RCA partners on Terra Carta Design Lab for a second year to find high impact solutions to the climate crisis

The Sustainable Markets Initiative is inviting students and recent alumni (who have graduated in the last five years) from the RCA and three other prestigious international design schools to address the devastating damage being done to our planet and create breakthrough solutions for Nature, People and Planet, inspired by its guiding mandate - the Terra Carta.

His Majesty King Charles III, in his former role as HRH The Prince of Wales, and Sir Jony Ive launched the Terra Carta Design Lab in 2021, in partnership with the Royal College of Art. This year’s Design Lab has expanded its reach to also partner with Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (UAE), National Institute of Design Ahmedabad (India) and Rhode Island School of Design (USA).

The four winners of the 2022 Terra Carta Design Lab - Aerseeds, Amphico, The Tyre Collective and ZELP - have already raised £18 million in investments and grants to date and have been supported by the RCA’s centre for entrepreneurship and incubation, InnovationRCA. In addition, projects from the 20-strong shortlist have gone on to make impact: most notably Notpla, packaging made from seaweed, winning the prestigious £1m Earthshot Prize in December 2022. Resting Reef has developed its eco-memorial service design to the point where it is now crowdfunding for a pilot reef, and Shellworks, one of two highly-commended projects, is creating naturally biodegradable packaging for major beauty brand Haeckels.

The Terra Carta Design Lab will harness the expertise of the RCA and the other three schools, with the power of the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s network of private sector supporters to bring to light innovative, scalable solutions, highlighting the urgent need to focus on the creative collaboration between art, science, design, and engineering.

To celebrate the power of thinking differently and bringing together diverse, global minds, two projects from the RCA and each of the other schools will be awarded funding and the opportunity to be mentored by RCA Chancellor Sir Jony Ive and the Sustainable Market Initiative’s vast network to help scale their ideas and bring them to market.

All submissions will be judged by a panel of experts at each school, before they each present a top ten shortlist to the Global Judging Panel for final judging, spearheaded by Sir Jony Ive. The winning eight designs will be announced in Autumn 2024.

The RCA has a highly successful record of developing projects from ideas into reality, with students and alumni creating solutions with the potential to transform how we live. InnovationRCA, the university's centre for enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support, has helped over 80 RCA business ideas become a reality that has led to the creation of over 800 UK jobs.