DWL Students Competition 2026
Discovering, nurturing, and celebrating the next generation of African designers and design innovators. Challenging the barriers between learning and real progress.
Challenging Real-World Problems
The Design Week Lagos Students Competition is a premier nationwide design benchmark dedicated to finding and professionalizing emerging creative talent in African higher-education systems.
Each year, students and recent graduates are challenged to invent smart, aesthetic, and locally-producible answers to actual community limits. The challenge pushes the edge of design beyond paper dreams into real-world solutions for transportation, climate resilience, and public health.
This is more than a simple prize campaign. It serves as a continuous career launchpad—bridging youth prototypes directly with professional consulting firms, national manufacturers, design agencies, and structural investors.
Competition Brief
Each edition of the competition is built around a live challenge developed in collaboration with industry partners, institutions, and subject matter experts. Participants are invited to develop innovative responses to a defined brief, applying research, creativity, technical knowledge, and design thinking to generate meaningful solutions.
The challenge may address themes including:
- Urban development
- Mobility and transportation
- Sustainability and climate resilience
- Manufacturing and industrial design
- Digital innovation
- Housing and infrastructure
- Community development
- Health and wellbeing
- Education and social impact
Who Can Participate?
The competition is open to:
- Undergraduate students
- Postgraduate students
- Recent graduates
- Emerging designers and innovators
Participants may apply individually or as part of a team, depending on the requirements of the annual competition brief. Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 35 at the time of application.
Competition Process
Selected participants progress through a structured programme that includes:
- Briefing sessions
- Mentorship and guidance
- Concept development
- Design reviews
- Final submissions
- Jury evaluation
Entries are assessed by a panel of respected industry professionals, academics, and practitioners.
Awards & Recognition
Finalists will present their work during Design Week Lagos 2026 before a distinguished jury and audience of industry stakeholders.
- Cash prizes
- Industry recognition
- Mentorship opportunities
- Media exposure
- Access to professional networks
- Opportunities for further development and implementation
Judging Criteria
Projects are evaluated based on:
- Innovation and originality
- Relevance to the competition brief
- Quality of research and insight
- Feasibility and practicality
- Design excellence
- Potential social, economic, or environmental impact
- Presentation and communication
