Welcome to the UPG Sustainability Leadership Project Gallery
This is the page dedicated to tones of completed and ongoing projects of United People Global Sustainability Leaders.We will continue to update this page with the newest projects and we celebrate our leaders and stakeholders across the world for a job well done.
Amatullah Contractor
Houston,USA
Project bio
Awareness on progressive society
Through the sustainability pillar of “awareness,” I would lead a project in my community that helps people realize how their actions are contributing to the deceleration of a progressive society and how an alteration of individual behavior can contribute towards the progression of sustainability. During this project, individuals within my community can examine their recycling habits, waste production, eating habits, fitness regimen, discriminatory behavior towards marginalized groups and political participation in their personal and professional lives. Learning about our own involvement in climate change and the limited time we have left to save the planet, people in the community can take extra steps to recycle, manage energy consumption and shift towards clean energy sources. Since not everyone has access to adequate healthcare, individuals can benefit from learning more about healthy diets and the importance of physical activity. We often struggle to understand the impact of our words or the prejudice that we carry into society, and it is important for people to realize how they are becoming obstacles to the progression of society by discriminating individuals based on any part of their identity because it suppresses growth and the spread of ideas. Finally, when people are reminded of the importance of political participation, they can ensure that they exercise their voting rights and freedom of expression to ensure all aforementioned behaviors are encouraged throughout society.
Ana Clara Queiroz
Brasília, BRAZIL
Project bio
Round table talks
I would love to promote round table discussions (and also other shapes of events, such as workshops, lectures, watch parties etc.) with local researchers, entrepreneurs, government, activists and civil society to talk about global and local environmental issues. I live in Brasilia now, which is Brazil’s capital and therefore a strategic city in my country. I believe that when all types of people are together and talking we have a real potential of better exame our local context and of join forces to improve our beautiful world.
Angra
Valesca
Salvador, BRAZIL
Project bio
Adolescents Volunteering
I am opened to change and new ideas. I have two ideas related to volunteering 1. Idea one: adolescents volunteering for their community and exploring the professions while they volunteer for the organization. Why: Volunteering at a young age can improve the changes of entering an organization 2. Idea two Foreigns come to volunteer in non profit organizations to help the community Why: I think both organizations and volunteers can help each other and have impacting experiences.
Arthur Dias
Alegre, BRAZIL
In order to succeed, the group:
● Lobbied and passed city-level permits for solar energy
● Showcased the project at a major sustainability event with 22,000 participants
● Ran a fund-raising campaign and secured sponsorship contracts in a never-before-seen partnership between 17 organizations: TetraPak, SimSalaBim, Josephyna’s, UFRGS, ZISPOA, United People Global (UPG), Urban Ode, Elysia, Swedish Embassy in Brazil, Global Urban Development (GUD), Friedrich Design, Pacto Alegre, Gabi Morgan, CTSA, ONG Solidariedade, Rampa, and Ekobio
● Had the unofficial launching event and will have the official one once the COVID-19 lockdown eases, with the city Mayor and the Ambassador for Sweden in Brazil. The Parklet is a sitting down area located inside the Porto Alegre Sustainable Innovation Zone (ZISPOA) where car parking-spaces used to exist.
The ZISPOA 100% sustainable parklet has a solar post for device-charging and LED lighting, bike parking spaces, and it was built out of reused concrete blocks manufactured by a cooperative that employs former trash-pickers.
Project in the news:
• https://9bef24b9-3bb7-4db4-bc36-1f1c7aac924d.filesusr.com/ugd/be81d1_26b1c12ab7d847b7abbf5847d77f5764.pdf
• https://9bef24b9-3bb7-4db4-bc36-1f1c7aac924d.filesusr.com/ugd/be81d1_acecb00497414b0980c8ff89e5d07d25.pdf • https://www.osul.com.br/porto-alegre-vai-receber-primeiro-parklet-sustentavel/
• https://www.jornaldocomercio.com/_conteudo/economia/2019/04/677447-projeto-quer-instalar-primeiro-parklet-100-sustentavel-de-porto-alegre.html • In English: https://www.globalurban.org/ZISPOA_Sustainable_Parklet_Jornal_do_Comercio_article.pdf
• https://agoranors.com/2019/04/primeiro-parklet-100-sustentavel-de-porto-alegre-no-bom-fim-tera-poste-solar/
• http://www.madeiratotal.com.br/com-apoio-da-tetra-pak-porto-alegre-recebe-seu-primeiro-parklet-sustentavel/
• https://www.jornaldocomercio.com/_conteudo/economia/2019/12/715559-parklet-sustentavel-no-bairro-bom-fim-sera-inaugurado-neste-mes.html
Devon
Roberts
London, UK
Project bio
Environmental Education
I have many ideas for sustainability projects in my community. As a member of Richmond student government and events coordinator, I have the influence to improve my university sustainable activity. Firstly, I think the start of any change should be centered around education. I want to start by increasing the spread of information about environmental issues and connecting sustainability to convenience. Students need to know that saving the environment doesn’t necessarily have to be hard or inconvenient. Through educational events (clean up activities, sustainability awareness talks, etc) , campus habit adjustments (like a zero waste cafeteria, or edible landscaping) and incentive programs (challenges, contests and pledges) we can get more people passionate about environmental change. The second phase of my local sustainability movement focuses on political action. As young university students we have an opportunity and a responsibility to make our voice heard. Living in London gives us even more opportunity to join the fight for sustainability nationwide and our University’s diversity allows us to incite change worldwide. I think Richmond University has huge untapped potential. From the location, to the diverse student body, Richmond University could be the perfect environment for nurturing tomorrow’s (or even today’s) world leaders. I want to push for more leadership training programs and political action events (peaceful protests, petitions, small scale lobbying programs, etc) at Richmond and hopefully show students that with a little hard work and a lot of passion you can really make a difference in the world. (Continued in mini-training)
Elena
Tarus
Pitesti, ROMANIA
Project bio
Pollution Reduction
I think there are a lot of negative factors that we should be dealing with today. But I personally would start a project on pollution and the growing number of cars. In my community, lately, the number of cars, whether they were of poor quality, which have a harmful impact on the atmosphere, have tripled. So, I would support walking or cycling. By doing so, I would avoid creating permanent parking in place of green spaces in the city.
