Citizen Zero Issue 03 by Citizen Zero

The magazine for responsible business and culture

IMPACT

ZettaScale on innovation and positive impact

INNOVATION

How VANK designs for people and planet

ADVENTURE

Greener gear for responsible travellers

ENTERPRISE

SolarAid empowers entrepreneurship

Green goodness without the green washing

With just 2 teaspoons daily, I’ve noticed a significant improvement in my energy levels and general health.

- Amazon Customer

Aduna proudly brings you the world’s first FairWild certified Super Greens powder. With 10 sustainably sourced superfood ingredients, every tasty teaspoon helps nourish your health, while directly supporting over 3,000 farmers with sustainable incomes and grass-roots conservation projects.

No two days are the same working in this space. One day you’re talking about the transformative power of solar light, the next about turning beer into leather or tackling play inequality, the day after – if you can keep up – pirates and knightly virtues. It’s confirmation, if needed, that making an impact or contributing to some kind of meaningful change, is the responsibility of everyone, everywhere. It’s why we were so inspired by global citizenship and shared action to start with.

Take our pirates as an example. We recently spoke with Angelo Corsaro, CEO of innovative tech company ZettaScale. Theirs is a fascinating story that demonstrates the potential impact in every sector, industry, and innovation. Corsaro founded ZettaScale in 2022 based on his own desire to make a positive impact in the world by solving real problems, and a mission to bring every connected human and machine the unconstrained freedom to communicate.

He tells us about the constraints and challenges in communication protocols (sets of rules or procedures for transmitting data between electronic devices), and how the company’s Zenoh protocol is tackling them. The incredible thing is the impact of a technology like Zenoh. Improving connectivity, for example, helps remote operations during natural disasters or crises, can improve things like life-saving remote surgery and medical innovation, and minimise energy use in personal devices and emissions associated with technologies like data centres.

Elsewhere, we have conversations with some other great changemakers. SolarAid’s John Keane talks about how solar lights are empowering people across sub-Saharan Africa, we find out how Aduna Superfoods is harnessing the power of the baobab tree for wellbeing and entrepreneurship, Chris Desai tells us about his journey to saving the world’s oceans, and we explore the life of Scott Poynton, who has dedicated his career to helping businesses become more impactful.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

CONTACT hello@citizenzero.online

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Matt High

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Steve Shipley

Empower Your Journey. Make a Global Impact.

At CGCS, we offer a unique educational experience combining online learning with immersive travel and volunteer opportunities.

Picture yourself studying marine conservation in a hybrid model, then diving into hands-on projects to protect endangered species. Envision learning about social work principles and then applying your knowledge to make a tangible difference in local communities worldwide.

Our approach goes beyond traditional learning, shaping you into a true global citizen. Alongside our transformative experiences, you’ll earn credit-bearing UK-accredited qualifications that hold the same recognition as those from universities. These credentials enrich your CV, enhance university applications, and impress potential employers.

Join us on this extraordinary journey of impact and education, where theory meets practice. Embrace the opportunity to explore the world, gain practical skills, and make a positive impact on a global scale. The future starts here – together, let’s leave a lasting legacy!

Andreia from JFC/ Unspash

MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA

In 2016, the award winning Corredores Verdes project planted 8,800 trees in urban areas to counter the severe heat caused by urbanisation. Today, it provides wildlife-friendly habitats with increased biodiversity, improved air quality and has reduced the average temperature by 2°C.

Scott

Explore

How

I could tell you my grades. Or I could tell you how engaging and volunteering in the community though the Youth Empowered program has developed my understanding and empathy towards others.

MY STORY IS MORE THAN NUMBERS.

116 | PIONEER ETERNAL LIGHT

Space: the next frontier for renewable energy

118 | SOCIAL NEXT-GEN INNOVATORS

beVisioneers’ Mariah Levin on tomorrow’s changemakers

126 | TRAILBLAZER PLAY FOR ALL

Marie Williams on tackling global play inequality

140 | REGULARS THE GUIDE

Education and entertainment for sustainable citizens

BriefiNg

THE PEOPLE, INNOVATIONS, AND STORIES ON OUR RADAR

ECONOMIC: BUSINESS gree N AND iNCLUSiVe

There’s more to sustainability than reducing carbon emissions or your impact on the environment. Just ask Nissan. The car giant has recently outlined a sustainability plan focused on becoming a greener and more inclusive business that will empower its workers, while creating safer cars and recycling batteries. The Nissan Social Program 2030 focuses on six core pillars: safety, quality, responsible sourcing, communities, empowering employees, and intellectual property. It supports Nissan’s aim to become a people-centric business, including delivering on education to nurture future engineers in new and emerging technologies and contributing to social initiatives for children and young people. Nissan aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, which means net zero carbon emissions across all operations – it plans to reduce per-vehicle manufacturing CO2 emissions by 52% and cut per-vehicle driving CO2 emissions for new models by 50% in Japan, the US, Europe, and China. nissan-global.com

ENVIRONMENT: CIRCULAR ECONOMY giViNg CLOTHeS

ANOTHer Life

Marks & Spencer has launched a dedicated clothing repair service for the first time, part of a new circularity agenda and a key pillar of its Plan A roadmap to drive sustainability. The retailer has partnered with clothing repair and alterations experts SOJO, a small team of tailors, riders, developers, and creatives working to accelerate change in the fashion industry.

Customers can use a dedicated online hub, M&S fixed by SOJO, to select and book a range of bespoke repair services from zip replacements to invisible knitwear mending, with repairs starting from as little as £5. Clothing can be sent to the in-house repair team, repaired, and returned directly to customers. The initiative comes after M&S research revealed that only 10% of the population is confident enough to repair clothing themselves and 60% of consumers look for retailers to offer more services that support them to lower their carbon footprint.

national heat records have been broken so far in 2024, with an additional 130 monthly national temperature records also being shattered. weforum.org IN NUMBERS:

The partnership is part of ‘Another life.’, a programme launched across M&S websites, apps and in-store, that brings together all its circularity services. Another Life customers can also donate pre-loved clothes and textiles to Oxfam, which sells the items to raise funds to help fight for an equal future without poverty.

corporate.marksandspencer.com

INNOVATION: CLIMATE TECH CHArTe D TerriTOrY

An international team consisting of the University of Edinburgh, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, British Antarctic Survey, and the Scottish Association for Marine Science has completed the first continent-wide mapping study of Antarctica. Using a European Space Agency Satellite to sweep the continent, they surveyed plant life in previously uncharted areas to form a baseline for monitoring how Antarctica’s vegetation responds to climate change. Previous research has shown that the environmental sensitivity of Antarctica’s vegetative species makes them excellent barometers of regional climate change, so monitoring their presence could provide clues as to how similar vegetation types may respond to climate in other fragile ecosystems across the globe, such as parts of the Arctic. ed.ac.uk

ENVIRONMENT: LIFE BELOW WATER fUNgi POWer

When it comes to decomposing, you’ll struggle to beat fungi. Particularly as they now have the potential to ‘eat’ plastic waste as well as natural materials. Scientists at Germany’s Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries have identified a type of microfungi from freshwater ecosystems that can survive exclusively on plastics, degrading them into simpler forms. Plastics made from polymers can persist in the environment for decades because they aren’t degraded, but the research team has found a group of fungi that can break down even complex polymers without any pre-treatment of the plastics and without the addition of sugars as an energy source. They believe this ability may have evolved in response to the increasing presence of synthetic materials in their environment. igb-berlin.de

INNOVATION: ARCHITECTURE

NATUrAL BeAUTY

If you look hard enough you can see the Argen River beyond the undulating roof – designed to echo the meandering waterway - of the Hybrid Flax Pavilion. If you can tear your gaze away from the incredible building, that is. The experimental structure, designed as the centrepiece of a garden show in Wangen im Allgäu, Germany, is the creation of students and researchers at the University of Stuttgart researching bio-based

and bio-inspired construction and low-energy building methods. Its wave-like roof is created using a lightweight hybrid structure of crosslaminated timber and robotically wound flax fibres. At its centre lies a climate garden to facilitate natural cooling, and it features a recycled concrete and CO 2 -reduced cement floor that minimises building services. itke.uni-stuttgart.de

SOCIAL: FINANCIAL INCLUSION fiNANCe MATTerS

Citizen Zero talks to Nick Holt, Head of Solutions and Delivery, Europe at Marqeta about how financial inclusion underpins sustainable development and why access and equal rights to economic resources and financial services helps tackle poverty.

Why is accessibility to financial services so important?

The necessity for financial inclusion can’t be overstated. People being able to access, store, move, and manage money is crucial for the global economy, firstly at a business level to ensure innovation, competition and growth, but also to enable consumers to manage their daily lives and drive economic growth through buying goods and services. It’s estimated that 1.1 million adults in the UK are without a bank account. Being unbanked is the ultimate example of financial exclusion, as people can’t store money or send/ receive payments.

How does exclusion impact people’s lives? Being able to access funds in a secure, reliable manner is an essential tool to survive in the modern world. In fact, without access to financial products and services, people risk not having their basic needs met (e.g. water, housing and food) and losing access to vital resources (internet, education). Exclusion from financial services, bleeds into exclusion in almost all other areas, meaning people can’t access the products and services they rely on to survive.

What about challenges around financial literacy?

Financial literacy is the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting and investing. A strong foundation of financial literacy can help support various life goals, such as saving for education or retirement or running a business, and ensures individuals are less vulnerable to market disruptions or financial fraud. However, in 2015, only 35% of men and 30% of women worldwide were classed as financially literate, according to the S&P Global Finlit Survey. While rates have likely risen, it demonstrates the need for investment to ensure people globally have the required financial literacy skills to make economic decisions that are in their own interests.

marqeta.com

SOCIAL: SUSTAINABLE CITIES CONTAiNe D LiViNg

Get past the fact that it’s a former shipping container – and once you’re inside, how will you really know – and you’re ready to take advantage of a minute home being branded as ‘the pinnacle of sustainable living’. The ex-metal box now teeny home has come on London’s property market for just £75,000 (less than a fifth of the price of the average flat in the city). It has space for a double bed, a small living room, a kitchenette, and a room for a dining table and chairs. It reportedly surpasses all building regulations, is low energy and ESG compliant, and has a state-of-the-art ventilation system. independent.co.uk

ECONOMIC: SPORT POSiTiVe iMPACT

English Premier League football clubs are now much more frequently engaging on sustainability measures and climate impact, says a new report from Sport Positive Leagues. The report maps out operational environmental sustainability efforts at top-flight football clubs considering things like sustainability policies in place, energy use and efficiency, sustainable travel programmes, food served at match days, and water conservation. It found that three clubs have their environment or sustainability efforts externally accredited, five are signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Sports for Climate Action, six have net zero targets, and six have on-site clean energy generation at stadiums or other facilities. sportpositiveleagues.com

ECONOMIC: RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS BOArDrOOM TO BiODiVerSiTY

Against a backdrop of increasingly complex and impactful challenges, the concept of being nature positive is emerging as a core strategic enabler for businesses and their leaders. Nature positive is a transformative approach to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, and ensuring that natural ecosystems are preserved and enhanced.

Businesses, leaders, and employees are adopting nature-positive strategies that are contributing to these goals, and helping develop long-term sustainability. A nature-positive business strategy involves assessing impacts and dependencies on nature across the value chain, and implementing policies that actively restore and enhance natural ecosystems as part of business operations. Leaders can drive naturepositive practices by setting an aspirational vision, ensuring effective governance, and applying natureinclusive risk management and performance metrics.

The benefits of driving nature-positive business strategies include improved operational efficiency, greater long-term organisational resilience, better regulatory compliance, and enhanced brand reputation. weforum.org

ENVIRONMENTAL: WASTE MANAGEMENT

Be TTer eVerYDAY

There’s endless supplies of second-hand Ikea furniture on online marketplaces like eBay or Gumtree. Sadly for the sellers, they might have some competition. The Swedish furniture giant is trialling Ikea Preowned, its own second-hand online site where customers can sell to each other. Listings are put up by the seller, and Ikea’s algorithms generate the details of the item, including measurements and the original retail price. Following trials in Madrid and Oslo, Ikea Preowned could go global by December. ikea.com

INNOVATION: SPACE CLeAN SKieS

Airbus has joined forces with satellite servicing and long-term orbital sustainability leader Astroscale, to tackle the growing challenges of space sustainability and satellite longevity. The partnership will explore collaborative opportunities in the field of in-orbit servicing and space debris removal, including innovative methods to identify, capture, and remove space debris from Earth’s orbit. This is crucial for maintaining a more sustainable space environment. astroscale.com

CUTTING-EDGE IMPACT

Knightly virtues, innovation for positive impact, and transforming the way humans and machines connect: Angelo Corsaro introduces us to ZettaScale

ANGELO CORSARO, ZETTASCALE

To be clear, knightly virtues and pirates wasn’t how we intended our hour with Angelo Corsaro to begin. We’d planned to dive straight into the small matter of how his company, ZettaScale Technology, is disrupting the tech industry to bring every connected human and machine the unconstrained freedom to communicate – and help people, organisations and industries cut energy use and meet their net zero ambitions while they’re at it. But sometimes you just have to go with it. Particularly when you’re speaking with someone as inspiring as Corsaro.

Of course, Corsaro isn’t the first to highlight the relevance of the seafaring tradition to business and solving our biggest challenges. Steve Jobs famously told his developers in the early days of Apple ‘it’s better to be a pirate than join the navy’, highlighting that pirates were often regarded as courageous, willing to take risks, and could move fast because they were unencumbered by bureaucracy and politics.

