New Artwork to the School of Business, Economics and Law
WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award has donated a replica of the 2025 prize cube to the School of Business, Economics and Law. The prize cube is a symbol of trailblazing leadership, and students from the Master's Programme in Management were involved in the design process.
“We’re pleased to have deepened our collaboration with the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg – an important partner to the award. Together, we aim to highlight sustainable leadership and inspire the next generation of changemakers,” says Sara Larsson, Executive Director of WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award.
The initiative is part of the collaboration with the Master's Programme in Management, where Professor Niklas Egels-Zandén led a spring workshop together with this year’s prize cube designer, Emeli Höcks, and students from both the management programme and HDK-Valand. The workshop explored how this year’s theme – trailblazing leadership – could be expressed in physical form.
The initiative is part of the collaboration with the Master’s Programme in Management, where Professor Niklas Egels-Zandén led a spring workshop together with this year’s award cube designer, Emeli Höcks, and students from both the management programme and HDK-Valand. The workshop explored how the theme of this year’s award – pioneering leadership – could be interpreted in physical form.
“Our workshop marked the starting point of the artist’s creative process, so it was a unique opportunity for our students to make a real impact. We began by challenging the artist and WIN WIN to reflect on what this year’s theme – trailblazing leadership – truly means. After all, leadership is the School’s home turf! Then the students were pushed out of their comfort zones with the task of creating their own statuette. Incredible pieces were produced in record time, and it was exciting to see how our students and those from HDK-Valand complemented each other,” says Niklas Egels-Zandén.
Thinking Seven Generations Ahead
The 2025 WIN WIN Award laureate is Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai, leader of the Achuar people in Ecuador and Chair of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance. Through his leadership, he has united over 30 Indigenous nations across the Ecuador–Peru border region to collectively protect the Amazon’s ecosystems and its inhabitants.
His leadership is rooted in collaboration, deep listening, and a long-term perspective in which every decision must be sustainable for at least seven generations. This philosophy inspired Emeli Höcks in her creation of this year’s prize cube, which incorporates the mythical material terra preta.
Terra preta, Portuguese for “black earth,” is a charcoal-rich soil created by Indigenous peoples in the Amazon over a thousand years ago. By mixing biochar from low-oxygen combustion with organic matter, they produced a soil that not only resists depletion but actually becomes more fertile over time.
Today, this ancient technique offers new hope. Because biochar decomposes very slowly, it acts as an effective carbon sink while also improving soil fertility and its ability to retain water and nutrients. In this way, terra preta can contribute both to increased food production and to reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Emeli Höcks is a designer focused on sustainable design at the intersection of art, ecology, and form. Circular thinking is central to her work, as she aims to create objects that not only return to nature’s cycles but also carry knowledge and hope for the future.
“For me, terra preta is a powerful example of how human impact doesn’t have to be destructive – it can actually enhance and support nature’s own systems,” says Emeli Höcks.
The award was established in 2000 as a collaboration between politics, business and academia. The initiative was founded on the belief that global challenges require cooperation and strong role models who inspire action towards a sustainable future.
Over the years, the award (SEK 1 million) has been presented to individuals – including Gro Harlem Brundtland, Al Gore and Kofi Annan – as well as organisations and cities. In 2018, the WIN WIN Youth Award was introduced. This award, worth SEK 50,000, aims to empower and recognise young people who actively contribute to building a more sustainable future.
The WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award is presented at a ceremony in Gothenburg every autumn. In addition to the prize money, the laureate receives a unique statuette that reflects the theme of the year. The statuette, shaped as a cube, is crafted from sustainable and innovative materials and serves as a physical interpretation of the laureate’s work.
