Since 2000, outstanding achievements towards a sustainable future have been awarded “The Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development.” Previous winners include Al Gore, Kofi Annan and Alejandro Aravena. Despite being the leading award of its kind, awareness is low. To reach out and inspire to even greater efforts, the award needs to become more visible, accessible and contemporary.

The new name, WIN WIN, describes the essence of sustainability—an outcome where everyone is happy. Today’s demands are satisfied without jeopardising future generations’ ability to satisfy theirs. The planet wins, we all win and whoever takes home the award wins. The theme for 2018 was Industrial Symbiosis. The youth award was also introduced this year as an initiative for upper secondary students.

The initial phase included a brand awareness survey, focusing on awards within sustainability in Sweden. It showed that the knowledge was very low—and laid the foundation for the decision on a name change and new visual identity. A fundamental insight has been that the award must broaden its perspective and target audience, from a slightly local perspective to something that concerns us all. And that it needs a unique appearance, to distinguish itself from other similar projects and organisations.

Over time, sustainability is all about give and take, a delicate interplay between nature and humanity. The movement of the logo aims to communicate the transient nature of this relationship. The new visual identity has been implemented on relevant touchpoints, such as the award ceremony, the website and social media platforms, communication, and printed matter. The award itself is not just a shiny trophy but constantly reinvents itself: each year the cube is made of a different sustainable material. In 2018, it was recycled ocean plastic.

The new name and visual identity were introduced less than a year ago. So far, it has created attention in its field and has also been reviewed on design blogs and websites. Recently, the project also won first prize in Resume Magazine's jury-rated "Design of the month".