We are pleased to announce the nominees for the 2026 CONSTRUCTIVE WORLD AWARD.
The nearly 200 submissions were reviewed by an internal panel consisting of journalists specializing in critical-constructive journalism, as well as experts from the business and social sectors and evaluated based on a set of criteria.
The winners in each category will be announced at the awards ceremony in Berlin in early June and subsequently published on the CONSTRUCTIVE WORLD AWARD website and on FOCUS online.
Media professional: Christof Gertsch
Protagonists: Boyan Slat & Matthias Egger
This article depicts the tremendous extend of the oceans’ plastic pollution and introduces Dutch protagonist Boyan Slat as well as his organisation “The Ocean Cleanup”. The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch is floating in the Pacific – a trash vortex three times as large as France, with around 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic. In addition to that, around 10 million tons of plastic find their way into the sea every year, which has devastating consequences for animals, eco systems, and humans too (microplastics have already been found in blood, organs, and drinking water). As a young student, Boyan Slat developed a system of swimming barriers, which were supposed to collect plastic from the sea. The first big attempt initially failed technically and was criticised harshly. Despite that, Slat remained convinced that innovation is born from trial and error and continued working on improving his system. His approach is a pragmatic one: He views himself as less of an environmentalist and more of a problem solver, who wants to provide hope and inspiration by way of technical solutions. The gist: The plastic crisis is a global and urgent matter – but technological progress, optimism, and tenacity can be part of the solution.
Media professional: Gustav Hofer
Protagonist: Kongjian Yu (1963 – 2025), Mette Skjold
Kongjian Yu (1963-2025) is counted among the most influential landscape architects of our time. The Chinese urban planner and professor at the Peking University attracted international attention with his concept of sponge cities: Cities are not supposed to block water out, but absorb, store, and drain it in a controlled way – as an answer to climate change, heavy rain, and flooding.
Due to the extremes of climate change, cities are under growing pressure. Torrential rainfall, deadly floods, and months-long droughts have long since become part of reality as traditional urban infrastructure is not adapted to the new water and weather patterns. Classic concepts of sealing and the fast drainage of water heighten these risks instead of minimising them.
Media professional: Torsten Mehltretter
Protagonist: Dirk Gratzel
Whether it is goods, business ideas, or individual lifestyle – the amount of environmental damage inflicted by products, companies, or individuals has barely been able to be calculated, in spite of the fact that it would help establish a fair compensation, as that is becoming more and more important on the journey to transforming into a mostly environmentally neutral society.
Balancing out and compensating ecological damages was not possible until Dirk Gratzel’s own initiative. With the help of scientists, he managed to calculate not only the damages, but also their compensation. It is a groundbreaking offset on the path to environmentally neutral goods and a fair distribution of adjustment costs.
Media professional: Martin Zinggl, Anush Babajanyan
Protagonist: Dr. Naranjargal Dashdorj
Mongolia is suffering from a silent epidemic: Hepatitis. The country has the highest liver cancer mortality rate worldwide. Every seventh person there is affected, there are hardly any families that have not lost a loved one to liver cancer. Vaccinations and medication to treat it generally exist. But in Mongolia, where the roads are long and resources are scarce, medical treatment is rudimentary. Moreover, 95 percent of patients are unaware of their hepatitis infection. As the disease is sometimes nonspecific or largely asymptomatic, many people only find out after years, or even decades, that they have been infected. By then, however, damage to the liver is often so advanced that any treatment comes too late.
Media professional: Carolin Lemuth
Protagonist: Karsten Schulz
In Uganda, there are few opportunities for people with disabilities to receive appropriate medical care. Many have no prostheses or ones that fit poorly. Children affected are often abandoned by their mothers and cared for by their grandmothers, who are often in frail health themselves, under inhumane conditions. They live in abandoned cottages in the jungle and have medical aids that are completely outdated and unsuitable for their environment, such as distorted, rusty wheelchairs. An association from Usingen, in southern Hesse, has been providing prostheses and orthopaedic aids to those affected in Uganda for over ten years.
Media professionals: Marika Liebsch & Yves Schurzman
Protagonist: Arjen de Vos
The problem – a global threat that has long been on our doorsteps. The world is losing its cropland and soils – faster than we can find new solutions. Already today, 10 percent of the world’s cropland is overly saline, and every year we lose another 1 to 2 million hectares of fertile land. This is land that will never yield crops again if we don’t act and change our approach. This happens daily in parts of Africa, Asia and South America: Within just a few years, soil is damaged by droughts, heat, groundwater rises and floods to such an extent that people lose their land, their existence and their sustenance. Entire regions become uninhabitable – and with every lost harvest, pressure grows on the already fragile supply systems.
Media professional: Svenja Beller
Protagonist: Diogo Raposo
Spotlight on an algae farm in Norway, a pioneer in Europe. While about 99% of algae produced worldwide today comes from Asia, the EU wants to significantly expand cultivation in Europe, seeing a multi-billion-euro business with great job growth potential. Algae grow very rapidly, require only light, CO2 and nutrients and produce lots of oxygen. It could substitute fossil fuels and serve as food, animal feed, cosmetics, plastic and even biofuel. There is a particular hope on its ability to bind CO2 and thus contribute to climate protection. Despite these high expectations, the industry is still in its infancy in Europe: There is a lack of standards, markets and safe production volumes.
