Accelerating the Transition to a Deforestation Free Economy
This solution addresses deforestation driven by market forces in tropical forest regions (particularly Indonesia, Amazonia) for global industry "powerbrokers"
The Carbon Farming Solution
http://carbonfarmingsolution.com/ a book by author Eric Toensmeier offers A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security. Working with a diverse and growing number of partners, and operationalizing within a wide network of landscape level projects around the world, we are using these ideas along with key appropriate technologies, in order to weave together a practical grassroots based climate solution. This solution seeks to rapidly accelerate natural and designed land regeneration at the global scale, to help mitigate climate disruption while providing multiple other social and ecological benefits for small-scale farmers.
Advocating for indigenous rights
Green Empowerment's work is rooted in community organizing and advocating for indigenous rights through the development of local micro-hydro electrical systems and watershed conservation work. A grassroots base in Malaysia’s indigenous movement is further supported by our participation in policy conversations at the national level to push for clean development solutions.
Comprehensive Coastal Resiliency
This solution addresses climate change adaptation and flood mitigation in US Northeastern Seaboard for coastal communities
Customizable Clay Food Storage Systems
This solution addresses food waste in Addis Abba, Ethiopia for merchants ("Guilt" purveyors), clay craftswomen
Design Thinking
“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.” — Tim Brown, president and CEO of IDEO IDEO--the leader implementor of design thinking methodology--designed the OpenIDEO platform with a heavy emphasis on design thinking principals. This starts during the research phase of the solutioning process, where particular value is placed on ideas that empathize with the needs of the target population. As this research is translated into many different actable ideas, those that strike the best balance between desirability, feasibility, and viability, are further developed.
Empowering all stakeholders
In communities like those in Peru where this project is being implemented, high-level decisions have traditionally been made by men. This project sees resiliency as not just a physical trait, but a social one as well. Accordingly, intentional steps have been made throughout the implementation process to include underserved voices (like the poor or women) in key planning and decision making.
Fostering Climate Resilience through Mobile Games
This solution addresses communicating the importance of climate resilience action in South and Southeast Asia for urban youth
Greenwave: 3D Farming Ocean Aquaculture
This solution addresses diminished ocean biodiversity and a declining fisheries industry in Northeast US for fishers, seafood consumers, and all surrounding residents
IoT Tracking and Monitoring System for Internally Displaced Persons : Pre-displacement
This helps us tackle the problems of IDPs by helping us to attempt solving the problems of IDPs by researching the causes of displacement and attempting to proffer solutions to them.
Legume Diversification to Improve Soil Fertility
This solution addresses Soil Depletion in Malawi for Farmers and Food Insecure Populations
Partnering with local established organizations
Partnering with locally established organizations is key to influencing networks, understanding the situation and avoiding reinventing the wheel, or creating solutions not relevant for the local environment.
Promotion of climate-resilient livelihoods
Local farmers in the Carhuaz valley were consulted about how to reduce their vulnerability to the impacts of climate variability and climate change. One of the critical factors in managing risk in agricultural production relates to access to sustainable irrigation. This would help reduce seasonal losses due to extreme climate events, and in the face of glacial retreat would improve efficiency in the use of scarce water resources. In Carhuaz, the project has been developing a drip irrigation system, helping farmers to improve their productivity, reduce losses due to seasonal drought and, in the longer term, improve resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Restorative Agriculture
A uniting philosophy behind GreenWave's farming system is that it should not be extractive, but restorative. For one, the structural components of 3D farming help transform "dead zones" into nutritionally rich and sheltered regions where multiple species are allowed to thrive. Shellfish like oysters and clams are natural filtering species and can greatly increase the water quality of the area they're farmed in. Finally, kelp and seaweed are excellent carbon sinks. These plants absorb up to 5x more carbon than their land based counterparts. Whether it is with the health of water, people, or the atmosphere, GreenWave is helping, not hurting.
Scaling up regreening: six steps to success
From the Executive Summary of the resource listed below, from the World Resources Institute: "In a world grappling with the challenges of food insecurity, climate change, landscape degradation, and rural poverty, regreening offers a path forward, especially in dryland areas. The transformation of degraded landscapes—restoring productivity and increasing resilience through the widespread adoption of agroforestry and sustainable land management practices—can deliver food, climate, and livelihood benefits."
Sustainable Development in Huaquiao, China
This solution addresses better land, waste and infrastructure management in Huaquiao, China for citizens, public and private sectors, biodiversity
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is a way of understanding systems as wholes, as well as the ways in which independent parts interact with and influence the other parts of the system. To get started you just need to start thinking about the systems you’re working with, or designing, with this new lens. What are the inputs, processes, & outputs? Are there any undesired outputs (negative externalities)? Are any of the inputs hazardous, or in short supply? Could hazardous inputs be replaced w/non-hazardous ones? Could virgin materials be replaced w/recycled ones? Could different processed lead to increased benefits/reduced harms. Any time you consider changes, run the updated system through your mind repeatedly & look for unintended consequences. Systems thinking can be used in problems solving, & problem prevention. By designing with systems thinking in mind, many unintended consequences can be avoided. And in considering alternatives, benefits that would otherwise have been missed, might be realized.