Jasmine
Cave
Sg, SINGAPORE
Project bio
Waste Management
In my opinion, overconsumption is a huge issue that needs to be tackled in higher income communities. The waste produce from this over consumption burdens lower income countries either due to trade agreements, for example the mass exportation of the Global North’s e-waste into Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Waste from Norther countries dumped into oceans also get moved by oceanic currents and pile up in the equator, burdening South East Asian and equatorial countries with masses of waste being swept ashore. Thus I would lead a campaign for sustainable packaging, encouraging lower consumption of plastics and non biodegradable materials as well as encouraging legal requirements to increase the life span of electronic items so that we are not disposing of toxic waste as frequently and in as large a quantity as we currently are.
Gabriel
Hollander
New Orl, USA
Project bio
Composting Center
As someone who loves both cooking and eating, as well as knowing about the not so glamorous side of the food/agricultural industry, the issue that is closest to my heart is agricultural sustainability. Furthermore, ensuring equitable access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. That being said, my ideal sustainability project would revolve around educating people about nutrition, the implementation of community gardens, and ensuring that everyone has equal access to fresh, healthy, affordable food.
Jonathan
Zhang
Boston,USA
Project bio
Youth Leadership
I want to lead a project to encourage students to use their voice and to become more politically active within their communities as well as more conscientious of the environment. This would include teaching the skills necessary to mobilize and develop as well as connecting them to local leaders and members who are already active in the community. More specifically, I wanted to teach teenagers what they could do in their home community and schools to raise awareness for the environment and sustainable practice and to teach them how to exercise their power in the local community to create sustainable changes.
Luis Mario
Costa Rica, COSTA RICA
Project bio
Ecosystems loss
Let’s start in Illinois: Oak Savannas here have disappeared 99% and there are efforts to conserve them. There are some reserves. But urbanization is going very intensively, that’s why they are building high in big cities but there are problems with overpopulation. Overpopulation has caused many psychological issues and also markets are not doing the effort enough to care about the environment. Education on environmentalism is quite privatized and some of older generations really do not want a change, especially in big cities like Chicago where loans are very common to achieve quality education. This is a big issue to climate change and reserves are just few. Reforestation is needed and Chicago is barely doing something about ecological transition, as it is very full of concrete. One visible issue is colder winters and pollution. A phenomenon happened last year called the Polar Vortex and the loss of biodiversity is one of the factors that caused this. This year there was a tornado alert and weather is very crazy, including the problems with the tunnel effect of building. Some initiatives in the city are green rooftops but considering the size of the city, it is not enough yet. This is an example of many places around the world. Is there something similar happening in other big cities? What are other ecosystems that are disappearing in other cities due to extensive urbanization?
Nicolas
Fuentes
Valparaiso, CHILE
Project bio
Recycling
Since I have worked professionally with robotics before, I have an idea related to machines; We could incentive people’s recycling habits by setting recycling machines, and when someone recycles, they get tokens they can exchange for food or drinks in some food restaurants or similar that has a partnership and support the environment. It would be this because it would be the start of something new in my culture, the majority of the people don’t know about sustainability or the environment, and I think that starting by recycling with incentives behind is a big step and will allow the community to move forward from there.
Patricia
Zanella
São Paulo, BRAZIL
Project Bio
Ecocycle
It would be a project to change women’s life in vulnerability because I believe that sustainability is also take care of the others. I want change the women’s live in my community with the first Brazilian biodegradable sanitary pad, EcoCycle, that I already am one of the co-founders.
Rodrigo
Nunes
Uberlândia, BRAZIL
Project bio
Projects for All
Projects for All is an easy step bu step guide for helping ordinary people to design and execute outstanding projects in their communities and organisations. It is a free pdf file that can be downloaded at http://www.upglive.org/upgsl/projectsforallguide
Shabbir
Esmael
Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Project bio
Sustainability Junior
Reconnecting the younger generation to the ocean through experiential learning by the sea.
