Latin America & the Caribbean 2020 Finalists

Alejandra Contreras Casso López

Connected by Nature

Connected by Nature is an initiative of the NGO “Somos Más Decididos” which empowers children and young students to assume their role as changemakers in caring for the planet through sustainable lifestyles

The team identified their lack of connection to nature and protected areas, due to the lack of direct interaction these children have with their environment. Through our work, children are able to have visceral, first hand experiences with biodiversity conservation through visits and field trips which spark their imaginations, increase their biophilia, develop their knowledge and allow them to interact and be inspired by the organisations and individuals driving this conservation work.

During these educational trips, participants discover the environmental services of reefs and wetlands, they also clean beaches and reforest mangroves, learn about the production processes of plants, as well as the production of home-made cheese and chocolate to understand responsible consumption. This is effectively achieved by linking this to their school curriculum and subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Ecology and Natural Sciences.

Alejandra Isabel Rivera Santos

Sumando Impactos por Los Cobanos

Sumando Impactos por Los Cobanos is a project which targets a natural protected area with the only coral reef in El Salvador. It centers on community cohesion and a shared vision to achieve sustainable development. The project is based on the integrated management of solid waste and on the conservation of natural resources in the short, medium and long term, with a holistic approach to human development, strengthening of social skills, upskilling for ecotourism and environmental management. The aim is to promote the sustainable management of natural resources in this sensitive area to both promote sustainable economic growth and prosperity for its inhabitants while preserving its unique ecosystem.

Over the last 18 months we worked with the local community to build a unique local brand identity along with a communication strategy to support environmental behaviour change. We installed a waste segregation system and improved ecotourism potential through ecosystem conservation. This has only been made possible by the integration of a permanent, multidisciplinary and engaged team, working on the continued alliance with local government, the private sector, central government and civil society.

Eduardo Avila

Revolusolar

One quarter of Rio's population live in favelas, with social marginalization, inadequate infrastructure, and unaffordable energy supply with prices doubling in the last decade. This low-income population perceives energy services as expensive, unreliable, unfair, low quality and distant from their reality. Revolusolar partners with two favelas to co-create a new affordable, community-based and sustainable energy model, aligned with the traditions of collective action and self-management of these territories. The solution includes solar installations, professional training to local residents as electricians and solar installers, and workshops for childrens on sustainability. In 2020, we're implementing the first solar cooperative in a favela. The financing model includes institutional sponsors and a rental component: the solar beneficiaries pay a monthly fee (part of the savings with the electricity bill). We expect this pilot to be the beginning of a Solar Revolution, aiming for sustainable development of low-income communities through solar energy.

Jeronimo Batista Bucher

Sorui - the green alternative

Millions of tons of polluting plastic waste are produced every year in Latin America and the world. Most of this is due to the usage of disposable products. Single-use plastic cups are a great exponent in that group. They are generally utilized for just a few minutes and then become obsolete and take hundreds of years to decompose. After being thrown away, they become dangerous pollutants that affect our ecosystems, endanger our health, and end up in what we drink, in our food, and even in the air we breathe.

Sorui brings about a solution to this problem. This project raises the possibility of replacing disposable plastic cups, with machines that automatically produce and dispense biodegradable cups in situ. This alternative composition is based on algae extracts and disappears entirely in less than two weeks, re-entering the natural cycles of matter and avoiding the current generation of residues.

Max Hidalgo Quinto

YAWA: Sustainable technology for access to water

YAWA is a portable, multifunctional and sustainable technology capable of obtaining up to 300 liter of water per day from atmospheric humidity and mist. This technology can be applied to provide access to drinking water to communities, in agricultural and forestry projects, and for the irrigation of green buildings. Yawa is an alternative that will allow us to prepare for the future in the face of an imminent water shortage that 33 countries will suffer in the world in the year 2040.