
| Online exhibition | Mid Sept onwards 2025 |
Judging
All submissions will be reviewed by a diverse panel of academic and industry experts. Entries will be evaluated based on:
- Relevance to inclusion and sustainability
- Originality and innovation
- Design process and rationale
- Visual and communicative clarity
- Feasibility and potential impact
All entries will be judged anonymously.
Contact
Please contact rfd2024@163.com for questions.
Legal and Intellectual Property statement
- All intellectual property rights of submitted works remain with the entrants. The competition organising committee, as the host institution, reserves the right to publish and promote submitted works for non-commercial purposes related to the project.
- Entrants bear full legal responsibility for any consequences arising from plagiarism, infringement, or misappropriation of trade secrets. The organisers reserve the right to disqualify any entrant found in breach of legal or ethical standards.