Mokwe
Welisane
Yaounde, CAMEROON
Project bio
Welicious Reusable Pads Project
It is a project on reusable sanitary pads. Menstrual Hygiene Management is an area I have keen concern for because of the deplorable situation in my country, the stigma and taboos that surround it. This is even compounded by period poverty which is one of the major challenges in achieving good menstrual hygiene. Many girls miss an average of 50 days of school per year because they cannot afford disposal sanitary pads. Also we the current Anglophone crisis going, many girls and women have fled into the bushes. These girls and women are having a hard time dealing with their monthly period and are forced to use leaves and moss to absorb the flow of blood. Even those displaced to the French speaking regions face the challenge of affording their basic needs, pads being a major challenge. Providing girls with reusable pads will go a long way in enhancing their menstrual hygiene and helping them manage their periods in privacy, safety and dignity. It is important to highlight the environmental factor and benefits of this project. These pads are reusable and eco-friendly thus enhancing a safe, beautiful, washable, and long-lasting alternative along with vital health education. According to a research, environmental impact caused by sanitary waste is a major challenge in the world today. A plastic disposable sanitary pad requires about 500–800 years to decompose. Therefore reusable pads is a sustainable solution.
Andressa
Nunes
Uberlândia,Brazil
Project bio
Vacant Lots Recycling
The Vacant Lots Recycling is a project that not only focus on cleaning and recycling the general waste that people throw in vacant lots.It is a way to build a sense of comunity by getting together everybody from the neighborhood into a sustainable enviroment . With the help of the city hall, the project focus on recycling the waste people don’t usually know where to discard and are very poluent to the enviroment, such as refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, constructionmaterials and even fornitures. A second step of the project is to create a way for this garbadge to be reused, so the population can make, for an example, small fornitues and winextra money with it. It is a way to create a healthier enviroment as well as handicraft training and extra income
Hana
Douglas
London,UK
Project bio
Empowering Worms
How do you engage students in major cities to be more aware about their daily food wastage? By something interactive, tangible, social, easy to start, and most of all, fun. What comes to mind first? Yep, you got it – worms! Empowering worms aims to build a network of young people who actively use vermi-composting in their homes; a simple process that utilises worms to turn food waste into rich and sweet-smelling fertiliser! through a sustainable and interconnected social model, students will feel more involved in fighting enviromental issues together.
Luiz
Ribas
Curitiba, Brazil
Project bio
Inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in the labour market
People with intellectual disabilities are one with less employability. It happens for many reasons, two of the most relevant is that these people don’t have access to the labor market because companies don’t know how to find them and they don’t have the skills needed to match with the companies requirements. So the objective of this project is to deliver information to managers of institutions and schools on how to get in contact with companies and sensitize them on training people with intellectual disabilities in relevant new skills. The objective is to indirectly notice new hirings of people with intellectual disabilities.
Paula
Gabriel
Manaus, BRAZIL
Project bio
Water and Waste Management
I would work with water and waste (trash) theme – here in Manaus (the heart of the Amazon) all the rivers (igarap’s – the “parts of the river) are polluted. And at the 80’s we could swim and fish at those waters. And all the rivers will end up at the oceans. So if we want to clean the oceans, we must also clean the rivers. I would engage and mobilize thousands of people around it, working in a collaborative way to achieve the result I would love to be able too: clean all the rivers.
Bodunrin
Akinrinmade
Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Project Bio
Teach the teachers basic computer applications”.
Children in Africa lack the basic computer skills that would enhance their learning in the classroom. What exacerbates this issue is that teachers that are disseminating knowledge in the classroom do not have skills that would enable them to use computer to teach kids in the classroom. The project I want to embark on under the platform of African Youth Architects is titled “teach the teachers basic computer applications”. This project aims to train 5000 teachers on how to use computer applications in Africa before 2030. Through this project, teachers will be taught how to use Microsoft word, excel, powerpoint and they will also be taught how they can search for relevant information on the internet to prepare their lesson plan.
Effie
Malange
Lilongwe, MALAWI
Project bio
Unemployment Tackling
Cause: High youth unemployment in Malawi Solution: Sustainable Enterprise development Challenge: Organisations can give money for charity but not for enterprise development which is a more sustainable approach. Commercial banks have no risk appetite for start-ups Resources possessed: Working in the financial industry for over 8 years has enabled me to understand SMEs credit risk appetite and financial institution’s lending parameters thus I am able to offer advisory services to SMEs seeking credit. My husband and I are qualified educators and entrepreneurs thus; we voluntarily facilitate free SME capacity building workshops for upcoming SMEs and hold motivational talks at student’s business forums. From the business forums we set up a small fund from our personal savings to pilot funding two viable business startup ideas for a group of University of Malawi students; a button mushroom farming business, a fishing business and one transportation business with a non-University student. The next step is to mobilise a larger resource base for us to lend out to more start up businesses at a profit for sustainability and commit 10% of all profits to a seed capital fund to fund other youth led business enterprises through a soft loan and provide business advisory services at every stage. This would encourage more accountability and still enable us to influence their enterprise decisions while leaving 100% running of the business to the owners. With collaboration an opportunity exists for us to work together with like minded sustainability leaders to co-design, shape, develop and champion an Enterprise development initiative to set up a sustainable private equity fund to finance youth led business enterprises through a soft loan and provide business advisory services at every stage.
