Latin America has been hit particularly hard during the coronavirus pandemic, where almost 31% of the population lives in poverty. COVID-19 hasn't only impacted the community's health but also dealt a severe blow to the economy and employment rates.

Faced with this, The Index Project and the Faculty of Design at Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD) are collaborating to activate the youth of Latin America to create solutions that address the effects of coronavirus from a local perspective.

From today, we invite Latin American students and graduates from various disciplines, either individually or as a team, to participate in the first edition of Diseño Responde, Desafío Latinoamericano Index Award + UDD.

The main objective of the challenge is to stimulate the creativity of Latin American youth to "project themselves as agents of change".

"This is a great opportunity to unlock diverse talents in the region and kick-start solutions that can have such an immense impact in local areas."

"This is a great opportunity to unlock diverse talents in the region and kick-start solutions that can have such an immense impact in local areas," says Liza Chong, The Index Project CEO. "We hope this will be just the first of many initiatives where we, along with forward-thinking local partners, can nurture the innovation pipeline in areas that have been the hardest hit by the pandemic and the economical repercussions to follow." 

From October, participants can submit any design that addresses problems related to COVID-19 and life after the pandemic. These could be focussed on healthcare, virtual education or work, housing conditions, access to nature, among many other areas.

The solutions can be submitted into the categories of Body, Home, Work, Play & Learning and Community. They'll then be judged by an independent jury of design experts and thought leaders across Latin America, as well as our CEO Liza Chong and Head of Technology & Future Thinking, Mariano Alesandro.

The five winners of the challenge will be announced in February 2021 and automatically placed in the running for Index Award 2021, which will be celebrated in September 2021.

For details, visit the competition page (Spanish).