• Student Design Challenge

The Challenge

Are you ready to innovate the future of
urban safety and security? Join the E2i Student Design Challenge and bring your creative solutions to real-world problems in public spaces and urban mobility.

This is your chance to showcase fresh thinking and imaginative design ideas that can make a difference in people’s everyday lives.

The design Challenge

Engage2innovate (E2i) is focused on breaking down barriers to successful security innovation across Europe. We want to engage end-users, stakeholders, and citizens in better problem framing and more
effective innovation processes.

E2i aims to enhance the design, adoption, and impact of security solutions by fostering a human-centred design approach, increasing engagement with end-users and relevant stakeholders.

We are inviting students and recent graduates to take on the E2i Student Design Challenge and develop innovative ideas that enhance people's real and perceived safety in public spaces and urban mobility systems.

This is your opportunity to present a novel design idea that supports safety and security in public spaces. You can choose from two challenge briefs:

Safety and security on and around public transport

Brief 1
Register your interest

Safety and security in public spaces at night-time

Brief 2
Register your interest

We’re looking for groundbreaking ideas that can reshape how we think about safety and security in public spaces. From small tweaks to big innovations, your design solution could change the game.

Register your interest now!

Register your interest today and be the first to receive the challenge briefs and submission instructions.

Register here

What does ‘safety and security’ mean?

Safety and security are multifaceted concepts. At their core, they involve freedom from real or perceived danger or threat for all stakeholders — be they members of the public, service providers or emergency services staff.

For the 2025 Student Design Challenge, your idea. should relate to safety in public spaces or on and around public transport, and might include areas such as:

  • Personal safety of one or more stakeholders
  • Safeguarding vulnerable people
  • Security of possessions or property
  • Crime prevention, policing and incident response
  • Discrimination prevention
  • Freedom of expression
  • And much more

Framing the problem

Engaging stakeholders & end-users

A key aspect of the E2i Student Design Challenge is ensuring that your design concept is grounded in the real needs of the people it’s intended to benefit. Before developing your design solution, we ask you to consult with end-users and stakeholders to help define and frame the problem you will address.

By engaging with those who will ultimately use or be impacted by your design, you’ll gain insights that will help shape a solution that’s practical, effective, and more likely to be implemented. This early involvement of stakeholders in the problem-framing stage is crucial to developing a concept that truly meets people's needs and contributes to sustainable improvements in safety and security.

Your concept should reflect the outcomes of this consultation and demonstrate:

  • How you have framed the problem based on direct input and insight from your stakeholders
  • How you have gained their perspectives to validate your design solution

We are looking for projects and provocations that inspire action and have the potential to create meaningful impact.