Taha
Al-Hasani
Baghdad, IRAQ
Project bio
Peace After War
Many young people in my city fear that there is no place where they can develop their abilities and do things that contribute to making the city a better place. Therefore, my project is to make young people more aware of what is happening around us as well as provide them with the place and ideas of making work on sustainable projects contribute to the improvement of the environment and creates peace by collective and voluntary work.
Rohit
Nayak
Pune, INDIA
Project bio
Samsara
Citizen-lead and community-driven social projects are mushrooming everywhere around the world. Efficient, bottom-up and highly replicable community projects are redefining the way we are tackling our societal challenges today. Still, most of these projects fail to scale or sustain as they face three major barriers; Access to deep knowhow of the systems where problems exist, access to human resources and volunteers, and – the biggest barrier – a continuous source of funds. Samsara is embarking on a journey to change this. Samsara brings project leaders, volunteers, and funders on a single platform to shortcircuit the existing inefficient chain of interaction between them. At Samsara project leaders can post a project, attract volunteers and funds. Volunteers can choose to devote their time and skills to project and causes they care about near them. Samsara enables project leaders to learn from other successful projects, volunteers to learn from project leaders and funders to learn from volunteers and project leaders.
Advait
Padhye
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Project bio
Population Remedy
I would like to work with the indigenous Australian population and create a record of their folk remedies and work with them to introduce these into mainstream society.
Thais
Lima
São Paulo, BRAZIL
Project bio
NGO Food bank
It would consolidate some initiatives that complement each other and organize monthly meetings to exchange experiences, challenges in various aspects, meetings in different formats (panel, lecture, workshops). I have close contact with initiatives such as: I recycle, imperfect fruit, NGO food bank, among others.
Ibrain
Hernandez
Mexico City, MEXICO
Project bio
Fund raising events
I would like to create a project related to government and citizenship. I want to teach other young people about the issues and obstacles that our country is facing and let them know how they can become active citizens in order to fight injustice, violence and corruption. I would like to create a network were every mexican state is represented by a leader and these leaders will be in charged of creating fundraising events, conferences, debates and activities in favor of their communities and active citizens.
Douglas
Giglioti
São Paulo, BRAZIL
Project bio
SDG in Schools
SDG in schools is a project to map and share best practices related to SDG-based educational project in order to value teachers and to inspire educators all over the world. To make this possible, a in-person conference will be hold in São Paulo. Brazil, where teachers will coonect to other teachers, presenting their challenges and results, and fostering a sense of community of people who are currently changing the world through education for sustainability. To expand it over the world, all projects will be complied in a shareable e-book and UPG network will be a partner to spread the world to more than 15 countries.
Rafaela
Viana
Salvador, BRAZIL
Project Bio
Minority Voice
I think I will work for the minorities. People that are understated.
Qing
Feng
Shangai, CHINA
Project bio
Circular Fashion
I will lead the sustainable project regarding sustainable fashion/circular economy because 1. Fashion in now the 2nd most polluted industry in the world, next to petrol industry; 2. I’ve invested a startup named Lablaco based in Station F in Paris, they are dedicating to this topic and has launched a non-profit campaign “fashion foot calculator”, to sum up how much carbon oxygen and water you have saved by circular your waste/second-hand fashion good. This project is now limited to region of France and I am about to bring into China and Asia, in cooperation with some big fashion names such as Kering/Lanecrawford, and also institutes such as Plug and Play, or Impact Hub, to involve more people into this campaign.
Shannon
Finlay
Dublin, IRELAND
Project bio
Green Power
The plan for my project is to start small and create awareness on my University campus through a sustainability club! I want to campaign for more veggie and vegan options and recycling bins on campus! My university is very big so I feel like starting here is the way to go for me, specially since I spend most of my time there. Through the club and through my mini-training sessions I will create an awareness around climate change and sustainability and most importantly the power if one, showing people that even the little things we do as individuals do make a big difference!
Oladipupo
Daniel
Buffalo, USA
Project bio
Regulated Carbon Emission
The sustainability project I will like to run in my community is to get my college commit to be more sustainable by cutting down its carbon emissions through infrastructure improvements such as installation of energy saving bulbs, urinals that use less water and increasing the amount of energy from solar. I also intend to work with the sustainability department and school management to shift to green buildings for new developments. Why this? As a student leader, I am able to lobby and advocate for greener practices. Also, I chose improving infrastructure as I strongly feel green infrastructure can be effective in pushing for sustainability.
