Today's Pick: 2009 INDEX:Award Winners

The INDEX:Award claims to be the world’s “biggest design award” program with a total annual prize value of 500,000 euros.  Sponsored by the Denmark-based INDEX: organization, the award recognizes excellence in “design to improve life” – in five categories: body, home, work, play and community.

This year’s award winners in the five categories include:

• Freeplay, an off-grid fetal heart rate monitor for use in regions in the developing world where expert care and electrical power are in short supply
• The “Chulha”, a stove designed to limit the dangerous health conditions caused by indoor cooking, a tradition in many rural areas of the developing world
• Kiva, the person-to-personal microfinance initiative
• Pig 05049, a communication initiative that tracks all 185 products made from a single pig, intended to ” …help people in a highly mechanized and ‘packaged’ world understand how things are made and where they come from so that the resources involved can be cared for by enlightened, informed people.”
• Better Place, an electric car infrastructure project designed to move drivers, the automotive industry and energy-distribution past the internal-combustion engine
• Street Swags, an all-in-one “bed and a bag” designed to provide more comfort, warmth and protection from weather for people living on the street

In-depth profiles for each winner and the finalists are available on the award’s website.  For those interested in the intersection of design and social innovation, this list is a must-see:

2009 Winners >>

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Tags: awards & competitions, Social Innovation