The theme of this edition, organized in collaboration with the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), is the theme of the next Specialised Expo, Expo 2027 Belgrade, “Play for Humanity – Sport and Music for All”, a theme that starts from the idea that play is not merely leisure — it is a fundamental resource for humanity. In a world marked by crises, instability and rapid technological transformations, sport and music become concrete tools for strengthening people and communities, helping them to face uncertainty with greater resilience.

The concept of play is understood in a broad sense: it is not only about childhood or leisure time, but a genuine competence for the future. Through play, creativity, adaptability, collaboration and critical thinking are developed. Expo 2027 Belgrade therefore poses a central question: how to prepare the human body, mind and thinking for a world increasingly driven by technology, without losing balance, empathy and a sense of community?

From this vision, three sub-themes emerge:

• Power of Play considers play as a tool for wellbeing, care and sustainability. Sport and music have a direct impact on physical and mental health, help to overcome trauma and build healthier lifestyles, also promoting a more balanced relationship with the environment.

• Play for Progress looks at play as a driver of innovation. Experimenting, imagining and “playing” with ideas is often at the origin of scientific, technological and social developments. Play trains flexible thinking, a fundamental quality for facing the challenges of the coming decades.

• Play Together underlines the value of play as a universal language. Sport and music transcend cultural, social and political barriers, fostering inclusion, dialogue and peace. Playing together means recognising one another even in differences.

Expo 2027 Belgrade thus presents itself as a great celebration of global recovery, in which play becomes a symbol of collective rebirth and shared future.

Entry for the Award is open to products, product systems, services and events effectively realised and made available to the market only in the countries participating in Expo 2027 Belgrade, which can be consulted at the following link provided by the organisers:
https://expobelgrade2027.org/en/participants

Products must fall within the general theme (“Play for Humanity – Sport and Music for All”) and the sub-themes of the Expo, and must have been placed on the market in the period between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2026.

The categories in which products may enter are as follows:

a) Design for living
Furniture and furnishing accessories for the home, sanitary ware and bathroom accessories, kitchen furniture and accessories, household appliances and home electronics, home automation control systems, outdoor and garden furniture, gardening equipment, urban furnishings, materials and surfaces, air conditioning and heating systems.

The living space is not only functionality, but also a place of relationship, wellbeing, movement and creativity. Products designed for domestic and urban environments can facilitate the development of playful activities, daily movement or music, contributing to the physical and mental health of individuals and the quality of community life.

b) Design for lighting
Lighting fixtures for public or private interiors and exteriors, lighting systems, monumental and street lighting.

Lighting contributes to the liveability of public and private spaces where sporting activities, concerts and moments of gathering take place. Lighting projects can improve safety, visual comfort and atmosphere — fundamental elements for positive collective experiences.

c) Design for mobility
Individual and collective means for aerial, nautical and road mobility; bicycles and bicycle accessories, cars and motorcycles, motorhomes and caravans, boats, trains and aeroplanes, alternative mobility, road safety and mobility accessories.

Mobility allows access to spaces for play, sport and music in a sustainable way, fostering participation by all. Projects that reduce physical barriers, improve safety and inclusion broaden the possibility for individuals and communities to play together, with positive impacts on health and social interaction.

d) Design for work
Furniture and accessories for work and office, professional appliances, means of transport for work and commercial vehicles, machines and components for industry, software, tools and equipment for work, furniture and equipment for communities, medical and health tools and equipment.

Work too can benefit from a “playful” approach: environments and tools that encourage creativity, collaboration and wellbeing promote balance between personal and professional life, increasing adaptability, innovation and participation.

e) Design for the individual
Clothing, equipment for sport, personal wellbeing and hygiene, mobile telephony, handhelds, MP3 players, personal electronics, games and articles for children, prosthetics and medical equipment for private use, jewellery.

Includes sports equipment, devices that facilitate movement and wellbeing, and games that stimulate personal experience and learning. Through design conceived for all bodies and abilities, inclusion and active participation are promoted.

f) Food Design
Communication, packaging, services, spaces related to the sale and consumption of edible products, objects and tools for food preparation and use, foods and dishes.

Food has always been an integral part of shared sporting, musical and social events. Food design can make these experiences more inclusive, sustainable and accessible, promoting healthy lifestyles and conviviality beyond the event, in everyday life.

g) Service and social design
Projects of public and private initiative for the improvement of the citizen-user/institutions/services relationship, sharing systems, hospitality, participation, for the development of a sustainable economy for communities, projects aimed at changing behaviours and strategies for greater social engagement.

This category directly reflects the social dimension of the theme: sport and music as tools for inclusion, cohesion and dialogue. Service design solutions that facilitate access, coexistence and participation foster resilient communities.

h) Communication design
Social campaigns, corporate identity, editorial graphics, information design, packaging, type design, video graphics, web design and multimedia.

Communication design plays a key role in spreading messages, building narratives and engaging diverse audiences around the themes of play, sport, music and social cohesion. Well-designed communication tools help create a sense of community, educate for inclusion and enhance the potential of play as a transformative practice.

i) Exhibition design
Displays, installations, events, trade fair stands, retail, museum installations.

Exhibition design is where a project becomes collective experience. Displays that engage, include and narrate transform every visit into an act of participation — expressing the values of play in its most direct and shared form.

Participation in the ADI Compasso d’Oro International Design Award is open to designers and companies from the various countries participating in Expo 2027 Belgrade. The entered products must be effectively placed on the market in the period indicated in point 2.

Entries may be submitted by completing a dedicated online form.
The digital entry form, available at www.compassodorointernational.com, is set up for the entry and presentation of the product/service and requires the mandatory submission of photographs, a description and the upload of a brief video (also filmed with a smartphone) illustrating the product/service in English, with a maximum duration of 60 seconds. The characteristics of the materials listed above are clarified in the online entry form.