And it makes perfect sense. Listen to Corsaro (whose name is a literal translation of corsair and who claims family heritage related to both knights and pirates) talk about his own passion for technology and positive impact, or how ZettaScale’s unique culture of innovation, courage and conviction in a common objective, and democratising technology and solutions drives real change in people’s lives, and you quickly understand how powerful an approach it can be.

The business, founded in 2022, was born out of frustration from Corsaro and a small team at the lack of change and development to address existing constraints and challenges in communication protocols (a protocol is a set of rules or procedures for transmitting data between electronic devices). The founding mission was straightforward: to revolutionise data communications in IoT, robotic, and automotive companies through the provision of cutting-edge technologies including distributed systems, real-time applications, and communications protocols.

In just two years, ZettaScale has made a significant impact in robotics and automotive; the company has been named among the top 10 startups in vehicle communications, one of the 50 most innovative French startups, and one of the five best digital tech startups. Its Zenoh protocol has been the foundation of much of this growth, quickly being embraced by both the robotics and automotive communities.

Zenoh is a pub/sub/query protocol that unifies data in motion, data at rest, and computations and is the only protocol on the market that can span from the microcontroller to the data centre. It delivers extreme performance and, thanks to its low resource usage, can enable businesses and organisations to save energy and reduce their emissions. Corsaro joined us to discuss the evolution of Zenoh to its soon to be released Version 1.0.0, and how it improves energy use But first, those pirates…

THE SEVEN KNIGHTLY VIRTUES

“ZettaScale operates very differently from other companies,” Corsaro explains, picking up on the theme. “We have a really strong set of values and a way of working that drives everything we do, and we really are a team and a unit – the word manager is forbidden, for example, as we don’t think people should be told how to work. Instead, our key principles are about courage, individual responsibility, clarity, and a shared desire to make things happen. The pirate analogy, for me, is all about shared experiences, unity rather than just taking orders as navy sailors do, equal leadership, and all of us working towards a common objective. It’s something that’s really important to me.”

It’s a set of values and a passion for making an impact that’s always been in Corsaro. “My own values, inspired by my family, have always centred around being honourable and thinking about how you influence others – I was taught at a young age the idea that anything you do should create a positive outcome and that if you’re able to influence and positively impact other people’s lives, you’d better do so. I got into technology when I was young, too. I remember being around 10 years old or so and being fascinated with seeing early robots and making technology communicate, I recall just thinking ‘wow, this is what I want to do’.”

These values are central to Corsaro and ZettaScale’s work, so much so that the company’s team of 60 ‘Zettlers’ live and work by Seven Knightly Virtues of courage, justice, mercy, generosity, faith, nobility, and hope. “I think it would be great if all companies had such a strong set of values,” says Corsaro, introducing the concept.

“ZETTASCALE OPERATES VERY DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHER COMPANIES. WE HAVE A REALLY STRONG SET OF VALUES AND A WAY OF WORKING THAT DRIVES EVERYTHING WE DO”

“Courage, for example, is essential to innovate because you’re doing something that no one else has tried so you have to be brave enough to go for what you believe in. Justice ensures we have a fair workplace and are equally fair and trustworthy when working with our customers. That’s particularly important; we’re essentially building the nervous system of complex infrastructures so our customers have to be sure we’re a partner they can collaborate with and trust. Faith and hope drive our belief in what we do and the good impact we think it can have on the world, and our nobility means we’ll never

give up on that belief. Generosity is about us giving back and being part of something that improves the status quo for everyone.”

The last plays an important role in how the company works, with a core focus being on connecting every human and machine, and the democratisation and decentralisation of technology – all ZettaScale’s solutions and technologies are open source, a decentralised software development model that encourages open collaboration. “Technology should be developed to support humans, not overpower

us or make us redundant,” Corsaro reflects.

“I’ve seen technology advance massively over my career, but things like open source have been so powerful, particularly for areas like education and giving more people access to opportunities. We talk a lot about things like cost reduction in tech, while sometimes forgetting the really incredible impact it can have in areas like learning.

“Connectivity, which Zenoh addresses, is also so important for society,” he continues. “Think about things like remote operations, which are essential in natural disasters or crisis situations like the Fukushima nuclear disaster. It’s a great example of what’s possible when you bring humans and machines together. Remote surgery is another case in which connectivity and helping people to connect and work with machines can literally save a life. The downside of this kind of innovation is that some of the infrastructure and the protocols we have in place aren’t at the standard that’s required, can actually constrain communication and, as a consequence, negatively impact things like energy efficiency or people’s privacy.”

INNOVATION THROUGH ZENOH

These constraints were the genesis of ZettaScale. Corsaro became aware of the challenges while working as Chief Technology Officer at ADLINK Technology, which manufactures and develops edge hardware and software. Historically, the business had operated in aerospace and defence but newer work in growing or evolving markets like robotics, automotive, and smart city development demonstrated the constraints and challenges of existing protocols like DDS (Data Distribution Service).

“They were intended to be used in a fixed local network with an underlying assumption there would be low packet losses, which means data getting lost as it travels through a network and failing to reach its destination,” says Corsaro. “Those assumptions were true in things like an air traffic control management system, but didn’t hold up as soon as you have a wireless network like WiFi, 4G or 5G. At that point I was actually working with the standardisation consortium that was pointing out these challenges and trying to push development and innovation forwards, but nothing really changed.”

“THINGS LIKE OPEN SOURCE HAVE BEEN SO POWERFUL, PARTICULARLY FOR AREAS LIKE EDUCATION AND GIVING MORE PEOPLE ACCESS

TO OPPORTUNITIES”

In a move reminiscent of the bold and courageous pirate spirit Corsaro admires, he left that group, formed ZettaScale as a spin-off of ADLINK and started developing Zenoh. During this formative period, he and the ZettaScale team were driven by two core objectives: to develop a protocol that could run from very small devices like microcontrollers up to data centres with no loss of performance, inspired by the challenges experienced in ensuring data flow from the countless sensors used in smart cities, and to create a protocol that could unify data in motion and data at rest.

“We always had challenges when maintaining data stored on the periphery of a system,” says Corsaro of the second objective. “If you store data closer to you in a system, it’s faster to access – if you’re battery powered you don’t need to waste energy sending it to the cloud. But if you do that with existing technology it can be hard to keep track of where data is stored because you know where the databases are, but don’t know which data is contained by the databases.

“Imagine you have a temperature or noise sensor,” he continues, explaining the importance of unifying data in motion and at rest. “It produces a string of values and, when you distribute this information you use what’s known as a publish/ subscribe protocol. These have location transparency, which means as long as I know the name of the data I can express a subscription from anywhere on the network and the protocol will get me that data – I don’t need to know where the source of the data is. The problem is that as soon as the data gets stored somewhere, I lose the location transparency because I need to know the precise location of the database where the data is stored.

“I REMEMBER BEING AROUND 10 YEARS OLD OR SO AND BEING FASCINATED WITH SEEING EARLY ROBOTS AND MAKING TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATE, I JUST KNEW IT WAS WHAT I WANTED TO DO”

“Our hypothesis was that, if we manage to have location transparent data at rest then we no longer need to know where the data is stored, you can keep it stored on the edges of your system,” says Corsaro. “This completely changes the way in which information can be routed. Now, with Zenoh, you can very efficiently and without constraint, distribute data, store it wherever you want, and retrieve it from anywhere on the network. This is powerful because it means you can keep things decentralised, which is really important for many modern use cases like robots or in vehicles.”

ZettaScale has grown rapidly over the last couple of years, driven by the uptake of Zenoh by key players in robotics and automotive. The robotics industry was an early adopter of Zenoh, with it being chosen by the Robot Operating System (ROS), an open source set of software libraries and tools that help researchers and developers build and reuse code between robotics applications. The company has seen several commercial deployments of Zenoh in robotics, and in automotive where it is collaborating with General Motors to develop the framework for the next generation of software-defined vehicles.

DRIVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Beyond current use cases, Zenoh has the potential to have a far broader impact, with several companies in transportation, robotics, and telecoms turning to ZettaScale to significantly cut the amount of energy required to send data. “Previous technologies forced you into topological constraints whereby even if you’re in the same room – imagine you want to control your thermostat from your mobile phone as an example – that communication goes through a data centre thousands of kilometres away,” Corsaro explains. “People think that’s acceptable

because devices are labelled as ‘power efficient’, but the bulk of that energy is actually used in this kind of nonsensical journey halfway around the world that data has to take.

“Zenoh has no topological constraints, so it allows you to communicate directly with anything in your network,” he adds. “In the current climate, thinking about how we can minimise the energy use of our own devices, and the significant emissions associated with data centres, is crucial. And Zenoh, which is one of the best technologies to reduce energy consumption in this process, can have a massive contribution here if we deploy it properly. Take a warehouse as an example, where you have hundreds of autonomous mobile robots and other technologies working around the clock – that’s a lot of communication, and therefore a lot of energy, going back and forth to the cloud. With Zenoh you don’t need to do that

any more, so imagine the energy and cost savings for the company, as well as the wider impact to the planet and environment.”

Zenoh could also be impactful in other areas of sustainable development and innovation, in particular the growing deployment of autono mous and connected vehicles such as drones, last-mile delivery robots, and urban aerial mobility solutions, says Corsaro: “The volumes of data that will need to be shared to enable this transition are staggering, and the existing cloudcentric architecture we have in place won’t scale to the level needed for mass adoption. That makes the decentralisation of a solution like Zenoh critical to ensure these kinds of technolo gies can operate effectively. For us, there’s the opportunity to drive scalability of important innovations, and to reduce energy consumption while we do it.”

“CONSIDER THINGS LIKE REMOTE OPERATIONS, WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL IN NATURAL DISASTERS. IT’S A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT’S POSSIBLE WHEN YOU BRING HUMANS AND MACHINES TOGETHER”

“THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CAN MINIMISE THE ENERGY USE OF OUR OWN DEVICES, AND THE SIGNIFICANT EMISSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH DATA CENTRES, IS CRUCIAL”

MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT

ZettaScale will soon release version 1.0.0 of Zenoh, the first version of the protocol that guarantees core backwards compatibility, following an ongoing validation and evolution process that Corsaro describes as ‘obsessive’. The focus for the company, he says, remains largely in the robotics and automotive sectors where there continues to be rapid innovation and – in the case of the automotive industry – revolutionary changes in the ways vehicles are designed, built, and manufactured.

However, he and the Zettlers are also dedicated to exploring new ways of making a positive impact for people and organisations. “Zenoh has great horizontal applicability, meaning there are many potential use cases to open up in the future,” he adds. “I’d love for us to get into the medical industry, for example. It’s an area where there’s huge potential for innovation but, in something like home care where you have to monitor complex life parameters, integration of existing solutions is challenging. It would be interesting

to create a way in which these can be monitored without people’s personal data being stored on a cloud, and Zenoh gives you that freedom.

“Clinical data is another area we could really make a difference in,” says Corsaro. “I was working on a project with MIT when I became aware of the issue of morphine narcolepsy, which can happen as a result of people self-administering too much morphine when in hospital. Doctors use pulse oximeters to monitor patients, but they’re very sensitive meaning false alarms happen frequently and a lack of trust in the equipment results in real alarms sometimes being ignored. We could avoid that but the information of the pulse oximeter, and the heart and respiratory rate monitors aren’t integrated and data fused because they’re using different protocols. Imagine how unifying all that data could make a real difference.”

For the immediate future, Corsaro plans on taking ‘one battle at a time’ as he and the company develop and grow. “I don’t wake up in the morning wanting to be a billionaire,” he remarks. “I get out of bed to try and make a good impact and solve the problems that exist. Our plan is to create a sustainable company with a team that loves working here and really feels our mission and values. We’re in no rush. The focus has to be on good engineering, getting things right, and remaining confident in our conviction and our plans – it all comes back to believing in our knightly virtues, after all.”

zettascale.tech

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN

Meet the startup turning the apparel industry on its head. And there’s no plastic or animals in sight

The ‘Bermondsey Beer Mile’, home of historic London’s beer brewing and leather industries might, on face value, seem an unlikely place to start a sustainable biomaterials revolution. But only if you don’t move with the times. What if, for example, you harnessed that rich, artisanal history for your benefit? Or combined the abundant waste feedstock from the still-active local brewers with a touch of science and ambition?

Now you’re thinking like Brett and TJ, two entrepreneurs who – after experimenting around TJ’s kitchen table – found a way to turn brewers’ spent grain (BSG) into a sustainable, circular alternative to leather for use in fashion, home goods, automotive, and other applications. The apparel industry is responsible for more than 9% of global CO2 emissions, 20% of wastewater, and the use of over two billion animals every year.

To mitigate this impact, they founded Arda Biomaterials on a simple premise: brewers take raw barley grain and extract the sugar to make beer – for every 100 litres of beer there are 20 kg of BSG, which is rich in protein and fibre and can be mixed with other planet-friendly ingredients to create New Grain, the company’s alternative leather. New Grain is 100% plastic and animal free, can be coloured and treated like natural leather, and is biodegradable at the end of its life.

arda.bio

Lighting every

Lighting life

SolarAid’s John Keane on the transformative power of solar energy, how light can change lives, and achieving universal access to electricity

The flick of a switch. You probably don’t even notice yourself doing it. Or realise the ways in which the same simple action you perform countless times a day can quite literally change a life. On a basic level, access to electricity gives you the freedom to switch on a light that extends the day so you can complete important tasks around the home, read, create, or work should you need to. It also makes it possible to enjoy time with your friends and family without confining social activity to daylight hours.

