Each year a distinguished jury will award a $100,000 prize to support the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems.

Winning the Buckminster Fuller Challenge will require more than a great stand-alone innovation. If for example, your solution emphasizes a new design, material, process, service, tool, technology, or any combination, it is essential that it be part of an integrated strategy dealing with key social, economic, environmental, and cultural issues.

Entries must present a bold, visionary, tangible initiative that is focused on a well-defined need of critical importance. They should be regionally specific yet globally applicable, and backed up by a solid plan and the capability to move the solution forward. They want the winning solution to be what Fuller called a ‘trimtab’ – a catalyst inserted into a failing system at the right time and place that accelerates the transition to an equitable and sustainable future.

You must be over age 18, able to submit the entry in English, have a current and valid ID, and be available to be contacted by phone or email at any point in the evaluation process. A discounted entry fee of $50 is available for students, academics (employees at a university or research institution), people entering on behalf of a registered non-profit, and financially contributing members of the Buckminster Fuller Institute. Deadline is 7 November 2008. Visit the site to learn more.