Spotted: Agriculture finds itself at a crucial intersection. It is one of the most vulnerable sectors to the impacts of climate change and yet it is one of the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Figures vary depending on the scope of the study, but in 2019, for example, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that the global food system was responsible for up to 37 per cent of GHGs. The world has a growing population to feed, and yet intensive farming degrades the quality of topsoil, which is where nutrients, water and carbon are stored.
There is a solution already being implemented. Well-integrated and diverse agroecological systems can promote greater carbon sequestration because the methods used actually increase soil health. They also bolster resilience in terms of livelihoods and natural ecosystems thanks to a more interconnected approach between plants, animals, humans, and the environment. This regenerative style of farming does away with the over-use of heavy machinery, eliminates the introduction of chemicals entirely, and considers more diverse ways of both generating revenue and contributing to the health of the surrounding landscape.
For example, George Young aka Farming George, the owner of a zero-tillage, zero-insecticide, arable and livestock farm in Fobbing in South East England, plants a wide range of crops that are harvested at different times. He has also introduced ‘leys’ – temporary grasslands – made up of diverse perennial species. Cattle graze these leys, converting plant carbon to dung, which in turn has a positive impact on soil fertility. Under 30 miles from London and barely 2 miles from the London Gateway commercial port, Fobbing Farm is home to traditional crops as well as approximately 7,000 trees, including fruit and nut trees, birch for sap, willow for tree mulch, and other woodland for felling.
Regenerative farming practices are key to ensuring future food production is sustainable. In the archive, Springwise has also spotted one company providing financial support to regenerative farmers, and another restoring the health of soils with pre and probiotics.
Spotted: Malaria is a leading cause of illness and death and puts huge pressure on strained health systems – in some countries with a high malaria burden, it can account for up to 40 per cent of public health expenditure. One of the organisations working to fight malaria is Landcent Group, which has developed a novel programme to identify new insecticides.
Landcent’s Active Ingredient Discovery Platform investigates natural and indigenous knowledge bases to identify active ingredients for development into biopesticides. Using this platform, the company has screened more than 200,000 natural compounds in just two years.
Already, the company has developed new bio-insecticides that it has incorporated into the yarn used to make mosquito nets; a chewable format for malaria prophylaxis, which is easier for children to take; and a micro-encapsulation technique for anti-malarial sprays. Landcent is also developing new, non-toxic vector controls, including those made using bacteria.
Since its founding in 2011, Landcent has secured more than €10.21 million in funding, including grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and investments from Shan Xiangshuang, of Hone Capital — one of Silicon Valley’s biggest funds.
In 2021, malaria caused an estimated 247 million clinical episodes, and 619,000 deaths. Innovators have responded with various advances. In the archive, Springwise has spotted the use of a smartphone to diagnose the disease and drones that map mosquito breeding grounds.
Spotted: Climate change may appear simple on the surface, but it is a rather complicated topic to teach. And schools could be doing a better job. Data collected by UNESCO from 100 countries shows that only 53 per cent of the world’s national education curricula reference climate change, and 40 per cent included only a minimal level of content. To help individuals better understand the climate crisis, a team led by Lancaster University – which also included researchers from the Universities of Strathclyde and Manchester – has focused on developing accessible and memorable ways of communicating sustainability-related topics – using fairy tales.
Fairy tales are not only for children, and the team is using them to respond to the various challenges of climate change, including electricity generation, low-carbon transport, and plastic pollution. The team has presented three “telling tales” on these topics, using the characters of mermaids, vampires, and witches as metaphors to communicate the typically complicated arguments more engagingly.
The mermaids, or sirens, highlight the potentially dangerous allure of renewable energy sources in the UK, which can cause us to ignore wider issues like excessive energy consumption. Vampires serve as embodiments for cars, sucking the wellbeing out of the environment and communities, while the witches are a metaphor for the broader ‘witch hunt’ against plastics, which puts a narrow focus on the material itself, rather than spotlighting the unsustainable and ineffective systems that can make plastic so harmful. The team worked with illustrator Véronique Heijnsbroek to create corresponding images for the stories.
The team hopes this concept will inspire the science community to communicate energy-based social science research in more digestible formats to engage with those outside of academia. This August, the team is planning to conduct a virtual workshop with other researchers and illustrators to further develop and broaden their collection of characters.
