Metropolis Magazine is one of those gems among green-minded media, in that they consistently uncover and present sustainable design innovation, yet their identity first and foremost is neither granola-flavored nor hemp-lined; just razor sharp and perched where the next brilliant inventions emerge.

As such, it's only appropriate that their signature annual design competition is called Next Generation. In its fourth year, the NextGen competition pushes young designers to find the highest meeting point of good design and problem-solving for the particular challenges we face on a compromised planet.

This year, the theme is ENERGY: "its uses, reduction, consumption, efficiencies, and alternatives." The scale of the project can be large or small, and the entrants can come from any background, as long as they have been in practice for less than ten years. Winners will receive a $10,000 seed grant to bring their concept to fruition and will be featured, along with the runners-up, in Metropolis Magazine.

I saw some of the 2006 winners' work on display at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York last May, and if the ideas presented there are any indication of what might come out of this year's call for entries, we're bound to be inspired by a generation of designers who make it their business to choose new boundaries around what we think possible.