Sandberg Institute Amsterdam, The Netherlands today won the BE OPEN Inside the Academy Prize, selected from a shortlist of six leading European design schools: La Cambre, Belgium; Ecole Cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL), Switzerland; Hochschule Basel, Switzerland; Konstfack, Stockholm, Sweden, Glasgow School of Art, UK. Sandberg Institute Amsterdam wins BE OPEN Inside the Academy Prize at Design Miami/ Basel 2012

The prize aims to spotlight how institutions are nurturing students today to use design thinking to make a positive impact on tomorrow. Each institution was asked to present three projects that best reflect its approach to design thinking and its educational mission. The BE OPEN Inside the Academy Installation is on display at Design Miami/ Basel from 12-17 June 2012.

BE OPEN Founder Elena Baturina said: “The schools that entered our first edition of BE OPEN Inside the Academy are united in their missions not just to fulfil the usual academic curriculum, but to mentor their students and help them get their feet on the first rung of the design career ladder. This is a crucial part of BE OPEN’s thinking. I define the purpose of BE OPEN as ‘intellectual development’, investing in the creation of added value for future generations.”