Golden Seed Award 2025 - recognising design that makes a difference

Two projects that show how design can improve both people's lives and the environment received the Golden Seed Award at UID25 this year.

The winners were William Roskær with the project "Solid Care" and Ziqi An with "VendPlay". They are both awarded SEK 20,000 each.

William Roskær (seen in the centre of the picture) has tackled an everyday challenge in healthcare: that nurses often have to buy their own work shoes. His proposal is a holistic concept for hospitals to offer recyclable work shoes as a service, complete with ordering, fitting and return flow.

William Roskær is honoured for "Solid Care" - a circular shoe concept for healthcare that makes life easier for nurses while reducing their carbon footprint.

It's about creating real sustainability - for those who work in the system, and for the environment it affects," says William.

Ziqi Ans (pictured left) project 'VendPlay' tackles street vending in China. Through a modular and community-driven system, he wants to elevate local culture, economic resilience and the pulse of the city. A kind of designed ecosystem for movement, encounters and opportunities.

Ziqi An emphasises the potential of street vending with 'VendPlay' - a modular system that strengthens community, local culture and city life.

An honourable mention went to Kimberley Beauprez and her project 'Carefree in 2060'. By questioning the way we talk about and plan our finances - especially around pensions - Kimberley wants to create a more inclusive and reflective approach to money. The result is an app that highlights the biases of the system and encourages responsible decision-making.

"Kimberley has worked to change mindsets and behaviours around money and retirement savings in a very inspiring way. Her solution opens the door to systemic change in how we think about consumption and makes financial decisions more democratic." was the jury's motivation.

This year's jury consisted of Sina Hägele, Mr Marc Saboya Feliu, Ellinor Mr Werner and Fanny Lindén, who works at eXpression on a daily basis.

A total of six finalists competed for the award, all with projects that challenge and develop the concept of sustainability in different ways.

The Golden Seed Award is a student-initiated prize that recognises degree projects with a sustainability focus. The jury takes a broad look at what sustainability can be - sometimes it's about social impact, sometimes about climate and environment.

The prize was made possible by support from eXpression Umeå and others.

Find out more and see all projects in the UID25 | Project Gallery.