By Cassandra Pizzey / 19-07-2012

Divided over a Green Fashion, a Green Architecture and Green Design competition, the Green Collective aims to provide a network for sustainable design, promoting a more ecological background for designers and entrepreneurs. 

An initiative of Dutch Design Week and the Dutch ministry of Agriculture and Innovation, the Green Design Competition looked for a designer who would create a product which supports biodiversity. From eight finalists, Tjeerd Veenhoven’s PalmLeather Sandals were chosen as the Established Design Entrepreneur winner.

Looking at the depletion of the world’s resources through intensive mining, farming and wastage of materials, the competition focuses on designers who are making a change through their products. In Veenhoven’s case this meant going in search of a material which was sustainable, cheap and which in the long term will open up job opportunities for those who need it most.

Produced in India, PalmLeather is made from the dried, fallen leaves of palm trees – a natural resource which doesn’t involve specially growing or harvesting of the material. By treating the palm leaves (with a non-chemical product) they become almost like rubber, or indeed leather and can then be implemented in for instance sandals.

Veenhoven’s sandals include all aspects that the jury wanted to see: local production, a strong business plan with high potential, a good design, innovation, sustainability, social empowerment and economic development. The biodiversity of the PalmLeather Sandals is twofold. Firstly, plastic is replaced by a biodegradable material in a huge market. In addition, the product is well-designed so that it is less likely to be discarded. The jury described this concept as “a perfect example of how to create an ecological economy”.

The Starting Design Winner was Ento from the UK, the winning concept of Jonathan Fraser, Jacky Chung, Julene Aguire and Aran Dasan. They developed a 'roadmap' for introducing edible insects in the Western diet. The jury selected this concept as a winner in this category because of its potential impact and thoughtful approach. Ento cuts a hot topic: the rising global demand for food. The concept can have an enormous impact on the diet of Westerners. The jury praised the design and branding, and simultaneously the potential impact on a large group of people. The jury hopes that Ento uses the prize to further investigate the product and ultimately to develop it.

In The Green Fashion Competition Studio Jux won first prize in category one and Carrie Parrie walked away with first place in category two last January during Amsterdam Fashion Week. In the Architecture competition, first prize went to  Noémie Benoit (France) for The Port Authority Bus Terminal which re-opens in 2030, in the Concept and Strategy Categorie two first-place prizes were awarded, to FABRIC / LOLA Landscape Architecture / Studio 1:1 (NL) for The Ecological Energy Network and to Jacques Vink, Peter Vollaard, Ward Sleeves and Ariënne Boelens (NL) for 7 Seasons.


The Green Collective Exhibition will be on show until 22 July at Umsjatka Studios in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

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