Swarovski Foundation's Creatives for Our Future ceremony honors fourth cohort of youth innovators

The Swarovski Foundation held its 2025 Creatives for Our Future ceremony, celebrating its fourth cohort of youth innovators at the United Nations headquarters on Thursday, April 24.

- By LEAH MALLORY

The Creatives for Our Future program, created by the Swarovski Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, recognizes the creativity and designs of six young people, ages 21-30, worldwide for their sustainable solutions to global inequalities. It awards them 20,000 each - approximately 22,830 USD - to continue their efforts, along with professional mentorship and educational support for a year.

"It’s great to know someone believes in my idea," said 23-year-old Indonesian product designer and fourth cohort member, Azra Firmansyah.

Firmansyah’s design, Svaika, is a wearable device allowing deaf individuals to experience music by transforming audio signals into physical vibrations. Through touch, users can feel rhythms and beats, allowing them to enjoy the musical experience.

He said that with the financial support from the Swarovski Foundation, he could take his design from a prototype to a tangible solution for those who need it.

"I've been working on this for my final year university thesis for one year, and I have virtually very limited funding. So back then I could only present to my professor in university a proof of concept, and a dummy model," he said. "I really believe [with Swarovski funding] I can make this happen by the end of this program."