FourC Challenge
24-hour Design Charrette Contest
The FourC Challenge stands for
Create
Connec
Communicate
Collaborate
It advocates students pay attention to the developmental trends of human society, create innovative ideas in practice, and pursue optimal designs for solving real life problems. At the same time, they must show the courage to disrupt and subvert in order to create work with social and industrial value. By combining theory and practice, they can lay the groundwork for a sustainable, healthy, and beautiful living environment.
Since 2020, the competition has been held for four editions. Over the past four years, the FourC Challenge's interdisciplinary, cross-regional, and cross-university online collaborative innovation competition model has attracted nearly a thousand students from nearly 100 top universities in multiple countries worldwide, and has been publicized and reported by more than 70 professional media outlets. It is not just a competition, but also a platform to deepen knowledge understanding and communicate with the world. In these 24 hours, we hope that students can encounter and get to know the world, cooperate and exchange with students from various countries, and promote a more resilient recovery of the world through design. Through the power of design, we aim to positively influence people's lifestyles and shape a better future.
2025 New
Competition Format
In 2025, we will significantly improve the competition format and set sail anew, striving to develop a new approach that is more practical and helps students better innovate for sustainable development. In collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), award-winning works will directly enter the UNIDO Global Call China Case Database and be submitted to this year's UN Global Call international competition. Winners will have the opportunity to receive a UN medal and attend the award ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Focused Themes
Six cutting-edge sustainable design topics announced in advance, more targeted and practical.
Six Topics
1. Aging-friendly Design for Community Based on Intergenerational Communication
2. Ecological Design for Future Human Habitat Respiratory Health (Services/Products/Experiences)
3. Sustainable Transformation of Food Design
4. Design of Community Health Management Service System Based on Chinese Herbal Medicine
5. Inclusive Public Space Design from the Perspective of "Digital Equity"
6."Memory Activation Device" - A Light-Intervention Design Approach for Urban Historic Districts
* Each topic will be guided by senior experts in the corresponding field. Please select your preferred topic when registering, and the organizing committee will prioritize cross-university grouping based on your preferences.
Competition Process
Optimized Lightweight outcomes + phased advancement, with enhanced international recognition.
Preliminary Round
Preliminary Round (July 12-13, 2025): Completely online. Participants will be grouped across universities by topic to foster cross-cultural and interdisciplinary innovation. Adopting a Make-a-thon format, teams will create solutions within 24 hours and submit brief proposals. Expert judges will select 1 team per topic (6-8 teams in total) to advance, ensuring fairness across all directions.
Workshop Deepening
Workshop Deepening (August 24-31, 2025): Selected teams will receive an SJTU-UNIDO gift package and be invited to attend a one-week international offline workshop at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The organizing committee will cover domestic travel and on-campus accommodation, and provide a workshop package including a curated Shanghai City Journey experience. The workshop includes 6 thematic lectures, guided by senior mentors and UNIDO experts to refine designs and promote implementation.
UNIDO GLOBAL CALL
Award-winning works will directly enter the UNIDO GLOBAL CALL China Case Database, with the opportunity to win UN awards and an invitation to the ceremony in Riyadh.
2025 New Topic
The theme of the 5th FourC Challenge 24-Hour Design Competition is "ReBalance". In an era of rapid change, design is no longer just about solving problems, but about reconciling contradictions and establishing new balances. By balancing tradition and modernity, technology and humanity, as well as the individual and the system, design focuses not only on the design of "objects" but also on the design of "relationships" to envision sustainable future development.
2025 Competition
Scheme
The competition is by direct invitation, along with individual registration. Participants will be signed to teams according to their interested topics to facilitate exchanges and innovation among students of different nationalities and backgrounds. The competition will follow a Make-a-thon format, allowing participants to create online for 24 hours. Representatives and mentors from outstanding design institutes worldwide will provide guidance throughout the competition. Additionally, experts will be invited to deliver speeches on the competition theme, providing innovative knowledge input and inspiring thinking for the students.
Format
The challenge will be held entirely online on voov meeting. Students will join in interdisciplinary teams. To achieve better communication and connectivity among students from different nationalities and social backgrounds, participants will be divided into mixed groups based on different majors and schools. This is also the key point of the contest—to create, connect, communicate and collaborate. The grouping results will be announced on the day of the contest.
The challenge will be in form of online Make-a-thon. The participating groups will produce creative design online within 24 hours.
Required equipment for the contest (computers, programs and software, etc) as well as prototype production materials will be provided by the participants themselves.
Results
Submit electronic display files, and the judges will comprehensively review the works based on factors such as innovation and creativity, integrity of the works, technical rationality, and application prospects of the works.
Registration
There is no registration fee. The deadline for registration is July 4th, 2025.Please fill out “FourC Challenge 25-hour Design Charrette Contest Online Registration Form” by clicking “Read More” at the bottom. After reviewing materials, the organizer will notify participants by phone or email along with a guide to the contest and other relevant information.
Online Registration Form
https://www.wjx.cn/vm/YDtib9J.aspx#
Contact
E-mail : sdesign@sjtu.edu.cn
Contact : Ms. Bai
86400 seconds, 1440 minutes, or 24 hours can be an ordinary day or a day filled with creativity and passion. This design challenge aims to stimulate participants' imagination and creativity within the limited time frame. In just 24 hours, it brings together young individuals from different nationalities and backgrounds to explore and solve social problems from different perspectives. The goal is to propose innovative, scientific, forward-thinking, and practical design solutions.
The FourC Challenge is not just a simple competition but also a platform for communication and deeper understanding with the world. Through 24 hours of mutual learning and communication, we hope that students can meet and get to know the world, collaborate, exchange ideas with others from different countries, and positively influence people's lifestyles and shape a better future through the power of design.