2011 Challenge Jury Announced

November 24, NEW YORK CITY —The Buckminster Fuller Institute is pleased to announce the jurors for the 2011 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, socially responsible design's highest award. Each year systems thinkers and design pioneers across a wide spectrum of human endeavor are invited from around the world to unanimously select the winner and award $100k to a project that seeks to solve some of humanity's most entrenched global problems.

The members of the 2011 jury are:

MICHAEL BEN ELI, leading whole sytems thinker and consultant in sustainability initiatives around the world;
VALERIE CASEY, a renowned design innovator and founder of Design Accord;
BONNIE DEVARCO, interdisciplinary data visualization researcher, writer, curator and long time Buckminster Fuller scholar;
JEAN GARDNER, an activist, writer, teacher, and consultant on sustainable design issues;
JIN JIAMAN, sustainability leader in China;
ROGER MALINA, astrophysicist, editor Leonardo Journal and thought leader in the intersection of art and science;
DANIELLE NIERENBERG, a researcher and Project Director of State of World 2011 for the Worldwatch Institute;
DAVID ORR, leading scholar,educator, and highly influential writer on sustainable design and education;
ALLAN SAVORY, resource management consultant and winner of the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge;
SIM VAN DER RYN, is a visionary author, educator, public leader, and internationally distinguished pioneer in ecological design; and
ANDREW ZOLLI , is a well-known expert in global foresight and innovation and founder and curator of PopTech.

"We are very honored to have these visionaries serve as our jury this year. They will have their work cut out for them as they weigh the impact winning the Challenge might have on the extraordinary entries we have received this year. It is an unenviable task and we are deeply grateful for their service!" said Executive Director, Elizabeth Thompson.

The review process has already begun by BFI's internal team. Solutions address such wide-ranging problems as water scarcity, sustainable urban design strategies, and micro-grant programs intergrated with health, education and agrocultural programs in less developed nations. Entries were submitted from all parts of the US, the UK, and India, and from nations such as The Congo, Cameroon, Guatemala, Haiti, Nepal, The Philippines, and Poland. Several student projects were also entered from Columbia University Center for Research on Environmental Decision, Yale University, Earth University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, among others.

The jury will receive up to 20 projects for final comparative review and select the solution that best meets the criteria. Semi-Finalists will be announced in March 2011, Finalists will be announced in May 2011 and the winner will be revealed at a ceremony in June 2011.