Media professionals: Jasmin Cilesiz Linhart & Annette Hoth
Protagonist: Timo Leukefeld
Every little balcony power plant counts. To achieve the great energy transition, we require many people to participate. Creative minds have found solutions to make this work regardless of one’s budget. Nonprofit associations, architects and engineers have been working on affordable energy storage, stable rents and low service charges to get as many people as possible on board. Many small steps towards one goal: to make Germany climate-neutral by 2045.
Media professionals: Lucas Gries & Oliver Schmid
Protagonist: Judith Pigneur & Michael Schmidt
The lightest metal on Earth is a key raw material of our modern age. Lithium is now also set to be extracted in Germany and France to cover the enormous demand. How does the extraction of lithium from granite and deep-sea water work from a technological standpoint, and how is it further processed? What repercussions does this have for our environment? Is recycling an alternative? And finally: how much lithium do we actually need?
As the documentary unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that the central challenge lies in determining the quantity of lithium required in Europe to achieve the energy transition.
Media professional: Katrin Groth
Protagonists: Jörg Flügge, Sebastian Heuchel, Harish Reddy Sunkara & Ye Yun Khor
Emigration, over ageing, right-wing extremism; companies in rural areas occasionally struggle to attract skilled personnel. Especially people from abroad hesitate to settle down in Germany. In Saalfeld, Thuringia this problem is evident, as young people leave the region due to a lack of work and perspectives. Those who remain experience growing frustration and increasingly agree with right-wing populist rhetoric. This is shown by election results as well as incidents in the businesses. A vicious cycle. And a threat to democracy. Thuringian software company Batix has paired up with civil society stakeholders and the local office “Partnership for Democracy” to help its own skilled personnel from India and Malaysia settle in and stay in their new home.
Media professional: Frank Gerstenberg
Protagonist: Marcus Kirchhoff, Frank-Michael Uhle & Michael Boos
At Christmas 2012, the village of Mörsdorf in Hunsrück was virtually broke. The municipality with a population of 650 was not even able to spare 500 euros for Christmas lighting – there was no money within their budget for “luxury projects”. With an annual budget of only 70,000 euros, there was nothing in terms of infrastructure, restaurants, nor bakeries, many houses were vacant and young families moved away.
The mayor at the time, Marcus Kirchhoff, shared a vision with two companions: A suspension bridge to attract tourists. The project was financed through wind power. Today, the Geierlay suspension bridge is one of the most spectacular in Europe. Until the ten-year-anniversary in 2025, almost three million visitors crossed the 360-metre-long bridge, which hangs 100 metres above the valley. The parking spaces alone yield around 650,000 euros annually.
Media professional: Matthias Jauch
Protagonist: Marie Jaroni
If climate mitigation is to happen, then the steel industry ought to change as well. This is about the heart of Germany’s core industry. Chemicals, machines, car manufacturing: Entire value chains depend on steel, for which the production emits enormous amounts of CO2, around seven percent of national emissions. If this transformation fails, it is probable that the climate mitigation will too.
The way generations of steelworkers have melted metal and tempered iron using coking coal must change – can change. It will be a revolution, when old furnaces make way for modern machines running on copious amounts of electricity and hydrogen, even though this small molecule itself is nothing more than a bet on the future.
Media professional: Kristin Kasten
Protagonist: Amy Striehn, Gunnar
Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in adolescents, affecting approximately six percent. This means that statistically, there are one or two teenagers in every classroom at a secondary school who suffer from depression. And the illness can be deadly, as it significantly increases the risk of suicidal thoughts. Around 200 minors take their own lives in Germany every single year. Suicide is thus one of the most frequent causes of death in this age group.
What Amy’s story goes to show is how vital attentive caregivers can be in an educational environment: A teacher recognises warning signs, takes responsibility, and initiates professional help.
Media professional: Monika Bremer
Protagonist: Amira Mortada
This article focuses on the ongoing practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt, despite its legal ban since 2008. The problem is deeply rooted in cultural and social norms, where FGM is still perceived as a requirement for marriageability and female “chastity”. The article highlights the discrepancy between law and reality, the persistent covert execution of the practice by traditional cutters (such as hairdressers and midwifes) and medical personnel, as well as the severe physical, mental and sexual repercussions for affected women. The article portrays multi-dimensional solution approaches that go beyond a simple ban.
Media professionals: Judith Arnold & Sina Schwerdt
Protagonist: Dr Lena Seegers
This report shines a spotlight on the “Gender Health Gap” and shows how gender-sensitive medicine can improve treatment for everyone. Women are often put at a disadvantage in research, training, and treatment – such as with heart diseases or ADHD – which is what initiatives such as the women’s cardiac centre in Frankfurt or educational work on social media aim to counteract. Simultaneously, it becomes evident that men also carry health-related risks, as they make less use of preventative treatment and their psychological problems are taboo. As a way to solve this issue, programmes in Ireland have initiated prevention and education specifically for men.