Celebrating Excellence in Sustainability and Design
Awards 2025
PSI stands out for its commitment to measurable sustainability, fostering transparency and accountability in the promotional products industry. Manufacturers, dealers and industrial clients are invited to register their sustainable products and campaigns for the competition.
The PSI Academy Awards have been presented for the first time in 2025 and, depending on their quality, participants benefit from numerous advantages such as project feedback, seals and visibility.
The PSI Academy offers its members modules aligning with the European Green New Deal, equipping participants with critical insights into current and forthcoming regulations starting after the award ceremony.
>> Award Factsheet
AWARD PROCESS
Submissions are made via this award platform. After the audit, participants receive interim feedback on optimisation and an invoice for the audit fee.
The category finalists will then be selected and published for one year from May. The public vote will start at the same time. In parellel, the expert jury will select the winners for the best products and campaigns as well as the Companies and Newcomers of the Year.
BENEFITS
All participants benefit from detailed feedback on their submissions as well as an independent initial review of their products in accordance with the Green New Deal regulations.
The findings of the feedback can be deepened in the PSI Academy in various modules relating to aspects of sustainable development.
Additional Benefits for Finalists
Additional Benefits for Winners
CATEGORIES
The PSI Academy Awards are presented in the following categories: A. Best Advertising Media by Manufacturers (see list of 5 categories), B. Best Campaign by a Distributor, C. Best Campaign by an Industry Client. In addition, Company of the Year and Newcomer of the Year will be honoured.
Schedule 2025
7-9 January 2025 PSI Messe
31 March 2025 Submission Deadline
Summer 2025 PSI Academy Award ceremony
Fees
In order to run the Award at a sophisticated level, fees apply for newcomers and established companies.
Newcomers:
One time fee
Manufacturers & Retailers:
One time fee
PSI Summit
The Jury
An international jury of experienced experts reviews the submissions with their know-how to determine the winners. Finalists and winners receive individual point based feedback. Here is a preview of the jury panel, more to be announced soon.
University of Oregon
Kiersten Muenchinger is an Associate Professor in the Product Design Program and one of the principles in the Green Product Design Network at the University of Oregon. She was honored with the Sustainable Practice Impact Award in 2018. Muenchinger researches and teaches the intersection of materials, manufacturing and design with an emphasis on sustainability tactics and metrics. Her research utilizes Kansei engineering principles to measure how consumers perceive the sustainability of materials. Kiersten was named “Young Educator of the Year” in 2011by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), and one of the Design Intelligence 30 Most Admired Educators for 2015. Before joining UO, Kiersten was a design engineer with IDEO, Fitch, Sottsass Associatti, and Walt Disney Imagineering.
CEO + Founder of The Circular Materials GmbH
Karsten is a trained industrial mechanic for machine and system technology and a qualified product designer. Since his studies he has been working on "New Materials in Product Design".
From 2005-2013 he was Director Library & Materials Research, significantly involved in building and managing the world's largest materials library for the New York-based consulting company Material ConneXion. In 2013, the materials expert founded MRC - Materials Research & Consulting, a consulting company for innovative and sustainable product development. MRC advises development departments of well-known companies from Europe, Asia and the USA.
In 2019 he founded "The Circular Materials GmbH". The company develops and produces tailor-made materials and products for the circular economy.
Since 2009 he has been teaching "Material & Design" and "Sustainability & Circular Design Practice" at various engineering, design and architecture universities.
Green Future Club
Nils Bader is Director of the international Green Product Award & Green Concept Awards and the Green Future Club. In this role Nils is responsible for partners, networking events, exhibitions and the development of sustainable showcases. As a consultant for sustainable transformation, he has been supporting companies, governmental institutions and educational institutions in the fields of innovation, strategy and sustainable business model design for more than 25 years.
Lund University, Sweden
Claus-Christian Eckhardt was appointed in 2001 as professor and director of Lund University School of Industrial Design in Sweden. He studied industrial design at the Braunschweig University of Art. After graduating, he worked for Silvestrin Design, Blaupunkt and Bosch, where later he became head of design. He led the design activities of Tenovis and Avaya. He also a freelance designer since 2000.
The Criteria
The winners will be evaluated and determined based on general and subject-specific criteria.
In order to make it easier for you to highlight the special features of your submission, you can orient yourself on the criteria of the jury. The best way is to download our submission assistant for products or submission assistant for campaigns. This contains both the formal requirements and details of the criteria used by the jury to assess the submissions.
Overall rating
Approach
The originality, reproducibility and credibility are assessed.
Elaboration
Evaluated are the complexity of the analysis, the quality of the preparation and the way of implementation.
Impact
Positive impact on the environment and society
Subject-specific reviews for products
Design
This is about the design as an overall approach with the following criteria: aesthetics, user-friendly functionality, economic and ecological constructions, possibly the interaction of product and packaging. The quality of communication with the consumer about sustainability is also considered.
Sustainability
The fulfilment of a number of aspects that we believe are also relevant for sustainable projects can be found in the specialist areas of design and product compliance. We have refrained from repeating these here.
Product Compliance
The award-winning products must fulfil high standards of environmental and social responsibility while offering exceptional functionality and user satisfaction.
Usage of Promotional Goods
Promotional items are assessed for their practicality, quality, brand alignment, target audience relevance, and cost-effectiveness to ensure maximum impact and value.
Subject-specific reviews for campaigns
Achieved Marketing Value
The effectiveness and success of the campaign in relation to the marketing objectives set.
Implemented Measures
The quality and implementation of marketing activities and strategies.
Positive impact on the environment and society
The sustainability and social responsibility of the campaign.
