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With 100 Days to go until COP26, HRH The Prince of Wales and Sir Jony Ive announce Terra Carta Design Lab: Small Designs with Big Impact
HRH The Prince of Wales and Sir Jony Ive have launched the Terra Carta Design Lab in collaboration with the Royal College of Art (RCA).
Download the full Press Release
Students have been invited to develop credible and sustainable solutions to the climate crisis, inspired by the Terra Carta
Concepts will demonstrate the urgent need to place a heavier focus on the role of design, the arts, science and engineering can play in producing credible and sustainable solutions to the climate crisis.
A shortlist will be announced during COP26 with the final winning designs to be announced in 2022.
Terra Carta Design Lab supporting partners include Octopus Energy, the Islamic Development Bank and Amazon.
24th July 2021: Following the launch of the Terra Carta in January this year, the Sustainable Markets Initiative has today announced that HRH The Prince of Wales (Royal Visitor to the RCA) and Sir Jony Ive (RCA Chancellor, Founder of the creative collective LoveFrom and former Chief Design Officer at Apple) have collaborated with the Royal College of Art (RCA) to launch the Terra Carta Design Lab, to create small designs that can make a big impact for the world’s transition to a sustainable future.
The Terra Carta Design Lab will invite some of the world’s most talented design students to design high-impact, low-cost solutions for Nature, People and Planet. Young and emerging architects, designers, scientists, engineers, historians, writers, and artists will be tasked with addressing the damage being done to our planet and creating solutions which align with the aims of the Terra Carta; drawing inspiration from, and giving back to, Nature.
Through the Terra Carta Design Lab, students will have the opportunity to explore this link using local initiatives to restore biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gases, support developing countries and catalyse a new economic and social model that realigns people with their environment.
The RCA has a highly successful record of developing projects from ideas into reality, with students and alumni creating solutions with potential to transform how we live, but it can take a long time for these solutions to be supported into production. Two recent innovations from RCA graduates include The Tyre Collective a unique collaboration of specialists tackling the emissions caused by tyre wear - and ZELP - an innovative device worn by cattle to reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere.
The Terra Carta Design Lab will harness that expertise, with inspiration from the Terra Carta and support from its private sector partners that are part of HRH’s Sustainable Markets Initiative to catalyse new climate solutions with the potential for scale at a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss and a just transition, as nations come together at COP26 to agree sustainable ways forward, including for the Green Recovery from the pandemic.
Over 2,300 RCA students with an average age of 27, drawn from over 70 different countries, will be invited to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams drawn from the College’s four schools; Architecture, Arts & Humanities, Communication and Design. They will be joined by recent alumni of the RCA (from 2011-2021) who will bring real-world perspective and experience.
His Royal Highness The Prince of WalesSmall ideas can have a big impact if they are supported with the right design, science and engineering and that is the key idea behind today’s Terra Carta Design Lab. We only have 100 days until COP26, the big UN conference in Glasgow to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis, and we will all need to play our part, old and young, if we are to change how we look after the Earth, making it sustainable for Nature, People and Planet.
Sir Jony Ive, Chancellor of the Royal College of ArtI’m incredibly proud to be part of the Terra Carta Design Lab founded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. It's a visionary and imaginative way of helping address the world's increasingly urgent environmental problems. Often the biggest challenges demand the most ingenious, most creative thinking, which is why I’m so excited about the work that the RCA students will be able to contribute through this collaboration. I know that their creativity and inventiveness will develop truly powerful solutions. I’m delighted to be able to support this work both as a supporter of the Terra Carta, and in my role as Chancellor of the Royal College of Art.
Initial expressions of interest from the RCA community will be carefully assessed by a panel of senior academic staff from the College, which will progress a selection of projects based on their feasibility, measurable impact and potential to present engaging and inspiring solutions to urgent problems. In November, a final shortlist of up to 16 concepts will be assessed by a jury including HRH The Prince of Wales, Sir Jony Ive and Dr Paul Thompson, RCA Vice Chancellor, as well as representatives of the Terra Carta Design Lab supporting partners, and strategic partners of the Sustainable Markets Initiative: Octopus Energy, the Islamic Development Bank and Amazon. The shortlist will be announced during the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, in November, and in 2022 the winning designs will be chosen and supported in its development.
The final selection of designs will have the opportunity to be mentored by Sir Jony Ive and introduced to the industry leads of HRH’s Sustainable Markets Initiative to help further develop their ideas and make them a reality, as well as receiving financial support.
Dr Paul Thompson, Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of ArtThe combination of curiosity, creativity and technical skill is hugely potent and our students and alumni are testament to that. The climate and biodiversity crises we face are a truly existential threat to our planet and I’m delighted that the College’s Royal Visitor, HRH The Prince of Wales, and our Chancellor, Sir Jony Ive, are together inviting our community to contribute their talents to developing solutions to these problems. This initiative is a fantastic manifestation of what the Royal College of Art does best and I look forward to seeing the results in November.
Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus EnergyClimate change is the single biggest threat to our planet. This summer has been a sign of things to come, with extreme weather events around the world almost certainly caused by rising temperatures.
We know we need to act much faster if we want to tackle this massive problem for humanity, and so I am delighted to support His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales taking action with the Terra Carta Design Lab.
Young people gave the world a much needed wake-up call on the climate emergency. I can’t wait to see what innovative solutions creative young minds will develop to help address this global issue.
Dr Hayat Sindi, Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the Islamic Development BankI am delighted to support the Terra Carta Design Lab. The Islamic Development Bank recognises the role science and innovation can play in advancing economic and social progress in the developing world especially in least developing members countries and accelerating a sustainable transition. I look forward to seeing the solutions the students come up with.
Kara Hurst, Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability at AmazonAmazon is committed to both innovation and sustainability and so we are delighted to support the Terra Carta Design Lab. Human ingenuity will drive new solutions that can be deployed to tackle climate change – the greatest issue of our lifetime. That’s why we co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. We are looking forward to seeing how the students focus their immense talent and passion to tackle climate change in this decisive decade.