Five winning ideas to help refugees feel at home

We can now reveal the winners of the What Design Can Do Refugee Challenge, and share their ideas to make life better for urban refugees.

The IKEA Foundation announced the five winning entries at What Design Can Do Live in Amsterdam on Friday 1 July. At the event, we gave each of the winners €10,000 to develop their ideas, presented by Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders. The winning entries are:

  • Makers Unite, a co-creation lab of creatives and refugees
  • The Welcome Card, which gives refugees access to social amenities
  • Eat & Meet, a network bus transformed into a kitchen
  • AGRIshelter, self-sufficient sustainable shelters
  • Reframe Refugees, a photo agency that enables refugees to tell their own stories.
What Design Can Do refugee challenge

Organised by the Foundation, What Design Can Do and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Refugee Challenge called for ideas and concepts to improve the standard of living for urban refugees.

It attracted 631 entries from 70 countries around the world, of which 25 were shortlisted. An international jury, including Marcus Engman, IKEA’s Head of Design, selected the five winners.

Jonathan Spampinato, Head of Communications at the IKEA Foundation, said: “This has been a fantastic collaboration with the design community. It fits our aim to explore how the principles of democratic design—form, function, quality, price and sustainability—can help drive innovation in the humanitarian sector.”

As well as the €10,000 stipend, the five winners will receive expert support to develop their concepts and take them to the next level. The revised projects will be assessed and presented again at the end of 2016.

Partner

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
https://www.unhcr.org/

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  • 🌍 Today, more than 78% of the world’s refugees are trapped in protracted situations. Acknowledging this reality, we announce our partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Together, we are committed to supporting forcibly displaced people on their path towards self-reliance. 🤝✨
We recognize the importance of empowering displaced individuals, improving livelihoods, and fostering resilient communities.

🔗 Follow the link in our bio to read the complete article.

#ForcedToFlee #Refugees
  • 💡 Shifting the hospitals and clinics to clean energy helps cut emissions in a sector that accounts for about 4.4% of the global figure, according to a study by Health Care Without Harm (@healthcarewithoutharm)
 
☀️ We are proud to support SELCO Foundation’s ‘Energy for Health’ initiative, along with the Indian Health Ministry. This initiative aims to solarize 25,000 healthcare centres across the country by 2026.

Read the complete article by @apnews. Follow the link in our bio. 

@selcoofficial #EnergyForHealth #SolarPower #RenewableEnergy
  • #DidYouKnow that the IKEA Foundation is supporting partnerships that help forcibly displaced people achieve sustainable livelihoods?

Together with our partners, we’re working to empower people forced to flee their homes to build a better life and become part of thriving communities. 

#ForcedToFlee
🌍 Today, more than 78% of the world’s refugees are trapped in protracted situations. Acknowledging this reality, we announce our partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Together, we are committed to supporting forcibly displaced people on their path towards self-reliance. 🤝✨
We recognize the importance of empowering displaced individuals, improving livelihoods, and fostering resilient communities.

🔗 Follow the link in our bio to read the complete article.

#ForcedToFlee #Refugees
🌍 Today, more than 78% of the world’s refugees are trapped in protracted situations. Acknowledging this reality, we announce our partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Together, we are committed to supporting forcibly displaced people on their path towards self-reliance. 🤝✨ We recognize the importance of empowering displaced individuals, improving livelihoods, and fostering resilient communities. 🔗 Follow the link in our bio to read the complete article. #ForcedToFlee #Refugees
5 days ago
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💡 Shifting the hospitals and clinics to clean energy helps cut emissions in a sector that accounts for about 4.4% of the global figure, according to a study by Health Care Without Harm (@healthcarewithoutharm)
 
☀️ We are proud to support SELCO Foundation’s ‘Energy for Health’ initiative, along with the Indian Health Ministry. This initiative aims to solarize 25,000 healthcare centres across the country by 2026.

Read the complete article by @apnews. Follow the link in our bio. 

@selcoofficial #EnergyForHealth #SolarPower #RenewableEnergy
💡 Shifting the hospitals and clinics to clean energy helps cut emissions in a sector that accounts for about 4.4% of the global figure, according to a study by Health Care Without Harm (@healthcarewithoutharm) ☀️ We are proud to support SELCO Foundation’s ‘Energy for Health’ initiative, along with the Indian Health Ministry. This initiative aims to solarize 25,000 healthcare centres across the country by 2026. Read the complete article by @apnews. Follow the link in our bio. @selcoofficial #EnergyForHealth #SolarPower #RenewableEnergy
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
2/3
#DidYouKnow that the IKEA Foundation is supporting partnerships that help forcibly displaced people achieve sustainable livelihoods?

Together with our partners, we’re working to empower people forced to flee their homes to build a better life and become part of thriving communities. 

#ForcedToFlee
#DidYouKnow that the IKEA Foundation is supporting partnerships that help forcibly displaced people achieve sustainable livelihoods?

Together with our partners, we’re working to empower people forced to flee their homes to build a better life and become part of thriving communities. 

#ForcedToFlee
#DidYouKnow that the IKEA Foundation is supporting partnerships that help forcibly displaced people achieve sustainable livelihoods?

Together with our partners, we’re working to empower people forced to flee their homes to build a better life and become part of thriving communities. 

#ForcedToFlee
#DidYouKnow that the IKEA Foundation is supporting partnerships that help forcibly displaced people achieve sustainable livelihoods?

Together with our partners, we’re working to empower people forced to flee their homes to build a better life and become part of thriving communities. 

#ForcedToFlee
#DidYouKnow that the IKEA Foundation is supporting partnerships that help forcibly displaced people achieve sustainable livelihoods?

Together with our partners, we’re working to empower people forced to flee their homes to build a better life and become part of thriving communities. 

#ForcedToFlee
#DidYouKnow that the IKEA Foundation is supporting partnerships that help forcibly displaced people achieve sustainable livelihoods? Together with our partners, we’re working to empower people forced to flee their homes to build a better life and become part of thriving communities. #ForcedToFlee
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
3/3