Flying Whales launched in 2012 in France to develop and industrialize a 60 tons Large Capacity Airship to provide remote cargo transport. The development of this initiative began to enable the French Forestry Agency to increase large volumes of timber extraction from land-locked areas. This solution offers low operating costs, low to no environmental impact, and targets the large market of special transportation, logistics & freight market in countries with transport infrastructure deficit. This project is supported by the French Government and the Quebec Government.
Openversum is a watertech company which has created an all-in-one biodegradable drinking water filter removes pathogens, pesticides, heavy metals, and micropollutants, lowering the risks of recontamination. Its mission is to provide water goods and services to disadvantaged rural areas and thus empower local communities to have a positive impact on public health. The organization offers a microfranchising model to train entrepreneurs to locally manufacture and distribute filters. Openversum continually measures the impact of its initiatives to refine and improve its model.
- bioremediation
- education
- health and education
- public health
- water distribution efficiency
Waterbear is a digital streaming platform that hosts short films, stories, documentaries and original content to empower communities to make positive change in the world. Topics cover a breadth of topics in the environmental and humanitarian space. Waterbear is also home to a network of more than 100 NGO partners as well as brands. Members can join their communities directly through the platform, by taking action for the causes they care about most. Waterbear is free to access, and uses data to measure impacts based on member viewing.
- digital platforms
- marketplaces
- media
- streaming
Ascend Elements is company focused on large-scale EV battery recycling, providing solutions that help recover valuable materials from used batteries and e-waste, which are repurposed into new battery components through their proprietary Hydro-to-Cathode® technology. This closed-loop system results in up to 90% lower GHG emissions compared to than traditional methods, by reducing batteries going to the landfill, reducing reliance on virgin materials, enabling a cleaner manufacturing process, and lowering the environmental impact of battery production-- essential for driving the broader energy transition.
- batteries
- circularity
- electric vehicles
Empower.eco is a global marketplace platform for plastic waste, using technology for transparent recording and rewarding of plastic deposits. By giving plastic a marketplace value, the platform incentivizes stakeholders to contribute, fund, account for, source from, and monetize plastic circularity. The platform helps create an economic foundation for scaling the network effects needed to enable plastic circularity and ecosystem restoration.
Matriark Foods is a social impact business that upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, low sodium vegetable products for schools, hospitals, food banks and other foodservices. Matriark works with farmers and aggregators to make use of the vegetables that would otherwise go to waste, to instead provide nutritious food for people and reduce the environmental harms of food waste. They are using technology to manage their supply chains, inventory, sustainability tracking, and data analysis to underpin auditability of Upcycle Certified products.
- certifications
- circular economy
- food waste
- foodtech
- supply chain traceability
Pol.is is an open source platform that facilitates group decision-making by allowing large numbers of people to share ideas and opinions on a topic. Polis' real-time system gathers the contributions of large groups, and then leverages advanced statistics and machine learning algorithms to analyze the collective input and surface points of consensus and where areas of dissent occur. Unlike some social media platforms, Pol.is aims to encourage constructive dialogue and bridge-building rather than amplify existing divides. Pol.is helps groups identify common ground and reach collaborative solutions in areas like policy development, market research, and community planning. As an open-source tool available to all, Polis is already adopted by various groups including governments, academics, independent media outlets, and everyday citizens. Anyone can access, modify, and contribute to the Pol.is code base, ensuring transparency and fostering continuous development.
- democracy
- digital platforms
- gift economy
- governance
- participatory decision-making
CivicAI explores how AI can enhance collective intelligence in relation to climate crisis mitigation and adaptation. CivicAI sees opportunities in several key areas, which have been illustrated in more detail through 3 distinct use cases. To address the climate crisis, CIVICAI works to increase the capacity for communities to organise and adapt to a new reality. This requires better tools and methods for mobilising large groups of people to take action, reducing associated costs, and advancing the value of collaboration.
- artificial intelligence
- cloud
- data
- digital assets
- edge computing
- social media / community
DoNotPay utilizes artificial intelligence to help consumers fight against large corporations and solve their problems, like beating parking tickets, appealing bank fees, and stopping robocallers. DoNotPay’s goal is to foster equity and equality by making legal information and self-help accessible
- artificial intelligence
- cloud
- data
- digital assets
- edge computing
Openbike is a project by Arquimaña, an architecture studio founded by Iñaki Albistur and Raquel Ares in 2011. They combine their passion for design, maker culture and mobile architecture (mobitechture) with the idea that technology can make us freer, more proactive and more creative. The result is their open-source bicycle and it's impact in promoting sustainable urban transportation. Openbike has been finalist in Arquia-Próxima 2018: Relevant Practices and part of the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 and the Cities exhibition of the Seoul Architecture and Urbanism Biennale SBAU2021 curated by Dominique Perrault.
- bicycle infrastructure
- mobility
- open source
- transportation
NatureQuant delivers technology solutions to assess and promote exposure to nature and to combat nature deficit with proactive tech tools designed to improve overall wellbeing. NatureQuant achieves this mission via their two apps, NatureScore and NatureDose. NatureScore® measures the amount of natural elements that optimize your health within a one-km radius of your location. NatureDose® is a personalized nature prescription mobile app that monitors your aggregate time inside, outside, and exposed to nature. Through new tech tools, machine learning, and big-data, NatureQuant provides tools designed to fully leverage nature's impact.
- artificial intelligence
- data
- digital platforms
- nature tech
The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit environmental engineering organization dedicated to developing and implementing technologies to extract plastic pollution from the oceans and rivers. For over ten years, The Ocean Cleanup has been researching, extracting, and monitoring plastic pollution in oceans and rivers globally – with millions of kilograms removed to date. Its technologies supporting ocean cleanup act as large-scale floating barriers, designed to concentrate plastic debris within a specific area for collection. They utilize ocean currents and wind to move through the water, gathering plastic along their path. The systems are also equipped with solar panels and wind turbines to power their operations. It also deploys floating barriers in rivers to intercenpt and prevent plastic from entering the oceans. The Ocean Cleanup also closely monitors and analyzes impacts, provides a dashboard and data insights, and is engaged in research on improving envrionmental impact analyses. The Ocean Cleanup aims to tackle plastic pollution in order to protect and restore marine and riverine environments and the wildlife they contain – as well as benefit the human communities living alongside these areas, and reliant on these ecosystems for their livelihoods.
- bioremediation
- conservation
- data
- nature tech
- oceans
- rivers