Ted
Jacquet
Indiana, USA
Project bio
Population Remedy
I would like to work with the indigenous Australian population and create a record of their folk remedies and work with them to introduce these into mainstream society.
Gabriel
Chaves
Curitiba, BRAZIL
Project bio
Climate Change
As climate change is an urgent topic that people needs to be aware of, I would like to promote a project on which I would go to public schools in my state to talk to the communities about what is climate change and how we need to be aware of it to implement mitigation and adaptation strategies, and what can we as individuals do to promote and to ensure a better future. Climate Change would be the main theme of the project, but I would like to talk about the SDGs in general. This project would count with board games, a lecture on climate change and the SDGs, a discussion on actions that are cheap and can easily improve the community ability to be prepared to face extreme weather events. In addition, as we need to show alternative solutions, I would like to go to the schools on a electric car and also bring some solar powered toys to show how we can use clean technology in our favor. Also, it would be awesome to show low-tech and cheap things that people can do on their lives to be more sustainable.
Marietta
Saldias
New York, USA
Project bio
Recycling
I know that a big part of sustainability projects aim to highlight/promote recycling/climate change problems/contamination. I believe these issues are critical, especially now that there is limited time to start taking action. However, I also think there are other issues that threaten the sustainability of our communities. I believe that the lack of sexual education in schools slows down development and progress. It is known that lack of sexual education can contribute to development of disease and undesired teen pregnancies. However, we do not think enough about the secondary repercussions. If young people develop sexual diseases (that could be prevented with sexual education), then this will become a health care problem, not only for the individual, but also for the family and ultimately for the community. Moreover, undesired pregnancies could lead to economical hardships and difficulties to continue studying. Additionally, people with undesired pregnancies might have to evaluate options such as abortions. This situation is extremely detrimental. First of all, it is likely that if a young person has to consider abortion this will lead to mental health problems. Moreover, this young person might have to confront a situation where they do not have the freedom/right to choose, which might contribute to mental health issues. Lastly, there is an economical aspect added to the situation, since people with means might be able to access resources and medical procedures due to money, which ultimately increases inequality. In my opinion, a society where young people do not get all the knowledge and tools available to protect themselves and others will not be sustainable.
Sandra
Isano
Kigali, RWANDA
Project bio
Unwanted Pregnancy Reduction
Despite the efforts of the Government of Rwanda to raise awareness on unwanted pregnancies’ reduction, the statistics from the Ministry of Health show that in 2018, a total of 17,444 teenagers had unwanted pregnancies across Rwanda. The lack of accurate information about reproductive health is the contributing factor to that. Unwanted pregnancies are associated with various socio-economic consequences such as school dropouts, stigma, maternal complications among others. Most of the interventions that have been implemented focused on raising awareness and promotion of condom use, however, there’s still a lack of accurate information on sexual and reproductive health. As sex is still a taboo in Rwanda, – youth are not allowed to show that they are sexually active, thus it becomes extremely hard for them to access information on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). A sustainability project I would like to lead would be a website that would have two main objectives : To improve access to good quality sexual health services and to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, particularly among teenage girls through the provision of information on different topics: eg: safe sex, periods, contraceptives, etc. The website would have a chatbot where young people book phone calls with experts in SRHR if they need to. That would allow them to access the information they need with the highest confidentiality.
Thalita
Gelenske
Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL
Project Bio
Diversidade SA
“Diversidade SA” aims to be the first and largest virtual learning community to address organizational diversity in Brazil. The goal of this product is to unify in one single (digital) collaborative environment the best content about diversity (live webinars, best practices, discussion forums, etc.), making it available to companies from different sectors and industries, generating exponential impact and networked learning. It’s a B2B product that works in a subscription business model. The company signs an annual plan (subscription) in order to have access to bi-monthly live webinars with specialists. The webinars will also be recorded and uploaded into the platform, so the user can watch it on-demand along with materials, news, discussion forums, and best practices. The subscription will have a great cost-benefit, so we can make this knowledge more accessible and scalable to organizations, wherever they are located in Brazil.
Amanda
Costa
São Paulo, BRAZIL
Project bio
Perifa Sustentável
I would lead a sustainability training at my community. I live in a favela (brazilian slum) in São Paulo and I always come across competent people at my neighborhood, people with a lot of different knowledges and skills. However, these people do not believe that they can have a sustainable life, because they did not have access to higher education. My project would have three main stages: Information sharing: I will share information about sustainability through social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Medium). I am going to invite interested people (they will be coordinators of the project) from my favela to build this project with me. The first step would be asking them to make live videos teaching about recycling, vegetarian food cooking, permaculture, tree planting, plastic use reducing and other issues from the 2030 Agenda. With the videos, I intend to reach out a lot of people in São Paulo and hopefully in other cities in Brazil. Workshops: The second step would be organizing presential workshops with the project coordinators. The goal of these workshops is to share sustainable contents to many people from the community (and in the future, from other communities too). This is the time to create the community. The goal is to organize workshops to share knowledge and to get the hands dirty! I want to show that changing habits is something easier than people think and it is also very funny. This is the moment to show that we can achieve the global goals beginning with local and simple actions. Replicating: In this project, every interested person can become a coordinator and the intention is that these people teach other people how to organize lectures, workshops, and entire projects to take action by themselves. The aim is to promote the SDGs and expanding the project outreach.
