Locals have the solutions to pressing community issues and the know-how, passion, and skill to implement them.
CATALYZING COMMUNITY-LED, early stage projects inspired by ideas presented during the 100 Great Ideas campaign on climate resilience and sustainability
About the 100 Great Ideas Incubator
Our climate is rapidly changing, and it is critical that our region build resilience in order to absorb and bounce back (and forward!) from the impacts a changing climate will bring - among them rising seas, extreme heat, and stronger and more frequent extreme weather events. If we do not take action now to build infrastructures and systems to help boost our resilience, all of us - and especially our most vulnerable populations - are more likely to struggle as climate change impacts worsen.
How and why is our climate changing? Decades of unregulated pollution, an increasing population, and a growing reliance on electricity and fossil fuels all contribute to the production of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and warm our environment and oceans. The United States has the highest per capita carbon emissions in the entire world and because we (the U.S.) and our leaders have not made a committed and concerted effort to control our emissions and live more sustainably, we contribute more and more to a changing climate each year.
How do these environmental changes impact us and our way of life? As temperatures increase, oceans warm, sea levels rise, extreme weather events intensify, and humans face numerous negative consequences: property flooding, skyrocketing food prices, spreading diseases and illnesses, homelessness, and threatened access to drinking water. These impacts have the greatest effect on vulnerable and marginalized populations. Without significant policy interventions and immediate action on climate change, our homes, our health, our jobs, and our lives are at risk.
So, what can we do about climate change? We must focus both on climate change mitigation (actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term global warming and its related effects) and climate change adaptation (actions in response to global warming to offset it’s impacts). Now, more than ever, what we need most is leaders to come forward and be willing to take bold action to implement these strategies.
The 100 Great Ideas Incubator provided a 12-week program for climate leaders in Miami to help them effectively plan a project that stemmed from an idea suggested during the 100 Great Ideas campaign on climate resilience and sustainability. 8 community leaders joined us on this journey where we helped catalyze their 6 unique climate resilience and sustainability projects. The leaders of these community-focused initiatives demonstrate unwavering solution orientation and a deep understanding of the communities they serve and their projects show high potential for growth and impact.
Participation in the 100 Great Ideas Incubator was free, thanks to the generous support of our partners:
