Deadline: October 4, 2026
The Wege Prize is now accepting applications for its 2027 edition, challenging interdisciplinary student teams from around the world to design circular solutions that address real-world problems for people, businesses, and the environment. Organized by Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD), this annual competition ignites game-changing solutions for the future by inspiring college and university students to collaborate across institutional, disciplinary, and cultural boundaries.
About the Competition
Wege Prize is an annual student design competition that serves as a global learning lab, challenging transdisciplinary teams to develop real-world solutions to complex, “wicked” problems through the framework of the circular economy. Since its start in 2014, the competition has grown significantly, with the 2026 edition attracting 87 teams from over 30 countries, representing 126 leading institutions and nearly 200 unique academic disciplines.
The competition is designed to investigate complex, layered challenges and encourage students to take a diverse, collaborative approach to creating tangible solutions for the circular economy. As Nathan Shedroff, a Wege Prize judge, noted: “It’s not enough for your solution to just be well engineered, or systemic, or circular – it also has to be feasible, it has to be right for people, and it oftentimes has to help people change their behavior.”
What the Challenge Involves
Each team must leverage its transdisciplinary makeup to collaboratively design and propose a product, service, system, or other solution to a wicked problem of their choosing that can help us transition from a linear economic model to a circular economic model.
The circular economy is based on three core principles:
- Eliminate waste and pollution – Consider waste and pollution as design flaws to be addressed rather than inevitable by-products
- Circulate products and materials – Design products to be reused, repaired, and re-manufactured, keeping materials in circulation
- Regenerate natural systems – Create closed-loop systems that actively enhance water and nutrient cycling
The Prizes
Winning teams split the following awards evenly between their five members:
| Place | Prize Amount |
|---|---|
| 1st Place | $30,000 |
| 2nd Place | $20,000 |
| 3rd Place | $10,000 |
| Finalist Award (x2) | $2,500 each |
Eligibility Requirements
Team Requirements
To be eligible to participate, teams must:
- Have exactly five (5) members (no more, no less)
- Represent at least three (3) different academic disciplines (based on each participant’s current program of study)
- Represent at least two (2) different institutions of higher education (colleges, universities, or separate colleges/schools within a larger university)
Individual Requirements
- Be currently enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate degree program at a college, university, or equivalent institution anywhere in the world
- Be enrolled as a full-time (or equivalent) student for the majority of the competition
How Teams Are Judged
Wege Prize judges evaluate teams through the following lenses, providing in-depth feedback at each phase to help teams improve:
- Circularity – How does your solution intentionally incorporate the core principles of the circular economy?
- Innovation – How does your solution, particularly its circular design, provide unique value and create new opportunity?
- Viability – To what extent have you prototyped and demonstrated marketability, profitability, and feasibility?
- Scope – How does your solution reflect a systemic understanding of the problem while remaining rooted in a clear, sensible entry point?
- Desirability – To what extent has user/stakeholder research uncovered proven need?
- Collaboration – How effectively have you leveraged your team’s diverse makeup and engaged outside perspectives?
- Presentation – To what extent have you presented your solution clearly, concisely, and compellingly?
The Competition Process
Teams advance through up to four distinct phases of competition, receiving in-depth feedback from experts along the way:
- Phase 1 / Apply (Aug. 3 – Oct. 4) – 90 team applications accepted
- Phase 2 / Design (Oct. 19 – Dec. 6) – 30 teams advance
- Phase 3 / Refine (Jan. 4 – Feb. 31) – 15 semifinalist teams
- Phase 4 / Present (Mar. 15 – May 16) – 5 finalist teams present at the awards ceremony
Success Stories
Past Wege Prize participants have gone on to build successful ventures. One notable example is the 2023 finalist team Banofi Leather, which created a thriving enterprise around their formula for making faux leather from banana waste and was recognized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
The 2026 winners also demonstrate the competition’s impact:
- 1st Place ($30K): Nutri-Más – A project transforming water contamination into a circular solution to address childhood malnutrition, developed by students from South Sudan
- 2nd Place ($20K): Agri Nova – Addressing seasonal limitations of harvesting edible grasshoppers through modular farming units
- 3rd Place ($10K): Egret Pads – Turning banana stems into affordable, biodegradable sanitary pads for women in Rwanda
🌍 Earth Focus Network: Your Partner in Innovation
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Quick Reference
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Initiative | Wege Prize 2027 |
| Organizer | Kendall College of Art and Design, Ferris State University |
| Focus | Circular economy solutions to wicked problems |
| Eligibility | Student teams of 5, 3+ disciplines, 2+ institutions |
| Total Prizes | $65,000 |
| Application Deadline | October 4, 2026 |
| Apply via | www.wegeprize.org |
Earth Focus Network believes the future is not something we wait for—it’s something we build together. Start building your circular solution today!
