The H&M Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the global fashion giant, has announced the 20 finalists in its Global Change Awards (GCA) for 2026, with Australian RMIT University senior lecturer Dr Shadi Houshyar included in the mix.
The awards aim to fund innovations that help the textile industry halve its greenhouse gas emissions while promoting a just transition for people and the planet. Dr Houshyar has helped invent DiamondCool, a nanodiamond-enhanced textile that passively dissipates body heat without requiring energy input or chemical coatings. By embedding carbon-based nanodiamonds into fabrics, it lowers perceived skin temperature while maintaining softness and durability.
The 20-strong shortlist came from more than 450 ideas across 81 countries. You can find the shortlist of candidates at the end of this story.
The finalists will now be reviewed by the GCA expert panel who, together with the H&M Foundation team, will recommend ten winners to the H&M Foundation board. The winners will be announced in June 2026.
The ten winners will join the GCA Changemaker Programme, receiving a €200,000 grant, mentorship and access to a global network designed to accelerate their ideas from concept to impact.
By focusing on early-stage changemakers, the program aims to catalyse ideas that can unlock systemic transformation across the value chain. According to the H&M Foundation, this year’s finalists reflect the breadth and complexity of the textile industry’s climate challenge, from raw material innovation to manufacturing efficiency and shifting consumption models.
Among the selected ideas are carbon-negative dye systems that turn atmospheric CO₂ into biobased colourants, seaweed-derived stretch fibres designed to replace fossil-based elastane, and AI-powered digital twins that help manufacturers identify inefficiencies and reduce energy loss in real time.
Other finalists are rethinking quality control in garment factories through machine-learning-enabled smart systems, while community-led initiatives are rebuilding local repair ecosystems to extend garment lifespans and make circularity visible and accessible.
Together, the 20 finalists demonstrate that decarbonising fashion requires both technological breakthroughs and cultural shifts, addressing emissions at source while reimagining how garments are produced, used and valued, according to the H&M Foundation.
“This year’s top 20 list shows that innovation in fashion is becoming more applied and more connected to industrial reality,” H&M Foundation project manager Beatrice Oldenburg said.
“We’re seeing solutions that address digitisation, recycling of blended textiles, bio-based alternatives and energy reduction, all areas that require both technical depth and system-level thinking.
“Early-stage ideas like these need backing and the right support to move from concept into real-world implementation. That’s exactly what the Global Change Award is designed to provide.”
The 20 finalists of the Global Change Award 2026 are:
- DiamondCool™ by Shadi Houshyar (Australia)
- Curbon by Joe Wahba & Alan Zhang (US)
- EntroMetri by Mohammed Ali, Iusiph Eiubovi and Steve Evans (UK)
- ThreadBridge by Md Ridwan Hossain (Bangladesh)
- ALU by Donatela Bellone (US)
- Menders Without Borders by Bhaavya Goenka, Filippo Ricci and Orsola De Castro (India)
- AIPER by Ailton Pereira (Brazil)
- AgroLyocell (Canvaloop) by Shreyans Kokra and Dhruv Gupta (India)
- ArtSilk by Anna Rising and Benjamin Schmuck (Sweden)
- Dawn Technologies (Avantium) by Peter Mangnus (Netherlands)
- EnzymeThreads by Alfonso Gautieri and Emilio Parisini (Italy)
- Fiberly by Bénédicte Quinta (France)
- KelTex by Laetus Baberwa and Emeliana Said (Tanzania)
- Living Carbon Capture Dye Systems by Kavuma Henry (Uganda)
- MicroHues by Suchitha Raghunathan and Anjana Badrinarayanan (India)
- Colour Earth by Aurelie Fontan, Meredith Wood and Christopher Ferguson (UK)
- RheaCycle™ by Arzu Sandicki and Mert Topcu (US)
- Tera Mira by Jeanne Begon-Lours and Lucy Dain-Williams (UK)
- Arxy Fashion OS by Meng Ji (Luxembourg)
- MycoRenew by Tomasz Mierzwa and Katarzyna Turnau (Poland)