But what if you need a life-saving operation after sundown or have to travel miles over dangerous, unlit terrain in an emergency? You may need to keep a business open to make money, or make

sure your newborn child is delivered by more than a torch or candle light? For nearly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa with no access to affordable clean energy, this is the reality. Countless communities in economically or geographically hard to reach places see their working days end when the sun sets unless they use batteries, kerosene lamps or paraffin candles – all of which are expensive, dangerous, and potentially toxic alternatives to electric lighting.

“Imagine removing electricity from everything,” says SolarAid’s John Keane. “It’s how I try to convey to people just what the situation is like for the remote communities we work with. Growing up in the UK, where every facet of modern life uses electricity, is world’s apart from a rural village in Zambia but think about having no electricity not just in your home but your work, your school, your hospitals and cities, and you start to realise the economic and social impact it would have.

“That’s everyday life in rural sub-Saharan Africa, where there is no light or electricity in homes and schools, few radios and mobile phones for communication, education, and information, where three out of four health facilities across the continent have unreliable access to electricity and one in four has zero access,” he continues. “These are areas impacted heavily by poverty and the climate crisis. In Zambia, for example, the grid is largely hydro-powered but water levels are low as a result of rising temperatures. It means that, if you’re lucky enough to have access to electricity you routinely face power cuts and power rationing; in rural hard-to-reach areas there’s little chance of any access at all.”

Having held multiple positions with SolarAid since its inception in 2006, Keane rejoined the

JOHN KEANE, CEO, SOLARAID

DALITSO HALARIO, LIGHT LIBRARIES, MALAWI

“I felt compelled to start looking at simple, easy to access solutions that could make an immediate impact”

organisation, which tackles poverty and climate change by building sustainable markets for clean, safe, and affordable solar lights in Africa, as CEO in 2017. Passionate about changing the ‘unacceptable reality’ of people living without access to electricity and light, he has devoted his career to establishing solar projects, enterprises, and innovation after seeing firsthand the challenges of living without light.

“I was privileged to live in close proximity with the community and within households, and I still ground myself in those early experiences,” says Keane, recalling his time volunteering in a rural village in Tanzania in 2000. “You notice the simple things you’re used to are more difficult. By 6/6.30pm everything ground to a halt; we had kerosene lights and I’d sit and read but it’s not pleasant – kerosene is costly, can be toxic, and only gives a dim light

that can give you headaches and eye strain. I took a small radio with me and a stack of batteries but ran out quickly. Losing the ability to listen really hit home how important a tool radio is across these communities for education, entertainment, and important information to support livelihoods.

“I felt compelled to start looking at simple, easy to access solutions that could make an immediate impact,” Keane notes. “I was convinced there must have been a way to power a light or play a radio with renewable energy that wasn’t dependent on the kind of high-tech or expensive solutions we’re used to in the West – affordability was key. It was just a case of finding a way to deliver a small amount of power that could make a very big difference in someone’s life and then thinking about how to scale from there. That’s still the essence of SolarAid today.”

“This isn’t just about a light bulb in a home or a small-scale solar solution, it’s about trying to act on the inequality in the world and addressing the fact that some people still live in abject poverty”

NELIE BETON, MAYI WALA, MALAWI

DRIVING UNIVERSAL ACCESS

SolarAid was established in 2006 to fight poverty and climate change based on an ambitious vision to create a world where everyone has access to clean, renewable energy. It uses a pioneering trade not aid approach focused on developing sustainable enterprise and scalable programmes to catalyse local markets for safe and clean energy access for rural African communities. Over its history SolarAid has spearheaded the first generation of pico solar lights – small solar lights that have the potential to fast-track access to electricity for millions of people living beyond the reach of on-grid energy markets – distributing more than 2.3 million solar lights over the last decade. It has reached more than 12 million people with clean, safe and renewable light.

TRAVELING TO ST PAULS MULUNGUSHI SCHOOL IN KAPIRI ZAMBIA

While this progress is significant, urgent and game-changing action, innovation, and collaboration is still necessary to ensure that the world achieves the targets set out in Sustainable Development Goal 7: to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030. Between 2010 and 2021, 51 countries achieved universal energy access and global access rose from 84% to 91%. However, global uncertainty and the effects of the COVID pandemic have slowed the pace of energy access in sub-Saharan Africa where SolarAid works, with the poorest and most remote regions being left behind. This impacts areas such as poverty reduction, education levels, gender equality, and socioeconomic development.

Patterns of energy access differ across Africa, but the largest challenges are affordability, accessibility, and securing investment in infrastructure and generation. Malawi, where SolarAid has been building a sustainable solar market since 2006, is rated the fourth lowest country for energy access in the world with only 5% of people in rural areas having access and poverty rates reaching 71%, making affordability a significant barrier to progress. In other vast and sparsely populated countries like Zambia – where Keane joins Citizen Zero from – the availability of solar lights in inaccessible areas poses a challenge as a result of the costs of bringing products and solutions to rural communities and households.

“Real change can’t happen in isolation,” Keane states. “You can’t grow up and be educated in the UK then live in a Tanzanian village and not begin to wonder ‘why is life like this? Why is there such a disparity? Why do such differences exist?’. Really, this isn’t just about a light bulb in a home or a small-scale solar solution, it’s about

ENESS NALIWA, FROM CHIMWEMWE MAYI WALA GROUP IN HER HOME IN NYAMA, MALAWI

“Women play a huge role in the communities, and there’s still a significant gender aspect to energy access that just doesn’t get talked about enough”

trying to act on the inequality in the world and addressing the fact that some people still live in abject poverty. I’m not an economist or in a position to change policy, but at SolarAid we’re very practical people. It means we can work with communities to understand the actual and immediate energy needs, test and trial the appropriate solutions, and get to work.”

To reach universal access by 2030, off-grid renewable energy solutions like those provided by SolarAid will play a critical role. The organisation provides lights ranging from a handheld study light through to a solar system that can light a school classroom or ward in a healthcare clinic. This range began with a simple concept: small solar panels that can fit in the palm of a hand and harness the power of the sun to charge small batteries that are then used to power efficient LED lights. These affordable and small lights are a crucial first step in reaching a cleaner and safer renewable future – SolarAid says this first step has a greater impact than any subsequent step up the energy ladder.

“It doesn’t take long working with a community to understand the immediate needs and how these various solutions can be implemented to make an impact,” Keane explains. “Light is the obvious and most pressing problem for many. I recall walking between villages at night and, if the moon isn’t in the sky, you can see nothing, not even a hand in front of your face. It’s a real demonstration of how much even a small solar light or LED comes into its own.

“But it doesn’t stop with light,” he continues. “Small power for radio is invaluable, particularly where the service is used for educational purposes, to provide agricultural programmes and essential information to communities, or for announcements like drought warnings and climate or temperature warnings. Likewise, mobile phones enable communication, access to market prices and information, and engaging customers if you run a business, and they don’t need much power so are perfect for solar energy. Beyond that, we work with healthcare facilities with appliances that don’t need much power, like small pulse oximeters that were invaluable during COVID or foetal dopplers that allow nurses to monitor a baby’s progress during pregnancy.”

SUSTAINABLE SOLAR ENTERPRISES

SolarAid focuses on building local, sustainable businesses that can be scaled and provide the best opportunity to achieve true universal energy access. Its trade not aid model creates local markets that allow solar lights to reach places and people that traditional markets don’t. To deliver this it established a social enterprise, SunnyMoney, in 2008. This uses an innovative distribution model to sell solar lights in rural offgrid communities, helping to instil trust, create greater demand in new and often unfamiliar

REPAIR TECHNICIAN RODGERS MWAMBA

technologies, and build the foundations for a sustainable solar market in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We really believe in business-based solutions and catalysing markets, it’s not just dropping a solar light into a community,” Keane explains.

“Developing the infrastructure and sustainable access to products that are affordable and good quality is where we make the difference. Take one light as an example – when it breaks, it’s finished and the access to everything light brings is over. If you have an ecosystem of entrepreneurs who sell the lights and have the knowledge, tools, and skills to repair and update, then suddenly you have a local market where those lights can shine for years.

“We’re proud of how we’ve enabled that through SunnyMoney and been part of the solar revolution on this continent; we’ve created the technology, grown the awareness and demand, and satisfied it with a local market. As a result, more people are using solar energy and solar lights in Africa than ever before. That’s rightly a cause for celebration. But I’m always drawn back to our overarching ambition of creating a world where everyone has access to clean and renewable energy by 2030 and there are still virtually no examples of that in sub-Saharan Africa. There are still people who struggle to afford even a basic solar light that may cost five dollars, so the urgent challenge is to now reach the toughest market segments, overcoming the barriers of poverty

“We believe in business-based solutions and catalysing markets, it’s not just dropping a solar light into a community”

FABRIOLA DAVIDSON, LIGHT LIBRARIES, MALAWI

“If you have an ecosystem of entrepreneurs who sell the lights and have the knowledge, tools, and skills to repair and update, then suddenly you have a local market where those lights can shine for years”

and deprivation to deliver clear, affordable, sustainable energy into communities considered low margin, high risk, and beyond reach.”

Product and process innovation is key to this, says Keane, pointing to increased focus on innovative new programmes, initiatives, and models designed to reach these communities and facilitate replication and scale across new geographies. “When you’re developing a marketplace and asking people in poverty or on very low incomes to make an investment decision it’s a difficult prospect, even if it can change their life,” he adds. “We see this as the gap between what the market can do and what it can’t, and we’re trying to develop game changing innovations and new business models that can reach this segment of the population.”

An example of this approach are SolarAid’s Light Libraries, which help low income students access solar lighting. Light Libraries make solar lights available through rural schools, where students can rent them for less than a penny or choose rent-to-buy options. Each school is equipped with lights that can be borrowed and a solar home system that lights classrooms and enables a higher standard of education.

Students take lights home to study, read, and socialise, while their families also benefit from having light in the household. Over time, the solar lights help households save money – renting is cheaper than buying a candle, for example – while also generating revenue for local schools and boosting education budgets. Each Light Library is linked with a locally recruited solar entrepreneur who can offer lights for sale in the community.

“We’ve also introduced our Light A Village project, which is an energy-as-a-service model where customers pay the utility provider for the electricity they use,” adds Keane. “Instead of asking someone to pay for a solar system that will light the home, play a radio, or charge mobile phones, we install it for free and then train local customer service representatives to install and repair, creating long-term and sustainable income. You’re taking away the risk of investment for people and creating the infrastructure to enable 100% of the community to have access to basic solar light and power. From there you can scale and consider other energy needs like installing in schools and health facilities, or to support farmers with things like irrigation, or cooling and storage systems that boost production, livelihoods and incomes and, ultimately, the economy to fight poverty.”

KENEDY BULEYA, TAMBALASAJIWA VILLAGE, MALAWI

ELECTRICITY CHANGING LIVES

In many rural communities, women and young girls are adversely affected by lack of access to electricity. Conversely, because they are the primary users of household energy and trusted members of social networks and community groups, SolarAid has found that women are often the best placed to bring renewable energy to remote areas despite persistent barriers to running businesses and engaging in entrepreneurship.

SolarAid runs the Mayi Wala programme, which supports women solar entrepreneurs in reaching last mile communities and provides access to group-based training, finance, and business support. The organisation trains the Mayi Wala, which translates to ‘Shining Mothers’ in Malawi’s national language, in financial management, marketing, and the benefits of solar products, and helps to boost their businesses in the local community. It provides them with solar lights on interest-free loans to enable them to scale. To date, there are 147 active Mayi Wala groups across Malawi, which have sold 9,179 solar lights resulting in over 45,000 people accessing clean and affordable energy.

“Women play a huge role in the communities, and there’s still a significant gender aspect to energy access that just doesn’t get talked about enough,” Keane explains. “The Mayi Wala are women working together in cooperatives, which makes it easier for them to develop and grow and for us to engage and train them. It’s an incredible project. They support and help each other, work through their training and access finance together, and then go on to kickstart solar businesses that support and serve the community. I met a wonderful woman in Malawi, a grandmother in her 60s. She showed me her solar light and her phone charger, telling me that Malawi was moving

forward and that she used her solar products to light her home, play the radio and power a sewing machine so she could generate income. Those simple stories are always so inspiring.”

SolarAid will continue to focus on innovation, with the emphasis on scaling and growing new programmes like Light a Village, says Keane: “It’s really driving us, and the exciting prospect is that you can potentially install hundreds of these small solar systems a week and deliver community training so everyone knows just what’s at their fingertips. The idealist in me still believes we can achieve universal access, at least for solar home systems, across the continent by 2030 but it will take a lot of hard work. Nations, governments, and organisations are all looking for solutions, but there’s still a lack of knowledge of how to deliver – that’s where SolarAid is so important in showing practical solutions and engaging with partners to develop ways in which we can scale.”

THAUZENI CHIBWEZA, MALAWI

SAIDI SANDUKA

“More people are using solar energy and solar lights in Africa than ever before”

To do so, says Keane, will require securing private investment for growth, the development of possible subsidy models designed to overcome financial barriers to access, and the continued growth of solar markets and technologies. To this end, all of SolarAid’s programmes are opensourced to encourage replication and the development of collaborative partnerships. The organisation also actively shares results, knowhow, and lessons learned to facilitate wider adoption of successful approaches and fast-track universal energy access across the continent.

For Keane and SolarAid, every small win on that journey represents a crucial step closer to universal access and a chance for people and families to live in a better way. “I see so many incredible things happening,” he recounts.

