Each year, systems thinkers and design pioneers across a wide spectrum of human endeavor enter The Buckminster Fuller Challenge, socially responsible design's highest award. This year the deadline for the 2012 cycle was October 24, 2011.

The review team started pouring over entries proposing solutions for such wide-ranging problems as water scarcity, sustainable urban design, and micro-grant programs in less developed nations. What sets this initiative apart from all others is that these entries are working towards a holistic, whole systems approach to solving some of our most entrenched global problems.

Ideas came from all parts of the world, the Sahel, the Arctic, and from nations such as India. South Africa, Rwanda, Barbados, Haiti, Spain, Afghanistan, The Netherlands, Taiwan, and China. Several student projects were also entered from ETH Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Universidad del PaAs Vasco, and GAIA University, among others.

The jury will receive up to 20 projects for final comparative review and select the solution that best meets the criteria. Semi-Finalists will be announced in March 2012, Finalists will be announced in May 2012 and the winner will be revealed at a ceremony in June 2012.

To learn more about the Selection Process go here: http://challenge.bfi.org/selection_process