2018 Social Design Award

The ways in which neighbors move from simply living next to each other to actually doing things together is the subject of this year's Social Design Award, which is being hosted by SPIEGEL ONLINE and SPIEGEL WISSEN for the fifth time

It all begins when you accept a package for a neighbor or when you carry their newspaper up the stairs and place it in front of their door for them. When you water their plants and flowers for them during vacation. Or when you organize a party for the residents of your apartment building, hold a joint garage sale in the courtyard, start a running group with neighbors or tend to an urban gardening space together. And there are, of course, many other possibilities for getting neighbors to engage together on behalf of their neighborhood and to move from just living next to each other to actually doing things together.

That's the focus of this year's Social Design Award, which is being hosted by SPIEGEL WISSEN and SPIEGEL ONLINE in cooperation with the home improvement retailer BAUHAUS for the fifth time. We're looking for the best ideas and projects for creating a vibrant neighborhood. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2018. An expert jury and the readers of SPIEGEL WISSEN and SPIEGEL ONLINE will each propose a winner. The winners of the Jury Prize and the Audience Prize will each win the Social Design Award and receive 2,500 euros.

The jury and you, our readers, will decide what are deemed to be the best ideas and projects, because with the Social Design Award, there are always two winners. One is chosen from a shortlist by the readers of SPIEGEL ONLINE and the other is selected by the jury.

Anyone is free to participate in the Social Design Award competition. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2018. The competition rules can be found here: 

When does the competition end? The jury will select the best ideas from the submissions and they will be presented on SPIEGEL ONLINE at the beginning of October 2018. Readers can then vote for their favorites. The winners will be announced on December 11 in SPIEGEL WISSEN magazine and on SPIEGEL ONLINE.

What are the prizes? Both a Jury Prize and an Audience Prize will be awarded. The winner of each will receive 2,500 euros. The is no recourse to legal action.