Wege Prize
Wege Prize
congratulations to the 2025 winning teams!
FIRST PLACE: Agpress
SECOND PLACE: rethread africa
THIRD PLACE: envirovex
A formal announcement and videos of the final presentations, the full event, and the Judges’ Forum are coming soon!
Click to download the event program
What is Wege Prize?
Wege Prize is an annual competition that ignites game-changing solutions for the future by inspiring college/university students around the world to collaborate across institutional, disciplinary, and cultural boundaries to redesign the way economies work. Participants contend for $65,000 (USD) in total cash prizes, all while learning—and helping to show the world—what the future of problem solving looks like.
The PLAYERS
College/university students from around the world apply as transdisciplinary teams of five, representing different academic disciplines, institutions, and degree levels.
Teams advance through up to four distinct phases, receiving feedback from experts and professionals in related fields along the way.
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
The Challenge
How can we create a circular economy?
Each team must leverage its transdisciplinary makeup to collaboratively design and propose a product, service, system, or other solution to a wicked problem of their choosing that can help us transition from a linear economic model to a circular economic model.
READ THE 2025 DESIGN BRIEF
The Prizes
Winning teams will split the following awards evenly between their five members:
First Place: $30,000 (USD)
Second Place: $20,000 (USD)
Third Place: $10,000 (USD)
Finalist Awards (2): $2,500 (USD)
PAST WINNERS
What is the circular economy?
What is the circular economy?
What is the circular economy? What does it look like in practice? Who's doing it now? And how can you get involved? Watch the above video from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to learn more!
the basics
Looking beyond the current take-make-waste extractive industrial model, a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources, and designing waste out of the system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural, and social capital.
A circular economy is based on three principles:
1. DESIGN OUT WASTE AND POLLUTION
2. KEEP PRODUCTS/MATERIALS IN USE
3. REGENERATE NATURAL SYSTEMS
THE ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was launched in 2010 to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Since its creation the charity has emerged as a global thought leader, establishing the circular economy on the agenda of decision makers across business, government, and academia.
“We are trying to change a system, not one business. We need to change the way people think, the way things are designed, the materials that are put into them.”
Recent News
Recent News
2025 Wege Prize winners announced: Top three student teams from schools worldwide share in $65,000 USD prize pool for sustainable designs that address malnutrition, textile waste, and wastewater pollution.