“One I always remember is being hosted by a family in Western Kenya who had a small solar system lighting the home. There wasn’t work, or farming, or anything like that. It was just an evening meal, the radio playing, and a family around the table eating and laughing together. All of that was happening because of access to electricity. It was a wonderful moment and I felt privileged to be with a group of people simply having a good time together – you multiply that by 150 million and that’s really the kind of impact and joy that we all want to see.”

solar-aid.org

KEEPS HIS SHOP OPEN WITH THE HELP OF SOLAR LIGHTS, MALAWI

THE FUTURE IS BLUE

Cleaning the oceans, diversifying conservation, and leaving fast fashion behind: Chris Desai’s journey from Leicester to the Earthshot Prize

It was a restaurant car park,” recalls Chris Desai. “A family threw their rubbish out of their car next to us and I remember my mum picking up every single piece, knocking on their window, and throwing it back in all over the driver. I was pretty young, but what came next has always stuck with me. She told them ‘take your rubbish home with you, this is our planet, my home, and my children’s home’. It’s pretty powerful seeing someone being an activist like that when you’re a kid. I guess you’d call it positive reinforcement.”

It’s often the smallest actions that define our lives. Desai’s journey is no different, except for the fact you can add several more defining moments like this one to the list. Like experiencing what it meant to be the son of a refugee in 1980s England. Like working in fast fashion only to realise the terrible impact it has on the environment. Like recognising the distinct lack of working class or Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) charity participants when wanting to donate his own company’s money. Or, how a lifelong love of water ended up being the catalyst that spurred him to rid our oceans of plastic. Turns out, it’s a winning combination.

UOCEAN, a grassroots solution for saving the oceans from plastic by 2050, and The Vayyu Foundation are the sum of these influences. The latter was set up by Desai in late 2018 after a decade’s stint as Creative Director at a leading fashion brand – years of travelling for work, meeting suppliers worldwide, and seeing firsthand the impact the industry has on the planet and the

millions of marginalised people working to support it, backing Desai into an almost inevitable epiphany. A little over five years later, he heads up two global conservation projects (UEARTH sits alongside UOCEAN), one the UK’s most respected BAME-led charities, promotes and encourages inclusivity in environmental conservation, and runs an organic, sustainable fashion brand.

“I’m a third generation sailor,” says Desai of his enduring love affair with the ocean. “I’ve sailed since I was young and have always been out on the water whenever I could. I feel at home there, it’s a spiritual place and somewhere I always find peace. When fashion and the lifestyle that went with it became too much, it was the obvious way to take some time out; I basically left the world behind to learn how to sail professionally.”

“I’M A THIRD GENERATION SAILOR. I FEEL AT HOME ON THE WATER, IT’S A SPIRITUAL PLACE AND SOMEWHERE I ALWAYS FIND PEACE”

TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY

Desai spent 10 years in fast fashion, seeing enough to make him want to make meaningful change both personally and for the planet.

“I travelled, I’d visit sites around the world and saw things I’ll not forget: rivers dyed different colours from runoff from factories, terrible working conditions, people who were already marginalised or suffering being taken advantage of for cheap labour – just the degradation of our planet. It spurred me on to working with BAME communities, too.

I saw how the industry works, how privileged the store groups and buyers are but how disproportionately they affected people of colour around the world. The East creates the products for Western consumers and is basically left with the pollution and fallout from how people are working. I had to get off and get back to who I really was”

“I’D LOST WHO I WAS. IF YOU LOVE THE PLANET BUT YOUR JOB AND CAREER DON’T ALIGN WITH THOSE INNER BELIEFS, YOU CAN’T HELP FEELING A HYPOCRITE AND WONDER WHY YOU’RE DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING”

Sailing lessons turned into a six-month journey of discovery around the world, where Desai ditched the phone and laptop, instead focusing on authenticity and purpose. “I’d lost who I was,” he reflects. “I’d been working relentlessly and lost sight of the impact I was having – if you love the planet but your job and career don’t align with those inner beliefs, you can’t help feeling a hypocrite and wonder why you’re doing what you’re doing. I distinctly remember a moment that changed me: I was meditating, the sun was shining over the ocean, and I could see dolphins swimming. I just felt deeply connected to the planet and to the water, and a real responsibility to stop what I was doing and take action.”

Initially setting out to change the fashion industry, Desai founded Vayyu, an organic and sustainable luxury fashion brand that offers a viable and impactful alternative to the unsustainable fast fashion model. Vayyu has a transparent supply chain using green and ethical Fair Wear Foundation-accredited factories that ensure responsible labour

standards and decently paid employment. Its clothes use sustainable fabrics like organic seaweed, bamboo, linen, and cotton, and pure cashmere and ethical wool, while factories use closed-loop water systems to minimise environmental impact.

Despite the brand’s success, Desai couldn’t settle, feeling he still had more to give. The spark came after recognising a distinct lack of diversity in the charities he was looking to donate to. “I went to six UK charities wanting to give money towards action around clearing oceans or coastlines, and it just struck me,” he explains. “It wasn’t just about race, but social class too – I’m from a working class multicultural family and never really met anyone like me during the conversations I was having. On top of that, I just found it frustrating: when I asked them what action they took, how much plastic they cleaned, or their results the answer always seemed to revolve around ‘doing more research’. If the house is on fire, you don’t stand around analysing how hot it is.”

DIVERSIFYING CONSERVATION

“IF THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, YOU DON’T STAND AROUND ANALYSING HOW HOT IT IS”

Desai started his own charity, The Vayyu Foundation, to have a significant environmental impact while promoting and encouraging inclusivity in environmental conservation with ethnic, isolated, and marginalised communities. As the son of an Indian immigrant father who escaped Uganda after being politically ostracised and a Scottish mother with German heritage, it’s a subject close to his heart. “We grew up in Leicester in the UK in the 1980s, and it was a pretty hostile environment at that time with racism and discrimination commonplace,”

he remembers. “I’ve experienced it firsthand, as did my parents when they were raising me and my brother. A lot of the time, it was just about survival.

“You recognise how strong many of those communities are, but how constant stigmatisation just removes opportunities and creates a lot of self-imposed barriers,” adds Desai. “We’re trying to break those down with the foundation and open up conversations about the environment and conservation in the communities we work with. The goal really was to make

something for everyone regardless of age, colour of your skin, religion, gender, or orientation. It’s about a singular movement united by our shared desire for a healthy planet, conservation has to be something that brings us all together.”

The Vayyu Foundation connects isolated and marginalised communities to raise awareness of conservation, and encourage action on blue and green environmental issues such as river and ocean plastic, coral reefs, marine life, mangroves, tree reforestation, green skills, and food growing. Practical action is mobilised through two global environmental projects: UEARTH 2050 focuses on UK reforestation and community green spaces, while UOCEAN 2050 works with local communities in the UK and internationally to combat canal, river, and ocean plastics and restore marine ecosystems.

“UNTIL WE HAVE SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN FOOTPRINT AND THEIR OWN POLLUTION, I WON’T FEEL SETTLED”

CHRIS DESAI

TACKLING THE PLASTIC PROBLEM

Desai began UOCEAN in early 2020. The initiative distils his influences and experiences, focusing on community and tackling ocean and river waste, but also breaking down the stigma sometimes attached to things like collecting litter and community action. “It’s funny,” he says, “we have this view of certain jobs or activities like cleaning or waste collection, and look down on the people doing it. I wanted to flip that on its head, make conservation cool or trendy irrespective of who you are and where you’re doing it.”

He set up the first litter pick in early 2020 during the COVID 19 lockdowns in the UK, knowing people would want to get out of the house, meet, or exercise. “I just thought I’d try and give them a better reason,” he says. “I set a challenge on social media: ‘if you want to clean up a local river, canal, or beach then get out there, pick up the plastic, and we’ll rebrand it by giving you litter pickers and blue vests’. It was basically a case of who can collect the most plastic waste towards our overarching goal that still exists of removing one billion kilos – in 2020 that figure represented just 1% of the world’s oceans and river plastics.

“IT’S ABOUT A SINGULAR MOVEMENT UNITED BY OUR SHARED DESIRE FOR A HEALTHY PLANET, CONSERVATION HAS TO BE SOMETHING

THAT BRINGS US ALL TOGETHER”

“I’ll tell you a story about breaking down stigma,” he continues. “I went out myself in a case of ‘be the change you seek’, but as soon as I started picking litter I felt embarrassed. I still don’t really know why. It was a feeling that only lasted for a short while but, as I was busy an older lady who I’d noticed

watching me approached and said ‘don’t worry, your community service will be over soon, keep going’. It was the biggest blow I’d ever had. On top of feeling a certain way about what I’d been doing, I’d also been judged. After a fair bit of soul searching I realised it was affirming more than anything – removing plastic is something we should all be proud about, not ashamed of, and doing something good for the planet shouldn’t be a punishment.”

Plastic waste makes up 80% of all marine pollution with most of this entering the oceans via rivers and coastlines. There are an estimated 75 to 199 million tons of plastic waste in our oceans, with 33 billion pounds entering the marine environment every year. Almost 1,000 species of marine animals are impacted by ocean pollution and over 500 locations worldwide are recorded as dead zones where marine life cannot exist. Without action it is projected that, by 2050, plastic will likely outweigh all fish in the sea.

“CHAPTERS TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEIR LOCAL WATER BODY AND ALL THE ACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH IT, WHETHER IT’S CLEARING UP PLASTIC, CREATING MEDIA, ADVOCACY, OR PETITIONING THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT”

KEEP PUSHING, KEEP BELIEVING

UOCEAN, which has grown to an ecosystem of 33 chapters globally across Europe, the US, India, Africa, and Asia, has several approaches to tackle the problem. Chapter members remove plastic pollution from rivers and waterways by hand, boat, and kayak, and engage in educational projects and collaborations to foster environmental stewardship. “Chapters take ownership of their local water body and all the actions associated with it, whether it’s clearing up plastic, creating media, advocacy, or petitioning the local government,” Desai explains. “We don’t guide what they do.

Instead, it has to be authentic and based entirely around the needs of the area and the local communities.

“In Leicester, for example, we have a lot of river plastics but there’s an educational piece to that, too,” he continues. “There is a big Asian community around the river, for which it’s traditional to put the ashes of loved ones into the water when they die. Unfortunately that means a lot of plastic statues and religious items also end up in the river, so we focus on improving understanding of what can and can’t be used. There’s also a lot of plastic from students in the universities, so we often work with those institutions to find ways to educate and prevent the waste from entering the river at all.

Elsewhere in the UK, reports Desai, UOCEAN’s Weymouth chapter is dedicated to removing microplastics from the local waterways, in Kent the team focuses on education and water pollution, and London’s chapter is currently working on upskilling people to be involved – this includes padi or scuba dive courses for underprivileged communities, and training on paddle boarding and boats.

Beyond picking litter by hand UOCEAN embraces new and innovative technologies and solutions in the fight against plastic. This includes autonomous machinery like river robots, deploying river and sea drones to monitor river and ocean health and gather data, and deploying plastic barriers in rivers and entries to the sea. The barriers, which are open source, low cost, and locally made, run across the breadth of a river and reach around 30 cm under the water to allow fish

to pass under. Desai is close to launching a river barrier in Leicester, with UOCEAN intending to implement 155 in the UK and more than 1,000 globally.

“It’ll be the first of its kind,” he says of the plastic prevention solution in his hometown. “They’re a more efficient way to collect plastic pollution but symbolically I see them as an imaginary line in the sand, a way for the community to say enough is enough, we’re not sitting by and letting it happen without taking action. It’s so important to do this in cities and with people who, often, never had anything to do with conservation because it was often focused on coastal areas. It’s been shown that 80% of ocean plastics actually come from cities, so if we can stop pollution happening at its source and make sure it never enters the ocean we’re not just protecting the UK, but the whole world.”

“THE GOAL REALLY WAS TO MAKE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF AGE, COLOUR OF YOUR SKIN, RELIGION, GENDER, OR ORIENTATION”

Desai and UOCEAN have a long way to go before that goal is met. But, you sense, he wouldn’t want it any other way. With a focus on rolling out more plastic prevention barriers, new workstreams like plastic offsetting projects and replanting mangrove forests, and building more chapters worldwide, that one billion kilos target suddenly doesn’t look out of reach.

“I’m proud of what our volunteers and team leaders have achieved around the world,” Desai reflects. “I’m not necessarily proud of myself, I never want to start thinking like that – it’s a dangerous place and the last thing we need is complacency. I’m a very small part of the UOCEAN web, and the mindset and desire in the organisation is what continues to drive us forwards. But we can’t stop. Until we have seven billion people on this planet taking responsibility for their own footprint and their own pollution, I won’t feel settled. For that we have to keep pushing and keep believing.”

uocean.org

LOOK GOOD. DO GOOD.

Responsible fashion doesn’t stop with clothes. Just ask In Our Name and the countless artisans and entrepreneurs it has helped empower

Fashion has to change. Absolutely. But, in doing so, it should go further than just cleaning up its act. It should empower, encourage, uplift and protect, and lead a movement that delivers broader impact. That’s the premise behind In Our Name, a conscious, responsible, and socially impactful clothing and accessories brand that supports artisans and microenterprises in Africa through sustainable economic partnerships.

In Our Name was founded in 2021 by Liza Njoki Colbeck to reshape perceptions of African-made products and empower small producers in Colbeck’s native Kenya – the company’s moniker is inspired

by the rich sociocultural meaning of African names and the unique stories and meaning they hold. Motivated by a rich heritage of culture, arts, and creativity, In Our Name supports the many artisans and small producers who make up the vast informal sector in Africa which consists of small workshops, and home and community workshops.