Climate education is essential, and Springwise has spotted many innovations in the archive helping to make the topic more teachable. These include wooden blocks that teach children about energy and using Minecraft to demonstrate the impact of climate change.
Spotted: Biotechnology has been rapidly gaining momentum in recent years, with manufacturers increasingly turning to the natural world both for its unique qualities and sustainability. One of those manufacturers is Swedish Algae Factory, which uses diatoms – a type of unicellular microscopic algae – to produce its new advanced materials.
The company’s first products are a skin cleanser called Algica and a protective coating for photovoltaic (PV) panels. The products are manufactured via a sustainable, circular process that uses wastewater from other local businesses as an energy source, with the cleaned water is returned to its partner organisations for reuse. According to the company, producing one kilogramme of Algica helps clean the atmosphere of at least eight kilogrammes of carbon dioxide and one kilogramme of nitrogen.
The shells of algae diatoms contain silicon dioxide and are extremely efficient at absorbing light and carbon dioxide. By replacing some of the chemicals traditionally used in skincare products, Algica not only reduces the carbon emissions of production, it also makes the products themselves healthier and more effective. In a controlled, double-blind study, external assessors found Algica’s moisturising capability to be the same as hyaluronic acid.
Because the algae grow in salt as well as wastewater, production processes are accessible to communities without a consistent supply of clean water. By eliminating the need for potable water to grow algae, areas can more easily and quickly engage with new opportunities for economic growth, particularly as Swedish Algae Factory continues to explore additional and improved uses of the plant.
A recipient of an EU LIFE grant, Swedish Algae Factory also has a project called Life Sunalgae for large-scale industrial production of an algae-based silicon film that blocks UV light. When applied to PV panels, the film slows the degradation of materials while increasing the solar cells’ efficiency in converting light into power.
Springwise has spotted the versatility of algae being used in a range of innovations in the archive, including in limestone and to power a microprocessor.
Spotted: Resale in fashion has risen in popularity in recent years, and now curators and sellers are taking inspiration from that model to create a burgeoning second-hand furniture market. As demand from shoppers for sustainable home furnishings grows, Berlin-based Cocoli’s online marketplace makes it easy to find high-quality bargain furniture.
The company’s name means Community for Conscious Living, and its resale platform provides expert-reviewed second-hand, showroom, end-of-stock, and vintage furniture or home furnishings from both private sellers and well-established brands. Cocoli partners with companies like Wayfair, Sofacompany, and Kave Home to keep products out of landfill by selling them for up to 70 per cent less than the original price.
Cocoli started with around 200 items for sale. In less than two years, the company has expanded its range of products to 350,000, which will continue to grow as it expands its network of sellers. Individuals wishing to sell on the marketplace fill out an application form. The in-house experts then check items for authenticity, quality, and condition before listing the product online. Sellers do not pay transport fees, and prices include the service fee Cocoli collects for inspecting the product and organising shipment.
The company recently closed a round of seed funding that raised €3 million. The financing will be used to improve automation of technologies, general expansion of the company, and monitoring of the company’s climate footprint.
Creative solutions abound in the homewares industries. In the archive, Springwise has spotted waste materials such as wood and general production waste being turned into beautiful new pieces of furniture and other materials.
Danish design practice Natural Material Studio has unveiled its Human Nature exhibition, which featured compostable biofoam seating and biomaterial textiles, at 3 Days of Design.
The studio designed the Human Nature installation to take full advantage of the large vaulted space at art gallery Copenhagen Contemporary, hanging handcrafted biotextiles that were up to seven metres long from its ceilings.
“We created a lot of materials for this exhibition, I think around 150 square metres,” Natural Material Studio founder Bonnie Hvillum told Dezeen.
“But what’s been really exciting has been the length and height that we have managed to work with – the textiles are over seven metres long.”
Human Nature features metres-long biotextile installations
“It’s something that we are curious about, expanding the scale,” she added. “Spatially, it creates a completely different experience when the textiles come up in the scale and surround us, almost like trees.”
Natural Material Studio uses its own material processes to create its biomaterials. Among the ingredients used for the materials in Human Nature were natural softeners mixed with biopolymers, chalk and clay.
