BE OPEN and the Mayor's Fund for London Announce the Winner of Their Global Open Call

LONDON, March 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

BE OPEN, a creative think-tank founded by the international entrepreneur and philanthropist Elena Baturina, and the Mayor's Fund for London, a social mobility charity, has selected the winner of their open call #BEOPENDesignCity. The open call was inspired by the City Pitch Leadership Programme held in 2017 and 2018 by the Mayor's Fund for London in cooperation with BE OPEN.

The winner has been selected by the members of BE OPEN and MFL from a shortlist of submissions with the highest ratings of likes by Instagram users. Both the teams congratulate Gustavo Schlittler @gustavoschlittler, whose winning submission will now bring him the prize of €300!

The open call was launched in November 2017; it invited people globally to look around their cities through their own lens, and share visual pieces depicting what they love about their cities, what they would like to preserve or add, as well as any other ideas of what could be improved in their everyday urban lives. As a result, over 200 submissions were made via Instagram with the #BEOPENDesignCity or #BEOPENCityPitch hashtags.

The inspiration for the open call, the City Pitch Leadership Programme, empowers young Londoners to step up as leaders and make a difference in their community. The experience provides 8-16 year olds with the opportunity to plan and launch a social action project, whilst helping them to develop their leadership, project management and communication skills. Finalist schools are then given the opportunity to pitch their project idea to a panel of judges at City Hall, to win funding of up to £1500.

The Mayor's Fund for London is a social mobility charity that empowers young Londoners from disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire the skills and opportunities they need to secure employment, climb the career ladder and escape the threat of poverty. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is the patron. In 2017, the Fund reached over 30,000 young Londoners through Kitchen Social; a holiday provision programme, Count on Us; engaging students with maths and employment programmes offering aspirational work placements and job opportunities.  

BE OPEN is a global initiative to foster creativity and innovation through a system of conferences, competitions, exhibitions, master classes and cultural events.