The informal sector is the backbone of many African economies, responsible for more than 81% of jobs. However, it’s typified by poor working conditions and irregular and low incomes. In Our Name’s 100% Initiative supports artisans

“THERE IS A RICHNESS, BEAUTY, AND COMPLEXITY IN AFRICAN CULTURE, LANGUAGE, DANCE, AND NAMING TRADITIONS, AND THE ARTS WHICH ARE OFTEN IGNORED AND GLOSSED OVER”

in the informal sector, focusing on developing a product-to-market ecosystem, providing training and mentorship, as well as financial support to help them develop regular and stable incomes.

Alongside this initiative, In Our Name supports underserved women and girls in Kenya by repurposing waste fabric into washable sanitary pads, promotes traceability, responsible sourcing, and circular practices to minimise impact on the environment, nurtures inclusive action in communities, and supports Kenyan reforestation efforts.

in-our-name.com

A lifetime of change

We speak to Scott Poynton about meaningful change, protecting people, nature, and planet, and why we should put the soul back into business decision making

You may not know Richard St. Barbe Baker. You should, of course. Like Scott Poynton does. The pioneering botanist, forester, and founder of the ‘Men of the Trees’ conservation and protection group, has an enduring legacy. He’s also the reason we’re here talking to Poynton. For while the Australian impact entrepreneur has spent the last 25 years inspiring strong, credible sustainable and regenerative action around the world, it was listening to Baker as a boy that set him on course to leading real and impactful change in the way businesses affect the planet.

It was lucky that the young Poynton heard Baker at all. Growing up in rural Australia on the outskirts of Melbourne, he quickly fell in love with nature, spending long days outside exploring, learning the value of self-reliance and solitude, and nurturing a strong connection with the surrounding flora and fauna. Poynton was set on becoming a vet – his first business venture of selling tadpoles to the local pet shop aside. Until, on a rare Sunday afternoon indoors he heard Baker over the radio telling stories of travelling the world, inspiring people to understand nature, and working to protect and plant trees.

“Two minutes into a 30-minute broadcast, that was it. I’d decided: I’m going to be a forester,” he recalls. “It resolutely set my path in that direction, despite not even really knowing what the job was. I was very lucky, I don’t think young people necessarily have that kind of direction until later but, for me, whatever fork I came to in the road from that point on it was always about which decision would get me closer to being a forester. The whole journey just unfolded from listening to the radio.”

Poynton studied forestry at Canberra’s Australian National University. Here, he had the opportunity to fulfil a lifelong wanderlust, spending three months in the Middle Hills of Nepal living and working with families, studying trees, forests, people, and nature. “It was a great test,” he says of the experience. “I’d always had this hankering to go overseas, and it was a chance to find out how I could cope. I got sick, it was hard work, but I loved every minute of it and knew that my life choice had been right.”

SCOTT WITH FINN

After studying, Poynton worked as a forester in the small, isolated town of Fingal in Tasmania where he was surrounded by mountains and worked on natural and plantation forest management projects. Following a brief interlude to complete a Masters at Oxford University before returning to forestry in Tasmania, Poynton fell into consulting work and a visit to Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. “I was a project manager for two years working on reforestation,” he explains. “We were researching and implementing the best ways in which we could restore forests and land that had been cleared after the Vietnam war. It was a fascinating experience and by that point I was hooked on travel, seeing the world, and working overseas.”

Poynton continued to travel, his time in consulting seeing him visiting more countries, engaging with the natural world and the people he encountered, and working with businesses seeking direction and guidance on their own impact journeys. “I really enjoyed, and was most effective, working with organisations that were having problems or needed help. I was able to go into those situations with pretty big companies and help them navigate paths that were good for their own business, but also for people and the planet.

“I’ve always had this deep-rooted passion for change and taking positive action – just feeling that when something’s not working, let’s figure it out, understand that we can do better, and get it fixed,” says Poynton, reflecting on his work. “Since I was young I’ve believed in the importance of living according to our fundamental values, connecting with and listening to our inner voices, and how that can lead us on the path to making true change. I have a desire to look at conflict or problems and say it doesn’t have to be like this, things can be solved if we talk, if we understand

what others are going through and find a way to cooperate to deliver better outcomes.”

CONNECT, COOPERATE, CHANGE

This approach has underpinned much of Poynton’s subsequent work, spending a large part of his career at the intersection of companies and NGOs, navigating complex conflicts focused on environmental impact and leading to profound and unprecedented breakthroughs. It kickstarted in the late 1990s where, after moving to the UK, a European-wide NGO campaign against garden furniture made in Vietnam from wood harvested illegally in Cambodia led him to found the non-profit Tropical Forest Trust (TFT). The campaign was tough on furniture providers, driving them to act, work on engaging NGOs, and make changes to their business models. Poynton’s work in Vietnam meant many companies turned to him for help.

AT TRANSFORMING CONSERVATION EVENT

The Tropical Forest Trust, which later became The Forest Trust, started by assisting those trading tropical wood products to link their supply chains to well managed forests and help forest managers achieve FSC certification. It worked with factories and buyers to monitor wood sources and supply chains, verified raw materials were legal and from well managed forests, and established environmental credibility for timber product traders. Today, as Earthworm, it works with businesses to co-create solutions with companies, farmers, NGOs and governments to serve people and regenerate nature.

For Poynton, the focus was on mediating between conflicting parties, building on his natural passion for collaborative problem solving and delivering through connection, cooperation, and change. “Bad things happen when people fight,” he says. “They get hurt and there’s collateral damage, most

often to those around them but also to nature. That makes the chance for things to get better so much harder – I saw it when I was in Tasmania and NGOs were fighting with the Forestry Commission, as they battled things just continued to get worse. I fundamentally believe that we can only solve the world’s problems if we cooperate, sit down and treat each other as people, and work together on the best possible outcome.

“We had seven founding members in the TFT and initially it was about making them understand they couldn’t just pin the problem on their suppliers,” says Poynton. “My response to that argument was ‘you’re selling the products, so you’re profiting from forest destruction, human rights abuses, or the possible destruction and extinction of species like the Sumatran Tiger or Orangutans. You have to be part of solving the problem’. The absolute breakthrough we pioneered off the back of that was the concept of responsible sourcing. It’s commonplace now, but at the time it was a real change in terms of businesses taking responsibility for their supply chains.”

“Two minutes into a 30-minute broadcast, that was it. I’d decided: I’m going to be a forester”

Response to the scale of the challenge varied between businesses, says Poynton. Some, shocked by the impact they were having, went all in on working towards finding solutions driven by a passion to change and a visceral dedication to not being associated with the kinds of impact TFT was setting out during discussions. Others understood the brand implications illegal trading would have on their business and used it as impetus, while some, for their own reasons, didn’t fit with TFT’s values and mission.

The path to that level of change isn’t always easy. Poynton ardently believes it’s built on a deep connection to our inner voice, an understanding and connection with our emotions, and an openness

that starts with the individual. This philosophy has helped him mediate business and NGO conflict, and seen leaders make profound decisions that have transformed entire industries and saved millions of hectares of forest. Before that point, says Poynton, there’s the small matter of ‘two parties thrashing at each other and basically only communicating through press releases’.

“The essence of my experience is that before businesses can find their way to cooperation, they had to reach a place where they felt absolutely lost,” Poynton says. “You’d work through phases of anger, indignation, despair and negotiation, and eventually you reach the point where you just have nowhere to go and don’t know what to do – that’s

IN TAMALE WAREHOUSE

“I’ve always had this deep-rooted passion for change and taking positive action”

when you can move forward. Change happens deep in the hidden recesses of the human heart, and the path to cooperation only opens up when leaders stopped trying to use their head to find a clever way out of the mess they’re in and instead listen to their inner wisdom and guidance: ‘do we really want to be linked to deforestation, or to human rights abuses and the death of animals?’. The answer’s no. We didn’t really change people. Most people are fundamentally good. We just helped them connect to their true journey and, for most of us, that’s not to go out into the world and cause destruction.”

PIONEERING REGENERATIVE ACTION

After 17 years Poynton stepped aside from TFT , leaving a legacy of work in more than 60 countries and the establishment of forest conservation and social livelihood programmes with thousands of companies and NGOs worldwide.

During this time he achieved several notable successes including supporting ScanCom International and Global Witness to lead the transformation of the wooden garden furniture sector, CIB and Greenpeace to secure the first FSC certified Congo Basin forest, Nestlé and Greenpeace to announce the world’s first ever No Deforestation commitment, and Golden Agri Resources and Greenpeace to announce the first palm oil industry No Deforestation policy. He also supported Perhum Perhutani, the Indonesian State-owned teak corporation to remove 4,000 weapons from their forest protection programme and instead partner with communities, Asia Pulp and Paper and Greenpeace to announce a No Deforestation policy that saw bulldozers removed from two million hectares of forest, and Wilmar International and Climate Advisers to announce the world’s first No Deforestation commitment by a major trader.

“We can only solve the world’s problems if we cooperate, sit down together and treat each other as people, and work collaboratively on the best possible outcome”

Rather than dwell on celebrating these successes, Poynton saw them as the foundation on which to keep building. “Things have definitely changed, but we’re not quite in a brave new world just yet,” he explains. “There are certainly more companies worldwide aware of their impact on the planet and which have a strong sense of not wanting to be engaged with anything that can be damaging. That’s a real positive. But there’s still a larger group carrying on regardless, and many that don’t necessarily deeply live the change but are taking action, if only to show they have the right policies in place or to be able to compile their latest report or marketing collateral. We’ve got a long way to go and there’s no longer any excuse for doing nothing. No matter the context, business can do far more than a net zero claim or an ESG policy on a website.”

In early 2021 Poynton launched Pond Foundation, an impact enterprise that supports member businesses to pioneer strong, credible, and regenerative action through five key initiatives

covering climate action, regenerative supply chains, community wellbeing, transparent claim verification, and forest protection. In the spirit of Poynton’s previous work Pond Foundation is action-oriented, uncompromising in its approach, and built on a belief in verification and ‘walking the walk’ rather than mere certification.

“We’d done great work with TFT but all I could see were claims coming out from businesses, particularly around climate change, and it just felt like greenwashing instead of action,” says Poynton. “I remember reading a report about the no deforestation work we’d supported that showed there were six million hectares of stranded forest assets in concessions in Indonesia that wouldn’t be felled because of our work. I realised that while they’re being protected from bulldozers, they weren’t being protected from climate change so, if I were really going to save those forests and live up to the inspiration I heard on the radio all those years ago, I had to tackle the impacts of climate change by working with organisations on regenerative action.”

AGENTS OF CHANGE

“Before businesses can find their way to cooperation, they had to reach a place where they felt absolutely lost”

Poynton launched My Carbon Zero as the organisation’s founding initiative built on the premise that going carbon zero means taking responsibility for all of the carbon a business or an individual has emitted as scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. It offers ISO 14064-guided greenhouse gas reporting services that extend to the inception of a business, as well as guidance on reducing emissions and connections to credible carbon removal project partners.

“I got tired of companies putting out reports on their emissions from the previous year, and listing how they were going to offset them,” he states.

“That’s great, but what about the year before that,

and the year before that? And what if your business has been operating for 50 years? All of those cumulative emissions are in the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. My Carbon Zero is about working with businesses that are prepared to look at their entire lifetime carbon footprint and start tackling it. If you can’t do it all, that’s fine, even taking 10% out of the atmosphere is probably more action than everyone else in the world. Then we’ll work to push that up to 15% and invest in credible projects that help heal communities, nature, and the planet.”

Since then, the foundation has launched other initiatives including Regen 21, which supports members to develop regenerative supply chains and is currently working in partnership with food company WhatIF Foods to build a regenerative agricultural supply chain with partners and

organisations and farmers in Ghana to supply Bambara groundnuts. Hilary’s Kids helps organisations engage in regenerative community work, particularly around supporting children and education, while Forest Love sees Poynton head back to his roots and focus on protecting forests.

“There’s so many forests just hanging in there around the world,” he says of the latter. “We’re working with Chloris Geospatial, a tech company that’s developed a platform for measuring forest carbon stock, gains, and losses for any landscape, anywhere in the world. It means we can measure how many tons of carbon a forest sequesters or adds to the atmosphere over a given time all the way back to the year 2000. If the forest is a carbon sink we sell the carbon to My Carbon Zero members, with the funds supporting local community development programmes.”

WITH KRISHAN RAO

TREE PLANTING IN IVORY COAST

Then there’s Earthtrust which, says Poytnon, “comes from my displeasure and dislike of certification schemes. I believe there’s more that can be done than paying auditors to tell us we’re doing a good job. It has ended being a race to the bottom that’s about cost more than anything else. Earthtrust is about credible and radical transparent verification.

“It’s a digital solution designed to verify company claims and bring unprecedented levels of transparency and verification directly to customers,” he adds. “In essence, it’s a case of getting brands to share the data with us – if they say they’re being regenerative then you should be able to see soil improvements, better livelihoods for farmers, and measurable impact. We take that data and democratise it by hosting it on a website. It’s in the early stages and we’re working with several companies but, understandably, there’s a nervousness about the level of transparency we’re putting out there. I’ve spent my life helping companies on these journeys and it’s tough venturing into the brave new world of no deforestation or human rights protection, but they must do it. And I can tell you, once they cross into that place, they find their businesses flourish, they’re doing better for the world, and people want to engage with them.”

It’s a long time since Poynton chanced upon Baker’s inspirational words on the radio but, you sense, the spirit, ambition, and passion for change remains undimmed. “People tell me I’m doing too much, well hell, there’s a lot of problems affecting things on a huge scale and my attitude is ‘let’s have a go, work with as many people as we can, and try and make a difference’. All of the things we’re working on are linked, they’re not so much pillars as intertwined and

“The absolute breakthrough we pioneered was the concept of responsible sourcing”

interconnected braids that we need to bring everything to, from the intellectual and practical skills through to the emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental ability to take action.