The textiles that were dyed with chalk had a fittingly chalky white hue, while those dyed with clay become greenish.
White textiles were dyed with chalk
As part of the exhibition, which was on show during annual design festival 3 Days of Design, Natural Material Studio wanted to showcase how humans and nature interact in the creation of the materials.
To that end, the biotextile pieces were cast in wooden frames to be handled as they were drying, but were otherwise were left to develop naturally.
Human Nature also featured sculptural seating designs that were made by casting Natural Material Studio’s self-developed biofoam in a three-dimensional frame, within which it was allowed to shape itself.
The resulting square seats come in a variety of colours, including pinkish ones made by using red clay.
Compostable biofoam forms sculptural seating
The material can be composted at the end of its life and will biodegrade in about a month, according to Hvillum.
“The material is biodegradable – you can give it to your chickens,” Hvillum said. “My chickens eat it, I can’t leave it outside!”
The exhibition also includes lighting works, which were constructed by attaching the biotextiles to a metal frame above an LED light, and which mark the first time Natural Material Studio has created lighting designs.
“For a long time we were trying to bring the materials onto the wall,” Hvillum explained.
“This is basically the material suspended over material frames and then we use a LED light to try to work with them like this.”
Natural Material Studio designed lights for the first time
Describing the installation as a “spatial art piece”, Natural Material Studio said the idea was also to allow visitors to touch and interact with the biomaterials, which represent years of research and prototyping.
The handcrafted nature of the biomaterial process comes through in the finished design, with the seats and textiles having kept their rough surfaces and textural qualities.
The natural materials were showcased in an industrial setting
The company is currently working with the Danish National Museum, which conducts research into the longevity of materials such as plastic, to look at how the biomaterials will age.
“They have taken in my materials and we’re going to be having a look at how they age over time,” Hvillum said.
“They can speed the process up so that one month is equivalent to 30 years, so we can very easily see what happens with these materials.”
The installation was on show at Copenhagen Contemporary
Hvillum is also interested in how the biomaterials can be “kept alive”.
“With this research project we try to understand how they change over time and what we can do to prolong life, for example, moisturising them,” she said.
“It’s keeping them alive, basically, which is mind-blowing – actually thinking that we need to water them, just like I water my plants because it’s organic material. You give them a little spritz to moisturise them.”
Bioxtextiles surround visitors “like trees”
Hvillum hopes that the Human Nature exhibition will showcase more of the process of working with different materials, as well as what the materials can do.
“I feel like we sometimes as designers want to force the materials into certain things, and I wanted to really be honest about the process and about what the materials actually do,” she said.
“I think it works quite well as an installation to come in and really start living with these materials, experiencing them and slowly start building these relations.”
Other projects on show at 3 Days of Design include a farmers market inside the Frama store in an old apothecary and an exhibition of emerging designers inside a woodworking factory.
Human Nature was on show from 7 to 9 June 2023 as part of 3 Days of Design. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.
1. Every part of society needs to be included in the transition
The original purpose of ChangeNOW was to showcase entrepreneurs trying to solve concrete issues. But this year the summit included a broad mix of people – from big brands to investors, activists, and artists. Lefebvre explains that this is because the team increasingly understands that the transition to a sustainable world needs to integrate every part of society. What we need, he argues, is complementary strategies because: “If you attack the system on just one side you can’t really change it.”
2. You can look at the issues differently
Lefebvre highlights that CEOs and policymakers at ChangeNOW are discovering frameworks and tools such as Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics and MIT’s Climate Pathways. These are helping them to shift their mindset, and approach old issues with fresh eyes.
3. Connections are key
This year, ChangeNOW has brought together changemakers from all over the world. And while travelling such a long distance is a big commitment, the opportunity for stakeholders to connect is invaluable. For example, Lefebvre highlights how the director of The Great Green Wall, a project pursuing reforestation in the Sahel region of Africa, met the president of COP 15, Alain-Richard Donwahi, for the first time at ChangeNOW.
4. The agenda is broader than climate
ChangeNOW is moving beyond a conventional focus on climate alone, with Lefebvre highlighting that there are four main equations that we must solve together: the climate, biodiversity, resources, and inclusion. Solving these one by one would take many decades, and the planet doesn’t have time for that. We must therefore tackle them at the same time.