The submission of the entry for participation in the ADI Compasso d’Oro International Design Award 2027 must be made between 22 May 2026 and 20 January 2027. ADI reserves the right to extend the deadlines within which products may be entered.

To participate in the ADI Compasso d’Oro International Design Award, a fee of €1,000.00 must be paid for each entered product, to be paid upon completion of the entry form directly from the website. Once payment has been made, the form may no longer be modified and all data entered will be considered usable and publishable for the purposes of the Award.

The selection and evaluation of the entered products/services will take place in two phases:

a. The first phase will be a relevance analysis to the theme, carried out by the ADI Board of Directors: only products/services that are relevant to the theme of the award and the admission requirements will pass this phase. Depending on the quantity and specificity of the entries received, the ADI Board of Directors reserves the right to establish a thematic pre-selection committee.

At the end of this phase, all participating projects will receive prompt communication on the outcome.

a. The second phase will be the final evaluation by the Jury of the ADI Compasso d’Oro International Design Award, as referred to in point 6 below.

From the goods/services that have passed the first analysis phase, the Jury identifies:

• 20 (twenty) Compasso d’Oro Awards for entries judged to be of absolute excellence.
• Up to 50 (up to fifty) Compasso d’Oro Honourable Mentions for entries judged to be excellent within the theme and categories identified in points 1 and 2.

The works awarded recognition (Compasso d’Oro Award and Honourable Mention) will be catalogued, preserved and promoted by the Fondazione ADI Collezione Compasso d’Oro, in collaboration with the relevant public bodies (Ministry of Culture, Regional Superintendency) and will permanently become part of the heritage of the ADI Compasso d’Oro Historical Collection.

For those products distinguished with Honourable Mentions, the relevant manufacturer will, in partnership with ADI, undertake to store the related product (at the manufacturer’s expense) so that it may be made available to ADI for any future exhibitions that will require its presence.

The Award Jury is international and composed of 5 members selected and appointed by the ADI Board of Directors from among qualified Italian and international personalities, to represent, in addition to design, the complementary competencies relating to the identified categories.

Jury members may not have products/services entered for the Award, nor be personally or professionally involved with companies or designers participating in the Award.

The President of the Jury is elected within the Jury itself at its first meeting. Each Jury member has the right to one vote. In the event of a tie, the vote of the Jury President counts double.

The Jury will irrevocably award the Prizes to those projects that have received the favourable vote of the majority of jurors.

The Jury may consult experts — without voting rights — appointed by ADI on specific technological, environmental, regulatory and economic matters; on legal matters, the Jury may request the intervention of an expert appointed by the president of the design jury.

The Jury must:

• evaluate the awards according to the judging criteria defined in these Regulations;
• draft, for awarded items only, the award motivations in relation to the judging criteria;
• draft a general report on the selection and the sector analysed.

The Jury’s decision is final.
The Jury (and any party aware of the awards and commendations conferred) undertakes to maintain the strictest confidentiality until the public award ceremony of the Compasso d’Oro ADI International Design Award.

A joint committee of ADI Association for Industrial Design and ADI Foundation, appointed by the same and assisted by three ADI honorary members, may award:

• up to 3 (three) international career awards

indistinctly to a company, an institution, a school, a designer or a personality, who has particularly distinguished themselves in the promotion, affirmation and innovation of design culture, provided they are not resident in Italy.

The award ceremony will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, on 24 May 2027, inside the Expo. The date may be subject to changes in the event of unforeseen commitments by ADI or the BIE. On that occasion, the products awarded the Compasso d’Oro will be exhibited.

ADI is solely responsible for the exhibition and its display arrangements. It reserves the right to evaluate the arrangements according to the objects that will be exhibited.

The organisation and shipping arrangements will be evaluated according to the home countries of the award winners and the dimensions of the products.

11.1 Accuracy of data
The data compiled by the party who submitted the entry are to be considered usable for all purposes in the form in which they were entered, according to the communication requirements determined by ADI in all publications relating to the selected items. Those who complete the form assume full responsibility for the truthfulness and accuracy of the data transmitted, it being understood that any costs necessary for any subsequent correction of such data will remain the exclusive responsibility of the parties concerned. Should ADI need to proceed with the correction or removal of published data on account of proven claims by third parties, any resulting costs will remain the exclusive responsibility of those parties who had erroneously provided such data to ADI.

11.2 Liability for violation of third-party rights
The originality and ownership of the products, systems, services, studies or research entered are attested by the party submitting the entry, and ADI states that it does not carry out any verification of what is declared.

Any violation of third-party rights, patents, trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property rights therefore remains the exclusive responsibility of the declarants, who undertake from now to hold harmless and indemnify ADI from any negative consequences, including economic and/or damages that may arise.

Participants also guarantee that the products, systems, services, studies or research submitted are not copies of or modifications to the works of others; should a third party provide proof of the untruthfulness of this guarantee, ADI reserves the right to cancel the award attribution and to proceed with the immediate exclusion of the documentation materials from all publications, stating from now the impossibility of proceeding with an automatic re-attribution of the same to the actual owner of the entered item.

11.3 Use of documentation materials
All materials submitted with the entry are understood to be publishable. ADI is entitled to use them, in whole or in part, in the course of the selection work, to reproduce them in whole or in part in the publications and catalogues relating to the Award, on ADI websites, in media communications relating to events connected with the publication of the volumes and with the Compasso d’Oro ADI Award exhibitions.

Those who submit entries consent to all materials (texts and images) being freely adapted according to the communication requirements of the various tools used, releasing and indemnifying ADI from any liability for any possible violation of third-party rights.