Countless studies have shown that play is critical to the health and well-being of kids, and cities are increasingly recognizing the urgency of designing communities for kids and their families. Too many kids across the U.S.— especially those in low-income neighborhoods— are not getting the play they need to thrive.
The use of prizes to drive social change continues to grow in popularity. It also continues to evolve. In more and more cases, prize competitions provide recipients with resources to pursue their work even before they complete a proposed project. Under the right circumstances, argues author, Renya Reed Wasson, this model is superior both to other prize models and to traditional grantmaking.
GENIUS NY is an in-residence business competition accelerator at The Tech Garden in Central New York that goes beyond substantial direct investment. In addition to three grand prizes of up to $1 million, $600,000 and $400,000, the program also offers company stipends, housing, resources, programming, and connections, making it among the largest competitions of its kind across the globe.
Through it's newly launched competition, the National Association of Broadcasters aims to identify fresh ideas, strategies and solutions that will help shape the future of broadcasting. Participants must creatively answer the challenge question, "How might local television and radio broadcasters engage their communities with next generation content on any device, whether big, small or moving?"
For the second year, the National Science Foundation and the American Association of Community Colleges have challenged students enrolled in community colleges to propose innovative science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based solutions to perplexing, real-world problems. An incentive: Teams submitting top ideas receive professional coaching and cash prizes.
Aiming to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, the National Science Foundation and the National Nanotechnology Initiative launched the Generation Nano: Small Science, Superheroes challenge, inviting students to create unique superheroes with nanotechnology-enabled gear. The competition asks middle and high school students to use scientific research to drive or equip an...
The Play Everywhere Challenge is a national competition that will award $1 million in prizes for the best replicable, scalable innovations in city redevelopment and design that help make play easy, available and fun for kids and families.
