2025 marked the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action accepted by all 189 UN countries unanimously at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. It is an agenda for women’s empowerment and the key global policy document on gender equality.
Inspired by these 30 years of commitment and hard work, BE OPEN’s Design Equality with Innovation programme hopes to mobilize urgent and sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and support the achievement of the SDGs.
In a rapidly evolving world, global challenges are becoming increasingly complex and interlinked. Innovative approaches are needed in order to improve the way we respond and adapt to this changing environment, where established methods do not always ensure impact. Achieving the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals – and notably the goal on gender equality and women’s empowerment – requires transformative shifts, integrated approaches and new solutions.
DESIGN EQUALITY with Innovation became the 7th international competition in the SDGs-focused programme for students and graduates run by the socio-cultural initiative BE OPEN and its partners. Since 2019, the programme aims to encourage creation of innovative solutions by younger creatives, for a more prosperous and sustainable future, with the focus on the UN Sustainable Development Programme.
At the opening of the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “By ensuring access to quality education for girls, and opening the doors of opportunity to decent work for women, we kick-start economic growth and we forge stronger economies.”
BE OPEN joined in encouraging women’s participation in innovation, community initiatives and sustainable small businesses by dedicating the 2025/2026 competition to contributing to achieving SDG#5, that is promoting the solutions that advocate and advance gender equality, meet the needs of women and girls, promote women as innovators and entrepreneurs.
From several hundreds of submissions fifty were shortlisted as honorary mentions. The winners of the first three prizes have been selected by international jury that featured sustainability professionals, academics, designers, experts in environmental policies and practices. This year’s jury panel that featured Barbara della Rovere, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO); Helen Watts, the Executive Director of Student Energy; Anna Kaplina, the Environmental Affairs Officer at the UNECE Environment Division; Peter Gamundani, a sustainability specialist with the Global Sustainable Solution Agents; Anastasia Adamidou from the Office of the Commissioner for Gender Equality, Françoise Mlebinge, the Programme Officer at SOLIFEDE-RDC, and Ajisafe Damilola Ifeoluwa, the founder of TerraYouth Africa.
Successful entrepreneur and avid supporter of innovation Elena Baturina, Founder of BE OPEN, praised the winners and all the participants: “As global challenges grow more complex and interconnected, traditional methods often fall short. Addressing today’s urgent issues demands fresh thinking, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and bold experimentation. And this is exactly what we see in incredible projects submitted to Design Equality by young people from all over the world. We are privileged to witness and support the creative power of younger people that will bring us closer to equality, thus creating more leaders of sustainable change”.