Maiana
Brandao
Salvador, BRAZIL
Project bio
Homeless Visibility
I want to continue the project that we are doing in the hub upg in Salvador to give visibility to the invisible people (homeless, people that take garbage), listen his historys and show them with a video or a exposition of photos with his historys Another thing is to help people that enterpeneur because dont have other oppition, i want to give consulting and develop the business
Alejandra
Macias
Bogotá, COLOMBIA
Project bio
Food Cultivation
I would lead a project where I can help communities become sustainable by cultivating food at their places that they can use for their daily food but also to sell it at organic markets so this will also contribute to reduce the consumption of chemicals that can be bad for our health.
Caroline
Busatto
Curitiba, BRAZIL
Project bio
Dona de Mim
It would be reinforcing my ongoing project Dona de Mim, to regenerate community ties, to strenghten women participation in society, to rethink business models to take the nature in count.
Wisma
Urcine
Curitiba, BRAZIL
Project bio
Dona de Mim
I would take “Dona de Mim” to more places and help people understand how the powerful of their actions can be in environment, in equity, in education. I love educational projects in general and I really believe that through education we can change the majority of the issues we face nowadays.
Rosalin
Abigail
Accra, GHANA
Project bio
Fight Against Dyslexia
1 in almost every 10 people is dyslexic. Making 700 million children and Adults worldwide dyslexics however much is not known about dyslexia. “Dyslexia is neurologically based and often hereditary. It is associated with difficulties in reading, writing, spelling and organization.” Dyslexic minds process information differently, I know because I am one myself and have lived through the various experiences. For example growing up I hard time reading, writing, spelling and recognizing words. This affected my academic success but also self-esteem and social-emotional development. The sad part is I did not know I am dyslexic until I was 30 years old and found myself in Switzerland. Example of some successful dyslexics are: Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Tom Cruise, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vichi, David Rockefeller, Whoopee Goldberg, Yet dyslexia is still perceived as a disadvantage and little is known. Schools aren’t designed for dyslexic thinking, and most teachers aren’t trained in dyslexia, meaning many go through life without knowing they’re dyslexic. Working with experts, psychologists and successful dyslexics, the aim of my project is to, develop campaigns, presentations through workshops, films, tools and tests to explain dyslexic thinking in schools, to parents and general public. I aim to democratize dyslexia support so that dyslexic child is identified in Ghana from one region at a time and enabled to get the right help, and to understand their brilliant potential. I want to ensure all dyslexics are identified, inspired and enabled to reach their full potential with focus on Africa. The project work will be centered around Awareness, Advocacy, Tools and Tests and eventually a Help Center for Dyslexia. 1. I am focusing on SDG 4 and 10, which are Quality Education for all and Reduce inequality. 2. All 4 UPG Pillar will be addressed with this initiative. The project values are Inclusiveness, Equality and Trust October is dyslexia awareness month and I will release an article on dyslexia, will Twitter chat hosting a Psychologist with expertise on dyslexia. Will do a radio interview to create awareness of dyslexia. In November will put a call for volunteers to come on board for to plan a big lunch of Dyslexia Awareness Africa organization in mid 2020. 3. Our Stake Holders are – Educational Institute – Ministry of Education – Ministry of Youth – Media Houses – Development Partners like Unicef – Other Related NGO and also Parents. 4. We are addressing the issue of Dyslexia, a very prevalent issue in all communities 5. Desired Results: A Mass Media Campaign to create a well-informed populace about the Facts and Myths of Dyslexia – Educate Parents to detect early symptoms of Dyslexia and how to manage it – Influence Educational Curriculum to consider dyslexic Children and students – Ultimately build a dyslexia Center and make it a Go to Place in 5 years time. Community Assets to tap in – Expertise – Collaborative Partnerships – Funding where applicable – In Kind Support – Media Reach – Social Media Reach
Karim
Mishriki
Alexandria, EGYPT
Project bio
Underwater Clean Up
It was scheduled for last March, however due to the COVID situation it got postponed.
We will dive in the Easter Harbor of Alexandria for 2 weeks/ daily, to clean up the harbor, with the help of 20 volunteer divers and others cleaning up the surrounding beaches..
We have the support of the governor of Alexandria, along with the ministry of Environment & representatives from the UNESCO..
Also a few NGOs from Alexandria are supporting financially..
Thought of sharing with the good news and will keep you posted with lots of rl pictures and videos once the project begins.