“Humans only change when they’re uncomfortable, so we need to be agents of change that can drive businesses and leaders on these journeys,” he adds. “When people get out of their heads and into their guts and soul, it’s the best journey they’ll ever travel in their life. It’s about finding that balance between the intellectual or practical that makes money, and the emotional and the spiritual that tells them how they’re making money isn’t right and needs to change. If they can get that thing braided together in a way that they live a consistent life with who they are as people, then collectively we can move mountains very quickly. That’s the magic, and I wish it upon every leader in the world.”

scottpoynton.me

Crafting bespoke travel experiences

We’ve been taking families, small groups, and individuals on bespoke journeys and experiences for 20 years. We specialise in tailor-made holidays and travel that focuses on conservation, not destruction, and memorable experiences that impact the world in a positive way. We pride ourselves on our expertise and service, and work with you to design unique travel experiences. As a certified B Corp™ business, we provide conscious travel that inspires and educates, while making a difference to the environment and local communities. Join us to make your travel matter.

THE ART OF EVERYWHERE

VANK’S SUSTAINABLE

FURNITURE

AND INTERIORS FUSE AN EYE FOR STUNNING AND INTELLIGENT DESIGN WITH A DEEP EMPATHY FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET. NATALIA SOCHACKA TELLS US MORE

VANK does things differently. As Citizen Zero discovered when we met Growth Marketing Manager Natalia Sochacka. Taking five minutes after a busy Milan Design Week, where the Polish design firm exhibited its innovative and sustainable circular furniture solutions, Sochacka discussed the company’s sustainable manifesto and how it uses natural products to transform interior spaces.

VANK designs interiors and furniture using biocomposites made from things like hemp and flax, and incorporating recycled industrial materials. As Sochacka told us, it’s a design process underpinned by a desire to make intelligent products imbued with a deep respect for nature and the planet.

Where does VANK’s sustainable ethos come from, and what are the core principles?

We have a manifesto that responds to three trends: conscious consumption (particularly among the newer generations), the Symbiocene, and wellbeing.

The generations entering today’s labour market value freedom, and independence and strong personal values play a large role in their decision-making processes. Many in Gen Z believe it’s important that the mission or vision of their organisation aligns with their own values because they want to have real impact in what they do. Research also shows that a quarter of students want to know if their potential employer has a plan to reduce their CO2 emissions. It’s why our work has to meet expectations of office users and customers wanting to lower the environmental impact of their businesses.

The Symbiocene megatrend is a shift from an anthropocentric (human-centred) approach to one focused on the entire ecosystem; a world where we care for nature as much as nature nurtures us. It’s a philosophical concept proposed by Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht. Humans have caused significant harm to the Earth’s geology, climate, biodiversity, and ecosystems in the Anthropocene era; Albrecht suggests it is characterised by destructive and unsustainable practices that have led to ecological degradation and various crises.

VANK’s goal is to shape a new mindset towards a sustainable human-nature relationship, in which nature is no longer treated as a resource, but as an equal part

of the whole system. This Symbiocene mindset opens up new perspectives for a livable future.

In interior design, the trend for wellbeing is focused on self-care and is also turning to slow design (a movement in which interiors, including everything from architecture to kitchen items, are made thoughtfully and responsibly) and circular design principles.

How do these trends influence the way VANK thinks, designs, and creates?

We’ve proved that smart and durable plantbased materials are a suitable substitute for conventional raw materials in the manufacture of wall panels, movable partitions, and cubicles for work or meetings.

“VANK’S GOAL IS TO SHAPE A NEW MINDSET TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE HUMAN-NATURE RELATIONSHIP, IN WHICH NATURE IS NO LONGER TREATED AS A RESOURCE, BUT AS AN EQUAL PART OF THE WHOLE SYSTEM”

In 2021 we set out to redesign our acoustic panel by applying circular design principles. At that time, it was manufactured from polyurethane foam which, due to its petroleum-based origin and inability to biodegrade or recycle, poses significant problems to the furniture industry. The new component had to be more sustainable without sacrificing functionality or contouring capabilities.

Since 2022 we’ve been using renewable fibre crops like flax and hemp to make a biocomposite, VANK_BIO. Biocomposites combine plant-based fibres with a polymer and bring clear environmental advantages – VANK panels contribute to the development of a circular economy and have a negative carbon footprint, for example. After use, VANK_BIO panels can be disposed of as part of a composting process.

VANK_DRONN

VANK ELLIPSE

“THE COMPANY’S BOARD IS 100% FEMALE, AND MOST OF OUR MANAGERS ARE WOMEN”

VANK’s technology produced shapes designed to guarantee soundproofing. Soon it became clear that we could give the panels an infinite number of shapes. By steering clear of primary petrochemicals and using renewable raw materials instead, we reduce CO2 emissions. Flax and hemp also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and contribute to the climatic stability of the planet.

Our green transformation was recognised by the German Sustainability Award, and in 2022 we won the Green Product Award and Iconic Design Awards, the competition of the German Design Council.

How is VANK accelerating circular economy principles, and why does creating with mobility and flexibility help?

We believe in a circular economy model that limits consumption of natural resources, reduces the amount of waste generated, and increases the use of biodegradable, renewable, and recyclable materials. We also create with mobility, configurability, and flexibility of furniture in mind.

Furnishing a space in an agile way became important during the COVID pandemic and it has remained a mainstay of the hybrid work model. The VANK_CUBE system, a modular cube system made of flax and hemp biomaterial, offers the opportunity to easily arrange offices and co-working spaces exactly as the organisation and its workers need. This is particularly important when the size of the leased space, the number of employees and clients, the functions of individual rooms, and the general arrangement of the office changes frequently.

“WE BELIEVE IN A CIRCULAR ECONOMY MODEL THAT LIMITS CONSUMPTION OF NATURAL RESOURCES, REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF WASTE GENERATED, AND INCREASES

THE USE OF BIODEGRADABLE, RENEWABLE, AND RECYCLABLE MATERIALS”

˄ VANK_RING

Bringing VANK_CUBE into well-established and rigidly structured companies makes it possible to break down hierarchies and blur the lines between individual departments – the design fosters creative thinking and a culture of collaboration. It’s also easy to assemble and disassemble, enabling temporary workstations or exhibition spaces at trade shows, conferences, and workshops.

Modularity means that a number of VANK_ CUBES together can be used as a desk, a workshop meeting table, a front office desk, a storage unit, a shelf for household appliances, or a space-dividing unit. Anyone using it can create many different furniture forms and modify them as necessary, virtually without limits.

Our ACOUSTIC PODS make mobile rooms that can be reassembled or reused when an office is rearranged or a company moves location, reducing the amount of waste generated in the construction industry. The pods are made of biocomposite or nonwoven recycled plastic (rPET), both of which can be composted or recycled after use. With wheels the pods can be moved within a room, making it possible to rearrange the space without any assembly or finishing work. The freedom of setting up mobile rooms means the product can always meet the needs of the organisation. It also makes the workplace more employeefriendly and boosts creativity.

The design of our VANK_RING collection also incorporates circular design principles. The range of chairs, sofas, and stools, are made from industrial polyurethane foam waste and use a design approach that makes it possible for components to be recycled after use.

Why is hemp such an important material for sustainable products, design and construction?

The construction industry causes up to 40% of annual global emissions. Hemp is an incredible alternative – it can be used for insulation material, in floors and walls, and it actually stores more carbon than it requires to be made and transported.

The fashion and textile industries also use huge amounts of our planet’s resources. Right now the main raw material is cotton, but it can also easily be hemp instead as it’s more efficient, and needs less water and pesticides, making it a great replacement.

˄ ACOUSTIC PODS

“VANK PANELS CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND HAVE A NEGATIVE CARBON FOOTPRINT. AFTER USE THEY CAN BE DISPOSED OF AS PART OF A COMPOSTING PROCESS”

˅ VANK_RING

Hemp grows up to five metres in 3- 5 months and is one of the fastest ways to absorb CO2 – it binds up to four times more CO 2 than trees. Fast-growing fibrous plants are annually renewable, and hemp can be planted twice in a single year. Plants used for fibre production don’t require fertilisation and have low water consumption; their root system goes deep enough to supplement their water requirements from groundwater.

From a design perspective, hemp’s long fibres provide strength, while absorbing minimal water and remaining relatively tear-resistant, even when wet. Traditionally it’s been considered ideal for ropes, textiles and sailcloth but industrial hemp is increasingly being used as a sustainable textile and building material.

Hemp has zero-waste potential. For VANK’s biocomposite we use bast fibres from the stalks, which remain in the fields after the seeds, flowers and leaves have been used. It means we don’t compete with food or medicine production because only waste parts of the plant are used to make our panels. This way there is no waste in nature, everything is recycled.

Are there any of your home products that encapsulate VANK’s sustainable design approach?

VANK_LONG is a circular collection of industrial-style furniture designed for rest and relaxation, but with sustainability at its core. It makes use of waste from the textile industry, limited edition zero-waste natural leather dead stock, and an organic latex

filling. It’s a modular design that lets users make sofas or seating units from armchairs and is made for home offices and living rooms, as well as office buildings, hotels, and other public facilities. After use, VANK_LONG can be disassembled and its components recycled.

Tell us about VANK’s company culture and its championing of women

We are a creation of modernity, and believe in a world where women are empowered to shape reality, make strategic decisions, and achieve success. The company’s board is 100% female, and most of our managers are women – it’s because of them that VANK is renowned in the worlds of business, design, and architecture.

We’re driven by gender equality and providing equal opportunities for growth and development, and we foster a modern, empathy-based, democratic model of leadership where our passion for natural resources and the environment is prominent. This approach also extends to the local community where we are involved in and support initiatives that contribute to a better quality of life.

vank.design

VANK_RING

˂ VANK_LONG

OUTDOOR & ADVENTURE

Discover a more responsible way to explore nature with our collection of greener gear and gadgets

ADVENTURE 1

When Potential Motors founder Sam Poirier was living in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, he saw firsthand how electrification and better vehicle safety changed lives, economies, and the environment. It inspired him to open up sustainable adventuring to everyone. Adventure 1 is the result. It is, in essence, an electric camper van packed with all the comforts you’d expect, but it’s a camper van that will get you anywhere. That’s thanks to Potential Motors’ AI-driven predictive systems that see and recognise terrain and preemptively adjust vehicle settings in real time. potentialmotors.com

G2 CAMPERVAN

Fully electric, solar equipped, and capable of exploring for more than 250 miles per charge, Grounded’s G2 is built on the premise that the world would be better if people had the freedom and self-reliance to live, work and explore anywhere. groundedrvs.com

ID. BUZZ

Beneath the technology and smart systems, the iconic style of Volkswagen’s Classic Camper runs through the DNA of the ID. BUZZ. Only now you also get fully electric mobility, up to 275 miles range, and a 7-seat cabin made from recycled materials. volkswagen-vans.co.uk

SUUNTO OCEAN

Think of Suunto as less a brand, more a community of explorers, adventurers and athletes dedicated to a life outdoors and protecting the planet through shared responsibility. It’s an ethos that runs through all the company’s products, like the Suunto Ocean, a tech-packed smart diving watch that draws on this expertise and is made in Finland with 100% renewable energy. suunto.com

ALL TRAILS

We can make more of an impact when we work together. In the case of All Trails, a hiking, walking, cycling, and running-focused app developed to connect people with the outdoors, that happens through sharing. All Trails believes nature unites us. It allows people to share trails and routes while celebrating the wild. alltrails.com

OUTERKNOWN X GOT BAG

Collaboration is a powerful thing. In this instance, it results in a line of durable bags and backpacks responsibly made from Ocean Impact Plastic – plastic waste that has or is likely to have a negative impact on the ocean – and other recycled materials rescued from critical Indonesian waterways. The brands behind the range are GOT BAG, which developed the world’s first backpack made from ocean plastic and Outerknown, a sustainable clothing company founded by pro-surfer Kelly Slater. outerknown.com

PATAGONIA PROVISIONS

Why is a clothing company making food? A good question. And one that Patagonia answers by explaining how industrial agriculture depletes soil, poisons water, and threatens that outdoors. By developing Provisions, it is supporting regenerative farmers, responsible sourcing and harvesting, and responsible food production instead. patagoniaprovisions.com

MANTIS HAMMOCK

A case study in travelling light, and with minimal impact, the Mantis is a lightweight all-in-one hammock. The nylon fabric used to create its body is 100% recycled and bluesign approved, using no harmful dyes or chemicals. Kammok, its maker, even uses manufacturing scraps to make tote bags to reduce waste and overall impact. kammok.com

ETERNAL

The sun always shines in space. And because the constant, clean solar power is unaffected by the weather, seasons, or the time of day it’s possible to use solar panels to capture 13 times more energy than you would down here, on Earth. Space Solar, a UK-based tech firm, intends to do just that by developing and commercialising affordable, scalable, and clean space-based solar power by the early 2030s.

Energy security relies on dependable and affordable energy, which is resilient to natural

and human influences like extreme weather, natural disasters, geo-political complexities and conflict. Space Solar intends to harness space-based solar power to provide a baseload constant power 24/7, which is essential for the electricity grid and backs up other groundbased renewable energy solutions.

To do so, it will use a 2GW, 1.7 km-wide satellite in high earth orbit that carries 60,000 layers of lightweight solar panels and a system of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto the panels.

ETERNAL

Electricity that’s generated is converted into high-frequency radio waves, and the power is beamed to a receiving antenna at a fixed point on the ground.

