– BEOPEN celebrates the jury of Design Equality with Innovation: a competition for students dedicated to the United Nations Program for Sustainable Development
/PRNewswire/ –DESIGN EQUALITY with Innovation is the seventh edition of the international competition of the program focused on the SDGs, organized by the sociocultural initiative BE OPEN and its partners. The competition is open to students and graduates from all over the world. Its objective is to encourage the creation of innovative solutions by young people for a more prosperous and sustainable future.
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Development, the empowerment of women and girls plays a critical role in accelerating economic growth and social development. BE OPEN defends this position by dedicating the 2025/2026 competition to SDG No. 5, thus promoting solutions that advance gender equality, meet the needs of women and girls, and promote women as innovators and entrepreneurs.
BE OPEN will reward the best works with scholarships of between €2,000 and €5,000, educational opportunities and trips to a major international event focused on sustainability.
The winning projects will be selected by an international jury made up of sustainability professionals, academics, designers and experts in environmental policies and practices. On behalf of BE OPEN, founder Elena Baturina welcomed the jury members: “We are delighted to have brought together such an extraordinary and diverse panel, and deeply appreciate the time and expertise that the jury is willing to share with our participants and the general public during the competition. We are looking forward to an exciting period, full of hard work and amazing discoveries.”
This year’s jury is made up of Barbara della Rovere, community manager of the Innovation Champions Network of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Helen Watts, CEO of Student Energy; Anna Kaplina, Environmental Affairs Officer of the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution and Gender Coordinator of the UNECE Forests and Environment Division; Peter Gamundani, sustainability specialist at Global Sustainable Solution Agents (GSSA); Anastasia Adamidou, from the Office of the Commission for Gender Equality of Cyprus; Françoise Mlebinge, program manager at SOLIFEDE-RDC; and Ajisafe Damilola Ifeoluwa, President of Foot Impact Unilorin Chapter and Founder of TerraYouth Africa.
The announcement of the three main winners, selected by the jury, will take place at the end of May 2026.