Until 14 September, the Municipality of Kaunas, in cooperation with Malcolm Reading Consultants, call for designers from all around the world to send their projects and concepts to the Science Island Design Contest. This anonymous and single-staged competition consists in preselecting the three most innovative projects, of which one will be developed within the National Science and Innovation Centre to be established by 2018 in the Nemunas Island. The City has invested with €25 million to turn this island into a major research and cultural hub. The building of the centre, in harmony with the urban landscape, will be an innovative exemplar of sustainable design methods.

Along with the City’s urban integration plan, this Science and Innovation Island will contribute to foster access and participation to cultural life for all by inspiring new audiences, raising awareness about science and innovation as tools to achieve sustainable urban development, exchanging knowledge and experiences through a wide array of hands-on activities. In addition, the project will draw on the expertise of researchers, entrepreneurs, students, engineers of different fields including science, architecture, environment protection and urban planning.

The award consists in a grant of €15,000 for each of the three selected projects. Following the pre-selection process, the three winners will enter into a negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice with Kaunas City Municipality, which will decide on a single and preferred bidder who will be awarded a contract and take its project through the design stages.