WATCH : SPACE-BASED SOLAR POWER

Space Solar will use reusable heavy lift earthto-orbit rockets like SpaceX’s Starship to carry the system to space, where it will be assembled by autonomous robots. It says there is over 100 times more solar energy available in a narrow orbital band around the globe than all the energy needs of humanity in 2050. spacesolar.co.uk

beVisioneers: nurturing tomorrow’s innovators

Citizen Zero meets Mariah Levin, Executive Director of beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, to discuss her passion for positive impact, supporting tomorrow's change makers, and reimagining education

Tell us about your own journey, particularly where your passion for inclusive economies and societies, and making a positive impact comes from.

As a kid raised in Brooklyn, NY, in the 1980s and 1990s, inequality was a very visible reality. My subway ride and walk to school took me past people without homes and struggling with life on the streets. I didn’t understand why, in a city with so much wealth, there were so many individuals and families in need. That question continues to shape my work.

The issue of inequality is becoming even more pressing, despite incredible advances in medicine and technology, because the gap between those with and without means is widening in most countries. I believe societies and humanity can do better for one

another and the planet, and that drives my passion. I’m very fortunate to work at the intersection of the environment, innovation and equity through beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship and at The DO School Fellowships.

How has your approach to things like leadership development, opportunity and inclusivity, and the environment evolved over your career, and how drastically has awareness of these themes grown in response to sustainability challenges?

Environmental issues in particular require leaders to think and act more inclusively, as those who are most affected by the effects of climate change are the same people with less access to decision-making tables. Networks and power remain concentrated in specific circles, and some of the challenges we face

today arise from the fact that those circles are not exposed to diverse, lived realities. At The DO School Fellowships, we work with a wide variety of incredibly smart and deserving people with great ideas coming from lived experience in their communities. Our goal is to ensure they build confidence and develop tools to broaden their reach and impact so the changes societies pursue genuinely address challenges that diverse people face.

How does your work incorporate environmental impact and the future of our planet, and can you tell us how environmental risks adversely affects the opportunities of young people?

At The DO School Fellowships, we’re deeply dedicated to helping our partners and young entrepreneurs discover future opportunities in the new economy. There are no long-term economic opportunities or agency without protecting the planet, and labour market trends are starting to confirm this. Data shows that the number of jobs requiring green skills is growing at twice the rate that those skills are available in the market. People with green skills have a nearly 30% higher chance of getting hired in today’s market – in the energy sector alone, we’re expecting a net increase of 13 million jobs by 2030.

Young people have an enormous chance to pioneer and drive the sustainability transformation we need, and the right training, knowledge and networks will help them to seize this opportunity. Our organisation aims to support a shift in the narrative and training around green jobs so that reality reflects the very rich opportunity we have on our doorstep.

“To build a more sustainable future, we need innovation from young people around the world. At beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, we nurture planet-positive ideas from their inception, regardless of entrepreneurial experience or economic status"

What did your time as Head of the WEF’s Forum for Young Global Leaders teach you about the importance of incubating young ideas, encouraging tomorrow’s changemakers, and the role of young people in building a more sustainable and fair future?

I learned that leadership is most powerful when it combines the experience of established leaders with the dynamism of emerging leaders. At The DO School Fellowships, I continue to see emerging leaders’ willingness to question the status quo as a huge asset to societal transformation. Their risk calculus is different and their read on what’s possible is broader, and the inspiration this questioning and energy offers the world is unmatched.

However, young changemakers need support and champions to build traction and credibility to get their ideas off the ground. They need resources and the practical know-how that comes with experience and longer-term networks. These, and others, are the assets

that established leaders have built over time. When experienced and emerging perspectives and assets are effectively combined, the result can be extremely powerful in driving change. This is why we make sure to integrate intergenerational exchange into our fellowship programs at The DO School Fellowships.

What do you think about alternatives to traditional education in tackling some of the challenges we face, particularly things like leadership and citizenship skills, nurturing innovation and practical application?

We’re at a moment in time when traditional education needs extreme reinforcing and reimagining – literacy rates across 10-year-olds have dropped by 13% since the pandemic, which indicates just how fragile traditional education systems are. I absolutely advocate that we must figure out ways to ensure universal access to high quality education. However, I also believe that humanity is innately curious and lifelong learning opportunities play an important role in bolstering the best parts of our nature, which is why I am so proud of our work to extend learning opportunities through The DO School.

Research shows that many of the skills our workforce will need exceed traditional curricula like resilience, creativity, self-awareness, or curiosity. Fellowship programmes, maker spaces, peer mentoring, coaching, and on-the-job training build on tested principles of self-directed, applied and experience-based learning that exercise and prioritise these very skills. For adult learners especially, these more flexible and self-guided formats ensure that skills-building doesn’t end at graduation.

Tell us more about beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship and how it’s helping nurture a global community of planet-positive innovators?

To build a more sustainable future, we need innovation from young people around the world. At beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, we nurture planet-positive ideas from their inception, regardless of entrepreneurial experience or economic status. The journey starts with a 12-month hybrid-learning programme focused on the implementation of each Fellow’s project. Funded by a donation from Mercedes-Benz, we provide the programme free of charge to all Fellows and provide basic living and technology support for those who could not otherwise participate. Upon completing the intensive 12-month programme, Fellows continue to receive support to scale their projects and develop their leadership skills.

We’re building the biggest global environmental fellowship, aiming to train 1,000 Fellows annually by 2025. One of our guiding principles is promoting local, regional,

and global exchange within our community, enabling us to address challenges locally that we may not be able to solve globally.

It’s a multi-year fellowship, starting with a 12-month intensive programme that provides Fellows with the training, expert support and resources to bring their planet-positive ideas to life. It involves a 24-hour per month commitment in a hybrid learning journey, and is centred around three learning labs: Personal Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability and Venture Sustainability.

Each Fellow gets 1:1 mentoring and is assigned a venture coach to further support them in their journey. Individual mentors offer support to Fellows on their growth as leaders based on real-life experiences and through insights, practices and connections. They also help them sustain their motivation and wellbeing. We’re always on the lookout for mentors and open applications to the public at certain times of the year. If people are interested in what it takes to be a mentor they can visit bevisioneers. world/mentors for more information.

“Young people have an enormous chance to pioneer and drive the sustainability transformation we need, and the right training, knowledge and networks will help them to seize this opportunity”

Many barriers to education and entrepreneurship, such as the need for a proven track record, often stand in the way, but we believe that academic or entrepreneurial credentials aren’t the sole indicators of success; a true understanding of a problem and a genuine passion for creating change are the real measures of success. By ensuring that at least 50% of our fellows come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the fellowship empowers grassroots innovators to drive change from within, creating solutions that are both impactful and authentically rooted in their lived experiences.

Are there any projects or innovations from the first cohort that show the innovation or impact potential of the programme? There’s so many, but I’ll give you one from each region of our first cohort. In South Africa, Thabo Blessing Mngomezulu is introducing biogas technology in his local community as a renewable energy source to replace polluting fuels like wood, coal and LPG. Bioslurry is also promoted as an organic alternative to chemical fertiliser to improve soil health and crop yields. 61,200 households will have access to affordable biogas for cooking and heating once Thabo scales his project to five plans across several villages.

In Europe, Saskia Manson is developing a data-driven platform which aims to make it easier for construction professionals to implement reuse strategies. Saskia predicts 98,000 tonnes of CO2e could be saved across London per year if 30% of major construction projects implement reuse strategies with the help of her project.

Chaitanya Sakre is tackling severe flooding in Indian megacity Mumbai. His project focuses on a water-absorbing asphalt that transforms entire neighbourhoods into safer, low-flooding areas. A pilot with a flood-proofed road to a newly built hospital is underway. According to Chaitanya’s research 146,000 people could be protected from excessive street flooding if his solution is scaled in just one Mumbai neighbourhood.

How do projects go from ideation to realisation, and can you tell me more about the successes and outcomes of the first cohort?

Because The DO School Fellowships work with early-stage entrepreneurs, we’re very focused on building their leadership capacity, resilience and peer support for the courage it takes to tackle ambitious projects and face the ups and downs of realising a vision. In the case of beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, I am proud that over 95% of our Fellows have developed a greater sense of confidence in taking decisions and owning a leadership role within their communities within just 12 months.

Likewise, our programme not only touches young people directly, but also mentors coming with decades of professional experience. We’re proud to have significantly increased their awareness of and impetus for action around sustainability, as well, across nearly 90% of our surveyed mentors. It is only through this type of intergenerational, international and intersectoral exchange and action that the changes we need will unfold.

bevisioneers.world thedoschool.org

CHANGING LIVES THROUGH PLAY

Marie Williams discusses the importance of play, co-creating with children, and tackling play inequality around the world

Marie Williams remembers the moment well. After two weeks of volunteering in Tanzania she’d become close to Esther, the threeyear-old girl who walked every day from her home, joining the group of community members, local skilled workers, and overseas volunteers, and becoming Williams’ favourite wood sander in the process. On this day she was inspecting the colourfully painted structures the team had built in the dry, empty field with interest. Finally daring to climb one of the short wooden stumps and jumping off she realised its purpose: it was for her and other children to play on.

For Williams, a senior chartered engineer at the time with experience in aerospace, nuclear fusion, and software design, the moment was a catalyst. It showed the huge difference play can make to children and communities, and demonstrated that everyone can contribute towards engineering solutions and creative programmes.

“When I got back to work, I just couldn’t stop thinking about what we’d done, the way we’d engaged the community by co-designing the spaces we built with them to suit their specific requirements, and the need for play I’d seen,” she recalls.

“I saw firsthand the challenges of the space – it was pretty desolate, the ground was hard, it was hot and there was little shade, so there just wasn’t anything for children

WATCH: MARIE WILLIAMS ON HOW WE END THE PLAY EMERGENCY AND MAKE PLAY POSSIBLE FOR ALL, TEDXLONDONWOMEN

“ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES PREVENT CHILDREN FROM PLAYING”

to do. It focused me on the amount of space that exists that isn’t conducive to any kind of play,” says Williams. “I was working with Atkins Realis, a company that had helped me to thrive as an engineer and also develop my passion for play and social impact. I was working as a senior aerospace engineer and later in the ITER nuclear fusion project developing solutions to make energy use more sustainable. However, I was impact-led and, while I was doing good work, I felt the problem of play calling me. It just seemed like there was so much more needed elsewhere.”

Williams embraced the challenge and formed Dream Networks in 2016, a social enterprise that addresses play inequality around the world by enabling businesses, communities and educational institutions to collaboratively design and build sustainable play areas in marginalised communities. Inspired by William’s time in Tanzania and her lifelong passion for working and volunteering with children, including as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) ambassador in schools and youth worker in her local

community, Dream Networks recognises that children and young people across the world need access to inclusive and safe spaces where they can play and thrive.

In a 2022 Tedtalk Williams, highlighted the need for us all to address the global emergency and suggests how this can be done through designing with children and building local connections with communities.

Through its programmes – Safe Haven and Love Plays – it creates play areas tailored to the needs of the community and the forms of play that children desire. Children and collaboration are at the heart of this process through a co-designing approach that engages children, encourages creativity, learning and development, and provides them with the agency and tools to create their own play spaces. Approximately 75% of the people Dream Networks works with are under the age of 18, or are BAME or women.

CHILDREN CO-DESIGNING THEIR PLAY SPACE IN A LONDON SCHOOL AS PART OF THE LOVE PLAYS PROGRAMME

“We work with schools and organisations that create play spaces like homebuilders and local authorities. We also work with the charitable or social responsibility areas of businesses – play inequality is linked to financial hardship and inequality, and social and economic deprivation, so including businesses in the conversation is essential,” Williams explains. “It’s highly collaborative and centred around co-design and children leading the way we make spaces; we follow a situated practice style, which is about putting children in authentic learning environments, immersing them in activities and using creative problem solving. When we reach the building stage, we always try to use sustainable, natural, or local materials and work with the local community to promote the conservation and innovative use of natural resources.”

TACKLING PLAY INEQUALITY

Millions of children worldwide have no access to safe and inclusive spaces. In the UK alone, one in eight children live in households with no gardens, meaning families have to rely on public play spaces. Yet, around 800 playgrounds have closed over the last decade leaving children without safe and accessible spaces. “There are some universal truths that are driving this emergency,” says Williams. “Predominantly, it’s about the environmental and economic factors, including things like privatisation of land and public spaces, and growing urbanisation with a lack of planning policies that prioritise play. It all leads to less space, which children desperately need to use their physical abilities, and for thought and imagination-led play.

“WE PRIORITISE SUSTAINABLE AND LOCAL MATERIALS, AS WELL AS WORKING WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO CREATE REGENERATIVE SPACES THAT PROMOTE NATURE AND CULTURE”

“There’s other cultural issues and things like mindset around what constitutes play and where the risks are in play spaces,” she adds. “In the African urban context, for example, you have to pay to use public playgrounds and parks in many urban areas, which immediately excludes people from using the space. More broadly, public spaces and playgrounds in urban areas are often used for something culturally significant or a dominant sport, and that lack of diversity increases inequality. Global planned play spaces are often standardised, which can be limiting in terms of equipment and diversity of play opportunities, but also physically for people with disabilities. There is also a bigger equity issue to address around the world when so many play spaces focus on physical play provision like football and climbing – if a child is hungry, not able to engage in physical activity or not interested in it, they can feel alienated and unable to play.”

