FT/Citi Ingenuity Awards open for submissions

The second instalment of the Financial Times (FT)/Citi Ingenuity Awards will feature new categories with winners chosen by region and one global winner. Organisers are hoping to build on from the success of the inaugural awards held in December last year which drew submissions from over 41 countries.

“In 2013, we are expanding the areas of focus–beyond the categories of education, energy, healthcare and infrastructure–and we’re taking a regional approach to selecting finalists and winners,” said Liz Fogarty, Director, Strategic Communications, Citi.

“We hope there will be an array of ingenious projects that are scalable and replicable–offering the greatest potential to benefit as many cities, and as many people, as possible,” she added.

The awards, developed by the FT and Citi, with the support from business school INSEAD, aim to recognise those cities promoting urban progress.

“The judges are looking for those ideas which have the greatest impact and the most innovative approaches,” Edwin Heathcote, FT architecture critic and judge, told Cities Today. “The idea is that the most ingenious solutions should be able to inspire other cities facing similar challenges to address their own issues effectively and ingeniously.”

Heathcote also stressed that the awards are not just for large and developed cities. “Any ideas, no matter how seemingly small or how all-embracingly enormous will be considered–so long as they attempt to improve the quality of everyday life of dwellers in cities anywhere in the world.”

The inaugural winner, the Community Cooker from Kenya, was a case in point, Heathcote added. “The overall winner stood out because it was an extremely simple idea but also one which addressed a wide range of separate issues.” These included recycling, energy and community activity.

Submissions will be accepted online until 31 March and will then be reviewed by the FT and INSEAD, based on a range of criteria, including originality, impact, efficiency and outcomes. A panel of expert judges will then decide the final winners, which will be announced at a gala dinner in New York in December.

In addition to entering via the website, apply.ftcitiawards.com, influencers and key leaders in urban innovation can endorse or nominate ideas for the awards via the nomination email:ftcitiawards@ft.com.