The Zero Project Call for Nominations 2025 (#ZeroCall25) calls on innovative, impactful, and scalable solutions from around the world to submit their nominations for a Zero Project Award. Becoming a Zero Project Awardee opens doors, opportunities, and promotional channels with the support of the global Zero Project Network of more than 10,000+ experts and through exclusive initiatives to advance innovations for disability inclusion.
#ZeroCall25 opens on May 8, 2024 and will be centered around the topics of Employment and ICT. The Zero Project encourages nominations from all countries and all sectors of society – policy makers, startups, academia, civil society, businesses – and especially, those relating to multiple or severe disabilities, humanitarian action, gender equality, the arts, sexual orientation, psychosocial disabilities, or other multiple disadvantaged groups.
Competition is a good thing, but collaborating with a competitive edge is better, and for me the Zero Project has created a global family which has a very big vision to truly transform the lives of persons with disabilities in the world, and is welcoming of anybody and everybody who shares those values to help that change happen.
Becoming a Zero Project Awardee opens doors, opportunities, and promotional channels: Zero Project Awardees receive support from the global Zero Project Network of 10,000+ experts, feature at the annual Zero Project Conference at the UN in Vienna, and get the opportunity to join exclusive initiatives to advance their solutions. Explore some of the opportunites here below:
Join the #ZeroCall25 info webinar!
The Zero Project Team will answer your questions about the nomination process:
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 | 14:00-15:00 CEST
From May 8, 2024 to June 16, 2024, nominations can be submitted via the #ZeroCall25 Nomination Platform. The link to the platform will be published on this website on May 8, 2024.
The nomination form will take around two hours to complete. To preview the type of questions that are part of the nomination form, please see the “Resources” section. The form will be available in a number of languages: English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.
Nominations will be evaluated in an extensive multi-step process: #ZeroCall25 is based on a research-driven approach that aims to identify, curate, and share inclusive solutions, as intended and encouraged by Article 32 of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
In order to achieve this objective, the Zero Project engages with a worldwide cross-sectoral network of innovators, decision-makers, and disability experts. Both the research and selection processes involve and rely on the expertise of people with lived experience of disabilities. Nominations will be manually assessed, fact-checked and reviewed by the Zero Project team, peer-reviewers and experts of the Zero Project Network.
The Zero Project's research topics are based on the UN CRPD's definition of rights of persons with disabiltities and seek innovative solutions to advance their implementation. #ZeroCall25 calls on innovators around the world to submit their nominations of innovative solutions that remove barriers for Inclusive Employment, or through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
Click on one of the cards here below to learn more about the topic definition.
Article 27 of the CRPD addresses Work and Employment and informs this year's #ZeroCall25 selection process. The topic covers many different areas, such as supported employment, vocational training, entrepreneurship, micro-finance, work and employment in the Arts, and more.
Learn more about the topic definition.
Information and Communication Technologies have become increasingly important for persons with disabilities. This topic covers a whole range of solutions, including web accessibility, 3D printing, AI, and other applications. ICT is part of every Zero Project Call for Nominations.
Click to find out more about the topic.
The Zero Project Call for Nominations is open to innovative solutions from all countries and all sectors of society.
The #ZeroCall25 research topics are Employment and ICT. Nominations must be submitted for one of these two topics. To ensure that your nomination falls within the scope of #ZeroCall25, please read carefully through the criteria here below. The Zero Project's methodology is based on a 4-year cycle of research topics. Therefore, nominations that work primarily in the fields of education, independent living & political participation or general accessibility will not be considered as part of #ZeroCall25.
The #ZeroCall25 selection process is centered around three main criteria: Innovation, Impact, and Scalability:
The nominated solution will have demonstrated to be innovative and effective in removing barriers for persons with disabilties. The research takes into account the local context, geographies, and groups of beneficiaries.
The impact of a particular solution could refer to the number of beneficiaries or people using a service, the solution’s growth rate, or the influence on improved public services, among others. Any selected solution must have been deployed and have already had an impact; the selection process does not consider projects or products at a concept stage.
All nominations are reviewed for their potential in replicating and expanding to new geographies or growing in another way that allows a maximum number of persons with disabilities to benefit from the innovation. Among the 800+ solutions that have been awarded since 2013, scalability has been indeed multifaceted, ranging from open-source applications to the replication of effective policies, to the expansion of inclusive start-up solutions to new countries.
The Zero Project has put together various resources to support innovators in nominating their solutions for #ZeroCall25:
The Zero Project has put together various resources to support innovators in nominating their solutions for #ZeroCall25:
Zero Project Database
Here are just three examples of innovative solutions for inclusive employment that previously received a Zero Project Award.
India
Since 2017, Mitti Café has been providing hospitality training and employment opportunities in…
Spain
To enable people with intellectual disabilities to apply for public vacancies, Plena Inclusión,…
Mauritius
The programme addresses the needs of both young jobseekers with intellectual disabilities and…