Each year at SRI, we invite students, young professionals, and innovators to showcase their sustainability research, advances, concepts, designs, prototypes, and products in the SRI Idea Market competition. They receive feedback and advice from an expert panel, and have the chance to win funding to further their project.
The SRI2023 Idea Market included two competitions: Sustainability innovation and innovation in carbon removal. Learn more about the winning submissions and the winners’ future plans for their projects:
Innovation In Sustainability:
Mariana Martinez Balvanera – A collaboratory kitchen for sustainability in the tropical rainforest
Tell us a bit about your project.
Cocina Colaboratorio is an interdisciplinary platform that brings together farmer communities, cooks, researchers and creatives around the kitchen table to imagine and experiment with more sustainable and just food systems. Our idea has been developing already for some years in collaboration with the farmer community of Loma Bonita, Chiapas, México, a community that stands in the frontier of the rainforest reserve Montes Azules, and Comunal architects. With them, we are slowly creating a knowledge exchange and practice hub in a communal plot of land, a community laboratory kitchen next to a food forest that grows all kinds of edible plants from the area. Through participatory design workshops and collaborative building, we have created the first steps to build the community kitchen and plant the food forests, using local material resources, and traditional building techniques, with the donation and support from different parties. In the near future this space will be a community restaurant that can showcase and promote the biodiversity of the rainforest and the local food practices. It will be also a space to invite different residents with all kinds of backgrounds, for example agroecologists, ecology students, artists, bio-designers, economists and market developers. The idea is that in the future this space can help develop projects alongside the community that conciliate food production and regeneration of the local ecosystem, while inspiring people all over the world.
What inspired you to submit your project to the SRI2023 Idea Market?
We believe that platforms like the SRI2023 Idea Market can help not only fund but promote initiatives from different parts of the world. We want to reach out to other communities and organizations that are working on similar themes, also reach out to professionals, academics, decision-makers, and tell them our story. This gives us an opportunity to connect with people who can share their experiences with us, support our project, or help us have outsider perspectives to strengthen our ideas. We are also very happy to share our learnings through this process, so please contact us if you think we can share some ideas with you too!
What does it mean to you that your project was chosen as one of the SRI2023 Idea Market winners?
Being a winner of this ideas market means to us mainly two things. One is of course an economic prize, which is most welcome at this time. The second one is visibility and pride. Whenever something like this happens, it helps keep us motivated and confirms that we are going in the right direction. We want to share this news with our community collaborators and show them that all the hard work is also appreciated outside of the locality!
What are your planned next steps for your project and how do you think the SRI2023 Idea Market prize will help with these next steps?
In May we finished our first stage of building the community lab kitchen by making a roof made of wood and palm leaves. We will invest this prize to cover some of the cost of the next steps, which are to co-design and build a circular model for the energy and water resources of this space, and to finish the facade and the flooring. In the coming months we will be working with the community on designing the circular system and inviting an expert to develop this plan.
Carbon Removal:
Gabriel Fuentes – The Panama Connection: A Green Corridor from Busan to New York to Tackle Climate Change
Tell us a bit about your project.
My Idea Market submission centers on the idea of transforming the shipping route from Busan, South Korea, to the ports of New York/New Jersey in the United States into a “Green Corridor.” This aligns with the “Getting to Zero Coalition” green corridor framework, a group of shipping companies and NGOs focusing their efforts on routes with the highest emissions to reduce their environmental impact. The selected route, which passes through the Panama Canal, offers a significant opportunity to cut emissions from shipping activities. This could be accomplished through operational changes like adopting “Just in Time” arrivals, which reduce the speed of vessels, and technical innovations such as developing infrastructure for supplying clean fuels.
What inspired you to submit your project to the SRI2023 Idea Market?
I was motivated to submit my project to the SRI2023 Idea Market for a couple of reasons. First, the core of my idea revolves around Panama and the Panama Canal, and I believed that presenting it to an audience in Panama could be the catalyst needed to turn this idea into reality. This Congress offers a platform for exposure to potential stakeholders who could aid in its implementation. Second, as a Panamanian, it was an opportunity for me to contribute to my homeland’s sustainability efforts. It’s encouraging to witness how ideas can transcend distance, reaching the right place at the right time.
What does it mean to you that your project was chosen as one of the SRI2023 Idea Market winners?
Winning the SRI2023 Idea Market is a significant milestone for me. It means my project has been recognized and validated by experts in the field and an audience that is actively seeking solutions to mitigate carbon emissions. This achievement is a strong confirmation that the idea is viable and resonates with a crucial segment of stakeholders. More than anything, it’s highly encouraging to know that my proposal was positively received by such a distinguished panel of judges.
What are your planned next steps for your project and how do you think the SRI2023 Idea Market prize will help with these next steps?
The success of this project depends largely on collaboration with diverse organizations. The immediate next step is to present this idea to key organizations for their buy-in. The project has already made strong first steps, thanks to robust partnerships and research, including findings from a study we recently published. I envision the idea being implemented in stages, with each step marking significant progress for emissions reduction. Winning the SRI2023 Idea Market prize is invaluable as it not only validates our efforts but also aids in convening potential partners.