5. We need courage
As we make the transition to a more sustainable world, many people will need to show courage. Lefebvre points to the inspiration of one of ChangeNOW’s keynote speakers, Francisco Vera, who, at just nine years old, created a climate change education platform in Colombia. He did this despite the pressures that this brought on him.
To find out more about ChangeNOW and to watch replays of the talks at the 2023 summit click here.
Spotted: According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), our oceans have absorbed 90 per cent of all heat generated by rising greenhouse gas emissions and taken in 30 per cent of carbon emissions. Climate change, along with direct human activity like overfishing, is having a devastating impact on ocean biodiversity. Mapping these underwater environments provides experts with baseline data, with which they can monitor change and plan for mitigation. Belgium robotics company uWare is helping gather that data with autonomous underwater robots.
Called the uOne, the system’s robot inspects both built and natural environments, providing essential data to organisations with underwater assets, as well as those working to conserve and repair marine habitats. The robots are programmed for consistent, continuous monitoring of a certain set of geolocal parameters and run for up to four hours at a time, remaining stable even in harsh weather conditions.
The autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) deploy from shore or a boat and do not require users to be in the water. Monitoring routes are saved and repeated as regularly as required, with bespoke analyses of new locations or highly specific locations added whenever needed.
UWare provides multiple data packages to clients. The initial gathering of data provides high-resolution imagery, depth and temperature readings, and other types of information tracking can be added to the drone’s capabilities depending on the environment being surveyed. The cloud-based uDataboard stores and tracks the data, and users can download raw files for in-house analysis. UWare can also provide visualisations and automated processing for easy, quick review and sharing of information.
AUVs are frequently taking on some of the more dangerous jobs in monitoring the health of the world’s oceans. In the archive, Springwise has also spotted remote-controlled robots monitoring underwater gas leaks and a jellyfish-like robot collecting rubbish.
Spotted: Real estate is responsible for around 40 per cent of total global emissions, with around 28 per cent of that total generated by existing buildings. But the question of how to ensure that any modernisation is sustainable and meets environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements is not an easy one to answer. This is what startup Predium aims to tackle, with its ESG software platform for the real estate industry.
The Munich-based company has developed a platform that provides building owners and managers with a comprehensive overview of the ESG status of the property. The platform collects information on energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and other building information from a wide variety of sources. Then, the system performs a precise profitability check of various modernisation measures.
The platform is designed to allow users to prioritise the measures that best meet ESG benchmarks and cost savings, while allowing them to track implementation. Predium also supports reporting of any measure taken, and their effects, to investors, boards, and regulators.
Founded in 2021, Predium raised €1.6 million last year in a seed funding round, and has been growing fast since.
Improving the efficiency of the built environment is crucial to reaching net zero. Luckily, there are no shortage of ideas on how to achieve this. Take a look at our archive for some that Springwise has spotted, including environmentally friendly concrete and wood-based, fossil fuel-free insulation.
Spotted: The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s 2023 report on the status of the world’s stock of fish assessed the annual global tuna catch to be around 4.8 million metric tonnes. With many markets completely reliant on wild-caught tuna, aquaculture is scrambling to provide a reliable, scalable alternative to the many types of tuna that are consistently overfished. Germany’s Next Tuna is building one possible solution in the form of the world’s first land-based source of Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT). The company’s goal is to transform the tuna fish food industry into a circular, sustainable economy.
Using a recirculating aquasystem (RAS), the company’s floating farms are protected from heat increases in the water, algal blooms, predators, and pollution. Waste from the system is collected for use as fuel or in seaweed production, and the farm itself is largely solar-powered. Next Tuna plans to offer three products and services. Juvenile ABT will be grown for producers to use in their own commercial farms. The RAS will be available for sale for use with other species of fish, and the entire system will be available as a bespoke aquaculture-as-a-service offering.
Next Tuna is currently constructing a commercial farm in Spain. Once finished, the farm should have a sufficient supply of eggs to be running at full levels of production based only on farmed tuna and no longer requiring the use of any wild-caught juveniles. The company is working with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) to gain a sustainability certification for the farmed tuna.
From using improved soils to a platform that optimises agriculture in hot climates, Springwise is spotting many other innovations working to make the world’s food production more resilient and sustainable.
