H&M Foundation Global Change Award 2020 Call for Applications

The Global Change Award was initiated in 2015 by the H&M Foundation in collaboration with Accenture and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. The award’s aim is to accelerate the process of finding, supporting and scaling up disruptive innovations that can make the fashion industry circular and thus help protect the planet and living conditions. This means changing the way garments are designed, produced, shipped, bought, used and recycled by adopting disruptive technology, processes or new business models. Examples of innovations suitable for the award include:

Innovations that use digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics or connectivity to make fashion circular, as well as ideas that focus on improving the environmental footprint of a product after it has been bought.

Innovations related to waste or how resources can be recovered and turned into material, products or services – or how waste can be eliminated in the first place.

Innovations supporting a climate positive fashion industry, eg creating clothes, services and manufacturing processes that are not only neutral but actually good for the environment.

Five winners are selected and will share the grant of €1 million to develop their ideas. They will also receive access to the one-year long tailor-made Innovation Accelerator Programme provided by the H&M Foundation, Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The accelerator includes immersion weeks in Stockholm, New York and Hong Kong.

Applicants who apply before 18 September 2019 will automatically have the chance of winning the Early Bird competition. The winner will have the opportunity to join the five winners of the Global Change Award in one of the trips as part of the Innovation Accelerator Programme.

The competition is open to individuals and groups of up to four people over 18 years of age anywhere in the world. It is also open to institutions, organisations and social businesses.

Applications should be made in English via the website by the closing date of 16 October 2019.

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