“WE ENGAGE THE CHILDREN AS TRUE DESIGN PARTNERS”

Play is essential for children’s development and learning. Through play, children learn about the world and themselves, develop confidence and social skills, and improve their cognitive, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Such is its importance that Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC) creates a specific right for all children to have rest and leisure, and to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to their age and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. The Convention recognises that free play is not an optional extra for

children, but is fundamental to their development and intrinsic to their health and happiness in the present moment.

SDG 4 calls for, among other things, greater access to childhood development and learning, preparing all children for primary education, increasing the number of young people with essential skills including STEM, literacy and digital literacy, the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development and the use of sustainable materials, and the ability to understand global sustainability issues.

CHILDREN PLAYING ON PLAY SPACE CREATED IN BARAA SCHOOL TANZANIA AS PART OF LOVES PLAYS INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME WITH ATKINS REALIS

“CREATIVITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE ERA WE’RE IN, IS A CRITICAL SKILL THAT HELPS PEOPLE ADDRESS THE INEQUALITIES IN TERMS OF ACCESS PEOPLE CAN HAVE TO VARIOUS ROLES IN LIFE, LIBERATE AND RELEASE INNOVATIVE THINKING, AND CREATE A SENSE OF IDENTITY”

“There’s always been a need for play,” Williams says. “The engineer in me loves seeing children work in a creative way, solving problems through actively engaging with the space around them, and running workshops where I get to see them express ideas, sketch, and design – it’s all part of the play process. We engage the children as true design partners because we want to give them the agency to design, the ability and practical skills to create, and the knowledge transfer to be able to articulate clearly the problems they face and what they actually want. Creativity, especially in the era we’re in, is a critical skill that helps people address the inequalities in terms of access people can have to various roles in life, liberate and release innovative thinking, and create a sense of identity.”

THE JOY OF CO-CREATION

Dream Networks uses key design thinking principles when engaging children in co-design of play spaces: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Says Williams: “We empathise a lot – it’s essential. It’s about considering what the gaps are in terms of play needs within the environment, the space, the culture, and where the play is needed. We do it by using taxonomies, or different types of play.

“With younger children observation is key to get a sense of what they’re doing in the play space,” she adds. “If it’s imaginationled, for example, we’d look at enhancing the environment to encourage that type of play. It may be that there’s a lot of physical activity, which would mean we’d have to consider how we’re meeting the needs of

“THERE IS ALSO A BIGGER EQUITY ISSUE TO ADDRESS AROUND THE WORLD WHEN SO MANY PLAY SPACES FOCUS ON PHYSICAL PLAY

PROVISION LIKE

FOOTBALL AND CLIMBING – IF A CHILD IS HUNGRY, NOT ABLE TO ENGAGE IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OR NOT INTERESTED IN IT, THEY CAN FEEL ALIENATED AND UNABLE TO PLAY”

children with mixed abilities. Other taxonomies address things like inclusivity, neurodiversity, and physical abilities. I don’t believe in gender-based play spaces, but we do sometimes consider gender from a cultural perspective. The process is very analytical and creative. We encourage young children to use visual cues, to paint, to tell their story and communicate through their teachers, whereas we get the older children to tell us what they like about play, what they enjoy in the space, what they’d like us to and more. It’s all about prompting, watching, learning, and understanding.”

The co-design process moves through a define stage, during which Dream Networks, children and communities run through workshops and ideation stages to set a project brief that combines standard considerations around things like safety and available space, with drawing, ideas, material choices, and other suggestions from the children. Here, constant feedback is essential to hone and refine the brief and the children’s ideas, and Dream Networks encourages the use of design technologies like CA. Lastly, children pitch their designs or present to each other to test and finalise a co-created play space that represents their specific needs and which Dream Networks can deliver successfully. Eighty percent of the 450 children who have taken part in dream networks co-design programmes have shared an increased confidence in themselves or interest in design, engineering and STEM as a result of taking part.

The organisation works with children in this way through two core programmes: Love Plays and Safe Haven. The first enables Dream Networks to address social, economic, and environmental needs through play spaces designed by children with the support of businesses. As part of the programme businesses donate their time and resources to support children and communities make their dreams of play a reality, and to answer three core needs: physical and cognitive development cultivated through outdoor play, practical and engaging application of STEM in school education and improved career aspirations, educating younger generations on sustainability.

PLAYFUL ENGINEERS PROJECT

“We work with some great companies who want to make a positive impact through STEM,” Williams explains. “We help them to actively engage with the community around where they operate and provide volunteers from their own teams who help enable the children to go on incredible creative, interactive, and very empowering journeys. With Love Plays we often work in more marginalised communities, and a big part of the business opportunity is to provide positive role models to young people during our workshops, which is hugely important for social mobility. It’s always inspiring to hear how the volunteers talk about their ability to affect change and impact children’s lives. Fantastic volunteers from companies such as Atkins Realis, Tony Gee and Partners, New Cleo, BMT and Arup have been crucial to children feeling empowered to design.”

In the Safe Haven programme play spaces are developed collaboratively with community members and built in public or residential spaces, providing local children with a safe and fun space to play that renews their environment. More recently Dream Networks have advised UK homebuilders on how to create social value and engage with their communities in a meaningful manner through co-design and play. The focus is providing play to wider communities, focusing on celebrating their culture and improving both the play facilities and economic development. Communities are involved in the build process, during which Dream Networks aims to create play features from 100% sustainable, local materials and incorporate the use of renewable energy sources.

“MORE RECENTLY DREAM NETWORKS HAVE ADVISED UK HOMEBUILDERS ON HOW TO CREATE SOCIAL VALUE AND ENGAGE WITH THEIR COMMUNITIES IN A MEANINGFUL MANNER THROUGH CO-DESIGN AND PLAY”

“We collaborate with architects, property developers, urban designers, and NGOs to provide community-led and sustainable solutions,” says Williams. “From our perspective, it’s about providing a way to help them actively participate in the community and get the best possible outcome. We do a lot of the work with regards to taylor our delivery of the projects and co design in a manner that really helps the children, young people and community to be creative and have their designs come to life.”

Since 2016 Dream Networks has brought co-designed, inclusive play spaces to more than 40,000 children across England and Africa. Its work, delivered by more than 200 volunteers dedicated to empowering children and communities, has seen thousands of creative ideas generated by children in its STEM programmes and more than 15 schools co-design and improve their play spaces. “I don’t think I’ve ever stopped playing,” says Williams. “Being playful has helped me jump from a career in aerospace engineering to nuclear fusion to producing software, and ultimately launch Dream Networks to help make play possible for all. We have such vivid memories of playing when we’re younger because play is so important to us all – play is a child’s human right and it’s fundamental to their development and to them thriving in life.”

dreamnetworks.co.uk

SOUND & VISION

Education and entertainment for sustainable citizens

FILM FASHION REIMAGINED

Amy Powney had a unique childhood, growing up on a farm and living off grid in Lancashire with her activist parents. It’s little surprise that, as the designer and creative director behind cult fashion label Mother of Pearl, she has always felt uneasy about the devastating impact of her industry. In Fashion Reimagined, we follow her story as, after winning the coveted Vogue award for Best Young Designer of the Year, she embarks on a mission to use the prize money to create a sustainable collection from field to finished garment and transform her entire business. fashionreimaginedfilm.com

PODCAST THE MINIMALISTS

A lesson in how to streamline your lives and find more happiness which, let’s be honest, sounds like a good thing. The Minimalists, Emmy-nominated Netflix stars Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus, and T.K. Coleman are the self-confessed ‘prophets of anti-consumerism’. theminimalists.com

FILM ACTIVATE

A six-part National Geographic documentary series on the work of Global Citizen, a movement powered by millions worldwide dedicated to ending extreme poverty. Episodes focus on specific issues connected to poverty and include global stars like Hugh Jackman and Pharell Williams. globalcitizen.org

BOOK THE CLIMATE OPTIMIST HANDBOOK

In challenging times, it can be hard to find the courage to choose positive change, or to spread optimism to others concerned about the future. The Climate Optimist Handbook seeks to change that narrative. Author Anne Therese Gennari, who started her journey as a climate optimist in her early twenties, has spent her life understanding, creating, and nurturing optimism from a place of resilience, courage, and self-love. Her book offers wisdom, encouragement, and practical tools to move us from a place of fearing climate change to acting with empowerment and excitement. theclimateoptimist.com

EVENT UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE BAKU

11– 22 November 2024 | London COP29 President-Designate, H.E. Mukhtar Babayev has set out several key priorities for this year’s conference. They include: keep 1.5 degrees within reach and leave no one behind and finalising Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. unfccc.int/cop29

DOWNLOAD BIKEMAP APP

Started by a group of passionate cyclists in 2007 and now used by more than nine million people worldwide, Bikemap celebrates cycling, wellbeing, and the outdoors by helping passionate riders create and share unique cycling routes across more than 100 countries. bikemap.net

DOWNLOAD MY LITTLE PLASTIC FOOTPRINT

Few diets can be more worthy than a plastic diet, and My Little Plastic Footprint is the guiding light on your path to reducing plastic consumption. The app helps you understand your current plastic footprint and what you can do to improve it. mylittleplasticfootprint.org

PODCAST JANE GOODALL: THE HOPECAST

Jane Goodall needs little introduction. And, with someone who has led such a rich and meaningful life, sometimes the best thing is to sit back and listen to them. You can do that here. In Hopecast, Goodall takes listeners on a one-of-a-kind journey through her extraordinary life. She speaks with changemaking guests from around the world who have made an impact across different areas. The series of compelling and engaging conversations explores themes around compassion, hope, inspiration, and building a better world. janegoodall.org

FILM THE SCALE OF HOPE

Former Obama White House Climate Advisor, Molly Kawahata, prepares for a climbing expedition in the Alaska Range while struggling with mental illness and working to create a new climate narrative framed around systemic change and hope. patagonia.com

BOOK REGENERATIVE BUSINESS

A modern bible for business leaders who want to have a positive impact. Regenerative Business ditches capitalism, instead focusing on making a difference based on the systems of nature, connecting with our wild soul, and celebrating creativity. thedirtyalchemy.com

FILM DEEP RISING

Narrated and executive produced by Jason Momoa, Deep Rising journeys from the deepest oceans, including some of the most unchartered and inaccessible places on the planet, to the future of green energy. Along the way we learn how the two are inextricably linked. We see fragile and mysterious ecosystems hidden in the depths, and explore the inner workings of the UN’s International Seabed Authority and its mission to highlight the damaging effects of the oil and gas industry and deepocean mining to extract metals for electric battery technology. deeprising.com

EVENT

27 – 28 November 2024 | London

An exhibition centred around climate tech innovation, advancing the global net zero economy transition, and shaping a sustainable future with groundbreaking and collaborative technologies. climatetechshow.com

Citizen Zero Issue 03

IMPACT

INNOVATION

ADVENTURE

ENTERPRISE

Green goodness without the green washing

Empower Your Journey. Make a Global Impact.

MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA

BriefiNg

THE PEOPLE, INNOVATIONS, AND STORIES ON OUR RADAR

ECONOMIC: BUSINESS gree N AND iNCLUSiVe

ENVIRONMENT: CIRCULAR ECONOMY giViNg CLOTHeS

ANOTHer Life

INNOVATION: CLIMATE TECH CHArTe D TerriTOrY

ENVIRONMENT: LIFE BELOW WATER fUNgi POWer

INNOVATION: ARCHITECTURE

NATUrAL BeAUTY

SOCIAL: FINANCIAL INCLUSION fiNANCe MATTerS

SOCIAL: SUSTAINABLE CITIES CONTAiNe D LiViNg

ECONOMIC: SPORT POSiTiVe iMPACT

ECONOMIC: RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS BOArDrOOM TO BiODiVerSiTY

ENVIRONMENTAL: WASTE MANAGEMENT

Be TTer eVerYDAY

INNOVATION: SPACE CLeAN SKieS

CUTTING-EDGE IMPACT

ANGELO CORSARO, ZETTASCALE

THE SEVEN KNIGHTLY VIRTUES

INNOVATION THROUGH ZENOH

TO OPPORTUNITIES”

DRIVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT

DireCTOrY

COFFEE KREIS

RASHKI FEDE

BIRD BLACKCAP

STIR IT UP LUX

DR MARTENS GENIX NAPPA

PURE X MCLAREN

1352: REFRESHED SNEAKERS

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN

Lighting every

Lighting life

SUSTAINABLE SOLAR ENTERPRISES

ELECTRICITY CHANGING LIVES

THE FUTURE IS BLUE

TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY

DIVERSIFYING CONSERVATION

TACKLING THE PLASTIC PROBLEM

THAT BRINGS US ALL TOGETHER”

KEEP PUSHING, KEEP BELIEVING

LOOK GOOD. DO GOOD.

A lifetime of change

CONNECT, COOPERATE, CHANGE

PIONEERING REGENERATIVE ACTION

AGENTS OF CHANGE

Crafting bespoke travel experiences

THE ART OF EVERYWHERE

FURNITURE

OUTDOOR & ADVENTURE

ADVENTURE 1

G2 CAMPERVAN

ID. BUZZ

SUUNTO OCEAN

ALL TRAILS

OUTERKNOWN X GOT BAG

PATAGONIA PROVISIONS

MANTIS HAMMOCK

ETERNAL

ETERNAL

beVisioneers: nurturing tomorrow’s innovators

CHANGING LIVES THROUGH PLAY

“ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES PREVENT CHILDREN FROM PLAYING”

TACKLING PLAY INEQUALITY

THE JOY OF CO-CREATION

PROVISION LIKE

PLAYFUL ENGINEERS PROJECT

SOUND & VISION

FILM FASHION REIMAGINED

PODCAST THE MINIMALISTS

FILM ACTIVATE