Gabrielle
Emily
Curitiba, BRAZIL
Project Bio
Pocket Course
Together with the webserie I have mentioned before, my idea is to launch pocket courses about the “future food” that teaches about social and environmental impact of the consumption and production chain, local and seasonal food and techniques, circular economy, food allergies and well being, plant based flavorful cuisine, food waste, hunger, water management, sustainable packaging, etc. I truly believe I can reach thousands of people with it. My goal is also to speak about the SDGs on both of them, because it is still to much corporative. Is not that easy for everybody to get in touch with the SDGs and apply on their daily lives because there’s no simplified document about it. And I also think it’s kind of “boring”. Making sustainability cool is my biggest dream. Let’s make it funny, let’s engage people because do good is good not just for the world, but for our body, emotions, and souls.
Colleen
Cluett
Cardiff, UK
Project bio
Life’s Principles for Lighter Steps
This event took the form of a workshop led by me, a Life Coach and ecologist and a former colleague, Karen Vickers who is a director of an educational NPO in South Africa. Through the workshop, participants learnt about Systems Thinking, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Life’s Principles from Biomimicry. They then created System’s maps of their lives to create a visual of the structure and components of their lives and the energy flow between these. Using this information they were invited to identify ways that they wanted to refine and improve their system to better reflect their values and to increase their sustainability. They were then invited to set goals related to what they identified. Results: – Short-term: The participants were inspired to make changes to reflect their values and goals and to improve the sustainability of their lifestyles. Some examples of goals included: “Keeping a consumption journal to get an idea of current environmental impact”; “increase my community involvement by creating a neighbourhood supper club”; “making a link to the neighbouring informal settlement to contribute to existing community projects there”; “getting to sleep earlier so that I can support myself and my family better”. – Long-term: To be determined. I am currently working to get feedback from the participants on how they have progressed since the event together and sorted.
Dennis
Wedderkop
Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Project bio
Creating a Digital platform
I am convinced that there are much more citizens interested in sustainability in Düsseldorf than take actions. Two areas I can imagine is creating a digital platform where all sustainability activities are listed with opportunities for involvement. As a second step that could become a local event once a year where all stakeholders meet in person, share best practices and are approachable to interested citizens.
Cavin
Dennis
Jakarta, INDONESIA
Project bio
We Are Enough
I am currently working with my team on building the anti-bullying social movement named #WeAreEnough. We are enough of bullying and we believe this is the right time to act. Our vision is to create a free-bullying society. Our missions are, first, Educating the public about the importance of creating an environment free of verbal, physical, social, and cyberbullying. Second, involving everyone in preventing bullying behavior and protecting victims of bullying by encouraging positive and educative action. Third, supporting anti-bullying alliances, promote justice for victims of bullying and anti-harassment social advocacy targeting children, adolescents, and adults. Fourth, Supporting harmonization and law enforcement in related institutions for the implementation of repressive and preventive approaches to acts of bullying. Fifth, enforcing solutions that include victims and perpetrators of bullying through capacity building by involving related entities.
Paul
Tsolo
Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA
Project bio
National Youth Policy
It would most certainly be to assist the government to develop an implementation strategy for the National Youth Policy 2020, because the policy is by and large the national framework and commitment that government has made regarding the youth, touching on everything that concerns and pertains to the youth. If this policy can be effectively implemented and if better plans are made for the development of the next youth policy, then i believe the effects for the young would be colossal.
Salman
Zubair
Karachi, PAKISTAN
Project bio
Road Safety Awareness
I would arrange a seminar or distribute leaflets about the recycling of different products of daily use or importance of renewable resources for energy generation.
Celio
Samo
Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE
Project bio
Moz World Opportunities
Moz World Opportunities is the largest opportunity discovery platform in the Portuguese-speaking countries that offers equal, free and easy access to unlimited opportunities for young people from Portuguese-speaking countries. Since its launch, MWO has connected thousands of young people from all Portuguese-speaking countries to different national and international opportunities, from scholarships, conferences, workshops, summits and lectures, professional internships and jobs, exchange programs, entrepreneurship events, voluntary work and activities and several other opportunities regardless of the industry. The platform acts as a bridge between young people looking for different types of opportunities and the organizations that have the opportunities to offer … it connects the two parties.
James
Gledhill
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Project Bio
Better Education
I think at the core of moving towards a better future is education. As an architecture student, sustainability is always on the agenda but from talking to my friends I am always amazed at how little emphasis other degrees put on sustainability. That also extends to high schools and beyond that primary schools. At an initial stage I would be looking first at a university level as it is the step before industry so it is the quickest way to get ideas into practice. What I propose is that, ideally working in partnership with University, I would run degree based workshops on the ways to make sustainable decisions in relation to their specific areas of study. I think people are to quick to jump to buzz words that are loosely related to environmental sustainability without understanding the actual impact. I know that when we start an architectural project, a sustainability agenda is assumed and incorporated, and I think this should hold true in all practice. The end goal is to produce a workshop program for students that can be run at various universities and gives individuals specific and meaningful ways of being sustainable in their chosen field. I would also want to develop cross-collaboration between faculties.
