The saying “Necessity is the mother of invention” has never been more relevant.  The world is facing environmental degradation on one side and economic collapse on the other.  Fortunately, one can counter with the adage of “crisis is another word for opportunity” still holds true.  The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is an annual contest for harvesting big ideas and strategies that aim to solve a pressing global problem.  These strategies are systematic means of changing the world which take into consideration the complexity of such a large task.  First place winners receive a cash prize of $100,000.00 to support the on-going development and implementation of their winning solution.  The first two contests have shown just how wide the scope of focus has been.

The ”Idea Index” is a catalog of the entries submitted to the contest in its first two years.  Here you can see what issues the contestants thought to be most pressing and how they would solve them.  The 2008 winner, John Todd, focused on restoring the overly strip mined areas of Appalachia in a piece named:  Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia.  Todd suggested a four stage process that took account of all angles, including land purchasing and funding to create a better design for producing energy (namely replacing coal power with wind power in Appalachia).  This year saw 33 contestants make it to the final round of judging.  The winner was the student team from MIT’s Media Lab with their entry titled:  Sustainable Personal Mobility and Mobility on Demand Systems.  The winning entry was much more than futuristic cars and transportation systems.  A 2009 juror stated:  “Sustainable Personal Mobility isn’t just about the design of these lightweight, highly efficient, electric vehicles, it also about inserting that technological innovation into the social and cultural environment and designing an intuitive system within which they function.”  To view a detailed list of entries and submitters, the Buckminster Fuller Challenge website has created the Idea Index.  Here is where one can go to see what problems people see around them and what strategies they would utilize to solve the conflict.

Buckminster Fuller will always be known as one of the greatest visionaries and forward thinking people who have changed the world.  This challenge series will keep his spirit alive as others attempt to tackle the troubles of the world.  We’ll keep you posted with any updates for further Buckminster Fuller Challenges.

 Visit the official Buckminster Fuller Challenger site:  http://challenge.bfi.org/home