The World Bank is sponsoring this global competition to find the best “100 Ideas to Save the Planet.” The 100 ideas on display now at the World Bank headquarters in Washington were chosen from among 1,755 proposals. From Argentina to Vanuatu, there are some wonderful ideas: bioculture to enhance the value of maize in Mexico; drought-hardy “food forests” to help Miskito children; solar desalination against the risk of aquifer pollution by seawater; a mangrove rehab scheme to provide biofuel and poverty relief in the Philippines; a wave energy converter to mitigate ocean-wave damage and beach erosion; and an artisanal industry that aims to stop glaciers melting and save water. (See all the project summaries here.)
I love this stuff. I’ve written here about two exhibitions at the National Design Museum in New York: Design for a Living World and Design for the Other 90%. If fighting climate change doesn’t also mean building out our capacity for sustainable development, and in a very big way, then we’re not on the right track. The folks at DM2009 definitely are.
