The complex and interconnected challenges facing us today require solutions that pool people’s expertise, funding, and political will to create solutions that multisolve, or solve multiple problems at once. In this article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Elizabeth Sawin offers three principles and three practices to help leaders unlock the magic of multisolving. Read […]
Urban Mining Turns Waste into Value
Urban mining, or recycling and reusing everything from buildings to electronics to household waste, is a way to preserve the value of goods that would otherwise be thrown away. Nearly everything can be recycled: “Paint is dried up to make chalk, the rancid oils are processed into cosmetics, and old devices dismantled to recycle materials such as paper, plastics, metals […]
Espigoladors: Spain’s second chance for food, planet, and the socially excluded
In Spain, the art of gleaning – harvesting farmers’ unwanted crops – is feeding the hungry and creating employment for the socially excluded, while also reducing pressure on land use, reducing CO2 emissions, conserving water, improving diets, and changing society’s perception of food waste. Finding treasure in waste helps people and climate Espigoladors contributes to the […]
Warm Up New Zealand is Multisolving with Home Insulation
A government program in New Zealand demonstrates how health, economic vitality, and climate protection can all be enhanced via investments in energy efficiency. A radical move What would it look like if, in the middle of an economic crisis, your government invested in a program aimed at keeping vulnerable households warm? What if this action […]
The Netherlands Recycles Toilet Paper to Pave Bike Paths
The Dutch province of Friesland is innovating by recycling toilet paper and using it to enhance the safety of asphalt, which is used to pave bicycle paths. Normally, toilet paper is filtered out at wastewater treatment plants and then incinerated, which releases CO2 and destroys the resources contained in the toilet paper. Instead, this project extracts […]
Interfaith Power & Light Helps Congregations Protect the Climate
Interfaith Power & Light is an organization helping thousands of diverse religious congregations limit their carbon emissions and organize campaigns to urge lawmakers to take action on climate change. Their programs help faith communities reduce their emissions by increasing renewable energy, energy efficiency, water conservation, and starting local organic farms. They also have a program that […]
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network Shares Global Expertise on Multisolving
The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) brings together leaders from all sectors of society and regions of the world to “accelerate joint learning and promote integrated approaches that address the interconnected economic, social, and environmental challenges confronting the world.” The Network is geared toward practical solutions that help implement both the Paris Climate […]
Hurricane Harvey and the Case for Multisolving
Extreme weather events are causing suffering around the world. Multisolving solutions that target both climate change and flood risk can help. Last week, we heard news of massive floods causing untold damage and killing and displacing thousands of people around the world, in the southern United States, South Asia, West Africa, and Yemen. These conditions […]
Top 11 Reasons for Climate Hope
We know there’s been a lot of bad news on climate change lately. But there is plenty of good news too, and we think it’s just as urgent that people hear the good that is happening around the globe. Recognizing the progress the world has made keeps us hopeful and avoids the feeling of helplessness […]
Want to See US Climate Progress? Support City and State Leaders and the Grassroots Groups Who Hold Them Accountable
Less than a week after President Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, cities and states across the US have adopted the goals of the agreement as their own. Supporting those cities and states (and the grassroots coalitions that hold them accountable) provides a significant opportunity for progress on climate change […]