Sustainability Takes Center Stage at the SEGD Global Design Awards!

February 26, 2025

Designing for Impact: Elevating Sustainability in Experience Design

As designers, we shape the spaces where people connect, learn, and find inspiration—crafting both everyday experiences and once-in-a-lifetime moments. But design is more than function and aesthetics; it’s a responsibility to create meaningful, lasting impact. Now more than ever, our community has the power to lead the charge in sustainable innovation, demonstrating that experience design can work in harmony with nature while pushing the boundaries of creativity.

With the introduction of the Sustainability Impact Recognition in the SEGD Global Design Awards, alongside the Life-Centered Design Award, we are honoring projects that set new standards in ecological stewardship. These recognitions celebrate designers who embrace circular material strategies, reduce environmental impact, and pioneer regenerative solutions—proving that experiential design can be both innovative and responsible.

“We are looking to inspire more creative, open, and regenerative approaches to design—ones that move beyond initial metrics and truly work in harmony with life,” says SEGD Sustainability Committee Chair Genell Zuciya. “We recognize that improved metrics are the desired outcome, but not necessarily the driving force that gets us there. Exponential positive change and a ripple effect can take hold when we consider meaningful narratives, thoughtful material choices, and holistic system design.”

This evolution in the SEGD Global Design Awards is about more than recognition—it’s about creating a lasting movement. Sustainability Committee Co-Chair Joel Krieger emphasizes the potential for transformation: “Our design community has the capacity to make sustainability not just a consideration, but the foundation of our work. The new sustainability categories in the Global Design Awards go beyond recognition—they spark a movement. By celebrating the best in sustainable design, we transform quiet ambition into collective momentum. This is more than an award; it’s a call to create with purpose, to lead with vision, and to design a future that truly belongs.”

By spotlighting these efforts, SEGD aims to inspire broader industry adoption of sustainable practices. This isn’t just an award—it’s a call to action and a testament to the power of design to shape a better future. Through bold ideas and forward-thinking strategies, we are proving that great design isn’t just about what we build—it’s about the world we leave behind.

How these awards work

Sustainable Impact Recognition

This recognition highlights the diverse facets of sustainable design—including materiality, process, narrative, and place—and their collective impact in fostering ecological harmony and shaping sustainable futures. The goal is to celebrate projects that have taken meaningful steps toward a better future, whether through materials, storytelling, or spatial impact.

Projects may qualify by meeting criteria in any one of three paths:

• Process – Projects that exemplify circular design methods by limiting waste and energy use, promoting decomposition or re-use, and relying on sustainable physical materials.
• Narrative – Projects that tell compelling stories of sustainability, deepening our understanding of the ecological polycrisis and our connection to the natural world.
• Place – Physical environments that reconnect people to the natural ecosystem, enhance biodiversity, or bridge the gap between human and ecological systems.

Life-Centered Design Award

This award celebrates work that transcends human-centered design—honoring projects that take an integrated, holistic approach where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The recipient embodies a transformative mindset, pioneering innovative designs that seamlessly integrate materiality, narrative, and a strong sense of place while considering their lasting ripple effects in shaping a positive future for all.

Think your project deserves this recognition?

Entries for the 2025 SEGD Global Design Awards are open through March 15—submit your work and be part of the future of sustainable experience design!