SUMMARY: We understand resources for what they are, not limited to money. We understand architecture as a tool, not existing for its own sake / not as an end in itself. Our solutions are collective; decisions are not made by one but by everyone.
LifeArk is a pre-fabricated, modular building system that can create self-sustaining communities on water and land. It is a rapidly deployable response that will mobilize economic development and regeneration for millions of slum dwellers and displaced peoples. The flexibility of the system allows it to fit to each community's needs.
SUMMARY: Reduce global CO2 emissions and light up rural households in developing countries by distributing an innovative and affordable lighting system to replace fuel-based lighting.
SUMMARY: Microbial power systems: Generating clean energy from dirt
Fideicomiso de la Tierra del Caño Martín Peña (in English, Martín Peña Channel Community Land Trust) has designed the ENLACE project to address a variety of pressing needs in this poor, underserved, historically disenfranchised “informal” community near the center of San Juan.
SUMMARY: MASS Design Lab is a research project of MASS Design Group, exploring the integration of public health, economic development, environmental performance and education into a comprehensive formalized architectural strategy through a rigorous assessment process and immersive community component.
Materiome is a library of nature-inspired 3D printable materials. Local communities can contribute by measuring the properties of their materials with our toolkit. Our mission is to enable anyone, anywhere to use materials so elegant, so ingenious, that they serve human purpose on the largest scale, nourishing life itself.
SUMMARY: Through an open, interactive innovation platform the maternal/newborn health field can made more efficient and effective.
Our mission is to find essential solutions through sustainable design. We take paper or agricultural waste and we turn it into biodegradable plastic. Then we take that plastic and make things with it (we're currently addressing the packaging industry).
Objective: to develop an alternative solution to social housing here in Colombia while fostering a greener (more vegetarian and less mineral) construction industry. We aim to integrate more the agriculture industry (especially bamboo and engineered bamboo products) in the construction industry, while simultaneously promoting higher standards for social housing design.
This is a flying museum and a solar sculpture made by the “Museo Aero Solar” group – an open-source international community, initiated more 8 years ago by Tomás Saraceno in conversation with Alberto Pesavento, inviting everybody to take part and to turn used plastic bags to lighter-than-air sculptures – .
SUMMARY: Olazul, a non-profit organization working to improve coastal community livelihoods in developing countries, is developing a more sustainable model of shrimp farming, and contributing to the restoration of ocean ecosystems as well as increasing support for marine conservation.
ORGANIZATION NAME: Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico
LOCATION: Puerto Rico
Procesos Proambientales Xaxquixe (PPX) has created a methodology for micro-industrial sustainability by implementing alternative energy technologies adapted to materials from local waste streams. This system fosters a trans-disciplinary network of small enterprises, or Ecoclusters, composed of trained local specialists who share knowledge and resources to enrich communities and economies.
SUMMARY: Samasource enables marginalized people to receive life-changing work opportunities via the Internet. We provide microwork, technology's answer to microfinance. By training women, youth and refugees to complete paying remote tasks, we give them the ability to build livelihoods and become part of the digital economy.
SUMMARY: We propose a two-year demonstration biochar project, which addresses three of the major challenges facing coffee growing communities across Central America: utilizing the by-products from coffee processing, providing clean-burning, fuel efficient alternatives for cooking and developing effective organic fertilizers, which can combat disease and decreasing productivity
SUMMARY: There are no universal solutions for cultural, economic, and ecological sustainability, but there is a universal process to identify local solutions. The Seed-Scale process enables communities to gather their own human energies and invent sustainable solutions that expand to more communities.
Sistema.bio is a Mexican social enterprise founded in 2010, the enterprise provides comprehensive biodigester installations for small farmers to support energy independence, reduce pollution and support capacity-building. The technology enables small farmers to transform organic waste into methane gas and organic fertilizer, which increases their efficiency, productivity and resilience.