Lauren
Sandeman
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Project bio
The Everyday Superhero Project
At its heart, what makes a superhero? They embrace their own unique powers and make their actions today count. Superheroes are beloved across the planet and throughout every generation. In today’s world we need superheroes more than ever, and there are countless ways people can make a difference across the planet. Yet, people can’t seem to recognize their own potential to make an impact as an individual. Podcasts are rapidly growing as a source of entertainment and education, and my project is centered around the creation of a podcast series, ‘The Everyday Superhero Project’, to highlight, interview and discuss the incredible work and initiatives people do around the planet, to focus on individual empowerment for people to become an everyday superhero and to take action in their own unique way. From interviews through to translating the latest big science or news in a way that’s understandable and engaging for people who don’t have this background, I aim to start breaking down that barrier most people have that one cannot make a difference; to engage with and inspire people to take that first step, as well as highlighting and giving an extra voice to the incredible work that happens from people who are driven by their passions to make the world a better and more sustainable place.
Davila
Talemaimaleya
Suva, FIJI
Project bio
Planting Mangroves
Planting mangroves in a sustainable way through ensuring proper monitoring and evaluation is conducted. As mangroves are known as carbon sinks, and take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it within their ecosystem, to provide and shelter for marine and terrestrial life.
Nancy
Sibo
Kigali, RWANDA
Project bio
Sustainability of Food Resources in Rwanda
The double problems of poverty and malnutrition mainly hinder the sustainability of food resources in Rwanda. The country is facing an acute food and nutrition crisis with 44% of children under of five diagnosed with malnutrition or stunting (chronic malnutrition). After the completion of UPD Sustainabilty Leader program, I will be driven by hard work, sustainability and a partnership spirit as my values during the creation of the initiative. I will create and implement the Agro ecological village in order to improve daily living condition of families. The Agro ecological village will be the basis of a development model that meet the dual objectives of poverty and maltuntrition alleviation and environmentally sound development in the south and eastern region of Rwanda. This strategy will prove to be the logical evolution for rural development in agrarian areas. Objectives • Train farmers on agro ecological village development model as a new approach for sustainable community development. • Train farmers on agro ecological farming methods as a means to reduce poverty enhance food security, increase self-reliance and reduce environmental degradation in some of the most impoverished areas of Rwanda. Goals Demonstrate need for the increased food security and improvement of farming systems, Enhance internal organization and farmer leadership. Improve economic situation addressing gender issues and the utilization of agriculture to address food security. Techniques Farmer technical Groups Kitchen table discussion Development Project Strengthening the capacity of farmer organization: where Capacity building will be an ongoing process and a cross cutting model to address issues in all components. The main aspect of capacity building process will be to increase farmers capacity through training using participatory approaches to analyze their local environment and apply ecological principles to their farming methods.
Ben
Ndayambaje
Lincoln, USA
Project bio
Clean Water Resources and Tree Planting
In Rwanda – I would do tree planting, advocate for clean water resources at high schools. Nebraska- Advocate to support refugee families for basic needs such as food, youth education. I think these are important by supporting future generation and creating a better tomorrow for all.
Ayotunde
Samuel
California, USA
Project bio
Universe Awareness
I will create awareness for sustainable practices at Lincoln University, united States. Our natural environment has been misconstrued to be a limitless reservoir of resources. Sustainabilty awareness is the way out and there is need for urgent awareness. My project will Increase Environmental awareness and sustainable practices.
Hafiz
Fawad
Lahore, PAKISTAN
Project bio
Natural Habitat Preservation
I will focus on different areas, with a team of volunteers. The focus areas are: 1. Waste prevention; 2. Natural habitat preservation and restoration 3. Awareness regarding Ozone depletion 4. Awareness regarding sustainability
Oluwatosin
Folorunso
Florida, USA
Project bio
People’s Development
Based on what I currently do with my brand. I will like to lead a project to train people in my community (students/women) on how to effectively recycle their waste and mentor them towards using their individual strength and creative skillset in developing ideas and lasting solutions.
Lyudmila
Stefanova
Idaho, USA
Project bio
Environmental Awareness
I would lead a sustainability on raising environmental awareness in my community. Many of the people at my college are not aware of their impact on the environment and their carbon footprint. People in my dorms leave the lights on and the water tap running which I believe is because of indifference. Indifference is fixable when there is awareness.
Laura
Vecchione
Salvador, BRAZIL
Project bio
Social Pipe
UPG Community Axé Salvador in partnership with Agentes de Empreendedorismo project is giving small entrepreneurs in communities that have no acces to specific knowledge lectures about subjects that can improve their business lika social networks, laws and rules for entrepreneurship, social inovation, etc.
Message from the UPG Sustainability Leadership Project Manager:
UPG Sustainability Leadership is the perfect example of how training and engaging young leaders from different communities can generate worlwide impacts towards the SDGs 2030.
I am very proud to be part of such endeavor between non governamental organisations, private sector and private donors to promote an top class world training for young leaders from various paths of life and more than 20 different countries.
There are no doubts that we will soon be celebrating the outstanding outcomings from the projects designed during the 1 week program in Hurricane Island.
