How to Enter

A panel of distinguished jurors selects the winner of The Buckminster Fuller Challenge. The winner will be chosen via a multi-stage selection process:

Stage 1: REVIEW
All entries are vetted for compliance with the entry criteria and eligibility requirements. Several rounds of in-depth dialogue take place amongst the review team over the course of twelve weeks to determine which entries will be advanced.

The review team is an experienced group of people drawn from diverse fields of expertise including new media and media ecology, geo visualization, education, science, engineering, energy, urban and community planning, design, business and social investing, sustainability, art, architecture, philanthropy and the life and work of Buckminster Fuller. The group is comprised of members of BFI’s staff & Board, advisors to the Challenge and other technical experts as required.

2012 Review Team Members
Paul Beaton- Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences
Rita Blaik- Graduate Student, UCLA, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, NSF IGERT Clean Green Fellow
JP Harpignies- writer, editor and co-producer of Bioneers
Josh Arnow- Senior advisor, BF Challenge, President, Emeritas, Buckminster Fuller Institute, co-founder Sustainability Laboratories

BFI Staff + Associates
Dayyan Armstrong- 2011 Challenge Intern
Will Elkins- Environmental Artist
Sophie Nichols- 2012 BFI intern
JenJoy Roybal- Program Manager
Sharifah Taqi- BFC administrator'
Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Director
Julie Welch-practitioner of regenerative landscape design in Brooklyn, NY and Rhode Island

Stage 2: INTERVIEW
A selection of outstanding entries will be invited to participate in an interview and to submit more detailed information as needed. Submittals at this stage may include but are not limited to; high resolution images, detailed budgets, progress updates, and letters of reference expanding on the strength and support of the project from one or more references.

Stage 3: SEMI-FINALISTS ADVANCE
A group of Semi-Finalists will be selected and advanced for review by our distinguished jurors and announced to the public. If you did not create a video it is highly recommended that you prepare one at this time.

Stage 4-FINALIST ADVANCE
Following a review of the Semi-Finalists, jurors will select a group of Finalists which will be announced to the public. A two-minute project video will be requested, if not already submitted. This is used to showcase your work.

Stage 5: WINNER + RUNNER UP SELECTED
The Jury will conduct a live deliberation to select the Winner, Runner-Up and compose a statement advocating their selections. The Jury reserves the right to select Honorable Mentions. The Winner, Runner Up and Honorable Mentions will be revealed at a ceremony in June 2011.

*SCHEDULE FOR THE 2011 CYCLE
5 pm, Eastern Daylight Time, October 22, 2010: Deadline to submit entry to the 2011 Buckminster Fuller Challenge.
January/February: Scheduled Interviews
March/April: Semi-Finalists Announced
January-April: Jury Deliberations
April/May: Finalists Announced
June 2011: Winner Announced

The decision of The Buckminster Fuller Challenge jury is final. The Buckminster Fuller Institute reserves the right to withhold conferring the prize if it concludes, with the full support of the jury, that none of the entries submitted to the jury adequately meet the criteria.

*schedule subject to change. Please check the website for regular updates


» Jurors