Dear all,

I am very pleased to share with you the Research & Design (R&D) Challenge of ACM IDC 2026, in which I am involved as R&D Challenge Co-Chair. This is an international initiative co-located with the Interaction Design and Children (IDC’26) conference, which will take place in Brighton (UK) from 22–25 June 2026.

The challenge brings together children, adolescents, researchers, and designers around a specific theme, and this year’s theme is “Sustainability.”

Below you will find a brief overview of the different phases of the challenge, which unfold sequentially, first involving children and later the research community.

Phase 1 – Ideas from Children and Adolescents (deadline 20th of December)

The first phase is dedicated entirely to children and adolescents under 18, who are invited to imagine and propose creative ideas related to sustainability. They can submit their ideas through a simple worksheet asking for:

• a drawing of their idea
• a short description of how it works
• a title or name for the idea

Submissions can be made in any language and will be translated into English to ensure global participation. All collected submissions will form the basis for the next phase.

Phase 2 – Researchers and Designers Build on Children’s Ideas

Once Phase 1 is complete, the collected ideas will be made available to the scientific community. In this phase, researchers and designers are invited to:

• select one or more ideas proposed by the children
• develop a design concept or prototype inspired by these ideas (a fully finished artefact is not required)

The goal is to value children’s imagination and transform their visions into more mature design concepts, while preserving the spirit of the original ideas.

Phase 3 – Notification, Review, and Presentation at the Conference

Selected concepts will receive a notification, and authors will prepare the final version. Accepted proposals will be presented during IDC 2026 in Brighton (22–25 June 2026). A ranking and award ceremony are planned.

Useful Materials and Links

Worksheet template for children’s ideas:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HWMBxWtGLoRzZ847sJBbEZ6_wDIUI2uJ4wROIVEQg_0/edit

Submission link for Phase 1 (children/adolescents):
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTaAonEdC0K7x4FBlFT_hl-O9yweoVgfp6XTYCMYExJ0HWXg/viewform

Full information about the challenge:
https://idc.acm.org/2026/calls/rd-challenge/

I warmly encourage you to share this initiative and involve the children and young people in your networks, sparking new ideas and collectively imagining a more sustainable future.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Grazia Ragone