‘for Tomorrow’ Hyundai Motor and UNDP's global project for grassroots sustainable solutions
May 6, 2021
Author: UNDP Accelerator Labs
UNDP & Hyundai Motor Company partner to celebrate, crowdsource and accelerate bottom-up innovations.
The Journey So far
The UNDP Accelerator Labs and Hyundai Motor Company launched "for Tomorrow" in 2020 to showcase the work of people who are making the world a better place. Today, for Tomorrow launches a film to showcase how our partnership has evolved & and share some of the exciting innovators that are taking steps to turn everyday challenges into solutions for a sustainable future. To learn more visit here.
Meet some of the changemakers and their solutions
Green mobility through loans for female entrepreneurs
Safa Tempo electric busses, traditionally driven by women, help address the air pollution problem in Kathmandu, Nepal. But getting bank loans is nearly impossible for these women. Sonika and her partner Tiffany have created a micro-loan system to help them reinvest in their busses. They’re levelling the social and economic playing field while fighting climate change.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SONIKA’S SOLUTION
Lighting the future with solar street lights
Like in many areas with limited infrastructure, life in small Nigerian villages can come to a standstill with sunset. By teaching communities how to build and maintain their own solar-powered street lights, Onah Angela Amaka has helped many villages take back the night.
Education is critical to a better tomorrow. Joaquin Cochero’s AppEAR solution brings environmental education to a new generation. This mobile app uses a game-like approach to engage youth in monitoring Argentina’s waterways and wetlands.
Creating clean domestic fuel from repurposed waste
Fuel is scarce in Nigeria. People often have no choice but to cut down trees to burn. Felix Nnworie advocates using briquettes made from domestic waste as a clean substitute. This will reduce deforestation by turning waste into an efficient and sustainable energy source.
Cian Sherwin and his team hope to help people threatened by melting sea ice while fighting a problem with globe-spanning consequences. Their wind-powered Real Ice machine will pump water from damaged ice sheets and spread it to patch gaps in the sea ice.
From climate change to grappling poverty and inequality, local communities in the global south are facing the century’s biggest challenges. At the same time, they innovate, create, and pass on knowledge and solutions to address needs unmet by policies and market access.
Whether these are indigenous farmers in Ecuador using traditional knowledge to protect crops from animals and floods, informal workers in Ghana creating value from waste or grassroots communities in the Philippines inventing new business models by repurposing old machines. These solutions have the promise and the opportunity to contribute significantly to economic growth, environmental protection, and social inclusion, which are all key ingredients to sustainable development.
Indeed, bottom-up innovations local by nature and relevant by necessity should be sustained and where possible, not just transferred but adapted across regions, SDGs, and ecosystems.To achieve this, UNDP through the Accelerator Labs is looking into, learning from, and building upon these local solutions rather than supplying or importing these from the outside.
And to accelerate and keep up with the pace of change, UNDP together with Hyundai Motor Company launch “for Tomorrow”, an initiative dedicated to celebrating bottom-up innovation, connecting local innovators who are creating solutions for a more sustainable future, and advancing these solutions to reach the ambitious goals set out in Agenda 2030.
UNDP and Hyundai Motor will support solutions shared on the “for Tomorrow” platform by advancing, sharing and building upon them with the help of the UNDP Accelerator Labs, a global network of 92 labs that are tapping into local innovations to create actionable insights and reimagine sustainable development for the 21st century.
September 22, 2020: The official launch of the “for Tomorrow” platform at the UN General Assembly.
The launch event was moderated by Lucy Siegle, British journalist and broadcaster with guests, Joseph D’Cruz, Special Advisor, Strategic Planning & Innovation, UNDP, Wonhong Cho, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Hyundai Motor Company, Jessica Alba, entrepreneur and sustainability advocate, Basma Saeed, Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Accelerator Lab Sudan, and Rex Lor, Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Accelerator Lab Philippines. Watch the full event recap below.
The Inaugural Signing Ceremony
An official signing ceremony was held as well on 22 September 2020 between Hyundai Motor Executive Vice Chairman Euisun Chung and UNPD Administrator Achim Steiner online during which they discussed the future of partnership and global cooperation for sustainability. Actress, activist, and social impact entrepreneur Jessica Alba, officially endorsing ‘for Tomorrow’ and British journalist Lucy Siegle, who moderated the conversation, were also in attendance. Watch the event recap below.
Watch the full event recap here.
Find out more about the partnership here.
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