Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU) and member of the jury said: "Ecodesign of products and services can make our everyday lives and economy more sustainable and environmentally friendly, both intelligently and aesthetically. I am pleased that there have been so many entries displaying a wealth of great ideas."
Dr. Thomas Holzmann, former Vice-President of the German Environment Agency (UBA), added: "This has been my fifth and unfortunately last year to serve on the jury but I was once again impressed by the broad spectrum which the entries covered and by the professional discussions among the jury."
The four categories “Product”, “Service”, “Concept” and “Young Design" of the Ecodesign Award reflect a diverse range of clever solutions in sustainable design. More than 250 entries were submitted this year by businesses, designers, architects and engineers, research centres and universities hoping to win the prestigious award. About 130 entries were selected in a preliminary round by experts on the Advisory Council and the German Environment Agency for further contemplation by the jury. The interdisciplinary jury ultimately nominated 24 finalists for the German Federal Ecodesign Award 2018. Federal Minister for Environment Svenja Schulze will host an awards ceremony to honour the winners on 26 November at the Federal Ministry for Environment in Berlin.
All the nominations can be viewed in an online exhibition here: www.bundespreis-ecodesign.de/en/wettbewerb/2018/nominierte.html.
A special exhibition on the fringes of the jury meeting at the Kulturforum Berlin will be open to the public on 2-3 October. The exhibition shows all the nominated and finalist submissions. For registration and opening hours click here: www.bundespreis-ecodesign.de/en/calendar.
A touring exhibition of all the nominated and winning projects will be making stops at several trade fairs and museums in 2019.
The German Federal Ecodesign Award is a distinction awarded for products, services and concepts which are exemplary in terms of their ecological quality, innovative approach and high level of design quality. The Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety have awarded the Bundespreis Ecodesign every year since 2012 in collaboration with International Design Center Berlin.
Jury of German Federal Ecodesign Award
- Werner Aisslinger (product designer)
- Prof. Anna Berkenbusch (communications designer, Professor at Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle)
- Andreas Detzel (environmental expert, ifeu ,Heidelberg)
- Prof. Matthias Held (product designer, Professor at HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd)
- Dr. Thomas Holzmann (Vice-President, German Environment Agency (ret.))
- Prof. em. Günter Horntrich (product designer, em. Professor of Design and Ecology at the KISD)
- Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter (Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment)
- Prof. Friederike von Wedel-Parlow (fashion designer, Founder of Beneficial Design Institute)