INNOVATION EVERYWHERE ON THIS PLANET
We get excited by the kind of innovation that's both local and global, like these two This Planet videos. They are quite different: one is about how the Dutch are helping New York City survive the next Hurricane Sandy, and one about entrepreneurs selling solar lamps in rural Rwanda. But they are similar in portraying local actions, which are sometimes difficult to track, but are likely to have the most impact when taken together.
The Dutch have spent a few centuries thinking up cool ways to control water (the Sand Motor is one of their latest ideas). No surprise that the post-Hurricane Sandy project, Rebuild by Design, has not only hired a Dutchman but is spending millions on innovations meant to increase community resiliency while diverting water from subways and streets. This is a very good time to think about water, according to Climate Central, now that the seas are inexorably rising.
Getting solar-powered lighting to Africa by training women entrepreneurs, as Solar Sister does, makes sense. Women are driving innovative sustainability all over the world. Organizations like The Women's Earth & Climate Action Network (WECAN) play a quiet but crucial role in educating and organizing women about climate action in their own best interest. Now the UN has gotten into the act with the Sustainability For All project, supporting women-based initiatives among a vast array of energy and sustainability projects.
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