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How can coastal communities mitigate and adapt to climate change while developing and prospering?

Coastal Communities

Closed

Submissions are closed

Timeline

  • Solution Deadline

    March 1, 2018 11:59pm EST
  • Challenges Open

    March 1, 2018 11:59pm EST
  • Applications Open

    January 1, 2019 12:00am EST
  • Deadline to Post a Solution

    July 1, 2018 11:59pm EDT
  • Edit Your Posted Solution

    July 20, 2018 11:59pm EDT
  • Final Revisions Due by 5pm EST

    July 20, 2018 11:59pm EDT
  • Solve Challenge Finals 9/22-9/24

    September 22, 2018 11:59pm EDT
  • Solver Teams Selected

    September 23, 2018 11:59pm EDT

Challenge Overview

Over 30 percent of humanity lives near coasts, ranging from massive cities to key ports and naval bases to small islands. The effects of climate change—including sea level rise, stronger storms, ocean warming and acidification—are causing increasing negative impacts on these communities’ lives and livelihoods. For the 600 million people supported by the fishing industry, a majority of them women, overfishing, pollution, and acidification threaten their livelihoods and the fragile ecosystems on which they depend. In cities and elsewhere, some communities already face regular flooding due to higher tides, some will see more frequent natural disasters, and others will see tourist-attracting coral reefs or surfing fade.

Further, as 60 percent of global GDP and 90 percent of global trade moves through coasts, increased flooding or damage to port infrastructure poses risks for communities and businesses alike, whether or not they are near the ocean. In addition, coastal and ocean ecosystems absorb 25 percent of our excess CO2, but are often degraded through coastal development, making climate change harder to mitigate.

While facing numerous impacts, coastal communities from Puerto Rico to Dhaka also have the potential to demonstrate resilient and sustainable ways of living near and with the ocean. Doing so will require people to have access to new technological solutions—along with new ways to envision and enact hard decisions about economies, society, and infrastructure. The Solve community aims to find innovative solutions to support and enhance coastal communities, while mitigating and adapting to climate change. To do so, Solve welcomes solutions from innovators around the world that:

  • Increase the viability and scale of sustainable economic activity from oceans, ranging from fishing to energy production to tourism

  • Provide cost-effective infrastructure approaches to improve resilience in the face of increased storm-, sea-, and tidewater

  • Rebuild or replicate mangroves, corals, and other ecosystems to restore historic functions, including storm surge absorption, carbon uptake, and stable fisheries

  • Enable coastal communities, governments, and corporations to use data to understand and make complex decisions around sustainable and resilient development


Solver Funding, Prize, and Partnership Eligibility for the Coastal Communities Challenge

Solver Funding

All solutions selected in Solve’s four current Global Challenges will receive a $10,000 grant funded by Solve. Solver teams will be selected by a panel of cross-sector judges at Solve Challenge Finals during UN General Assembly week in New York City on September 23, 2018. The deadline to apply is July 1, 2018.

In addition to Solve funding, Solver teams who also fulfill the criteria below are eligible for the following prizes and partnerships. You do not need to meet these requirements to apply to the Coastal Communities Challenge:

Artificial Intelligence for the Betterment of Humanity Prize

Solutions that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the human condition are eligible for this prize. This prize is made possible by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and our global community through information technology. Up to four recipients of the Artificial Intelligence for the Betterment of Humanity Prize will receive an initial grant of $25,000 each when selected during Solve Challenge Finals in September. One of these Solver teams will then be eligible for an additional grant of $100,000 to be announced at Solve at MIT in May 2019. Eligible Solver teams may be selected from any of Solve's four current Global Challenges.

RISE to make $1 million in investment funding available for resilient infrastructure solutions:

Solutions that address one of five resilience sub-topics might be eligible for a partnership with RISE. RISE's mission is to catalyze innovation and growth around creative solutions in the areas of sea-level rise, recurrent flooding, and economic resilience. Teams must be willing to demonstrate their solutions in the Hampton Roads region of Southeastern Virginia, USA. RISE will provide eligible applicants access to data and background information for each sub-topic as well as access to regional subject matter experts. Qualifying teams from the Coastal Communities Solver class will have the opportunity to be considered for investment from RISE’s $1 million investment fund.

UN Women She Innovates Prize for Gender-Responsive Innovation 

Solutions that are women-led or use innovation to advance the needs of women and girls are eligible for this prize. This prize is founded by UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change. The grant is made possible by Citi, with additional support from SAP Next-Gen. One Solver team will be the recipient of the UN Women She Innovates Prize for Gender-Responsive Innovation, and will receive a grant of $30,000 when selected during Solve Challenge Finals in September. Eligible Solver teams may be selected from any of Solve's four current Global Challenges.

Blockchain for Social Impact Prize:

Solutions that make use of the Ethereum blockchain are eligible to be selected as one of four ConsenSys Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition (BSIC) Fellows. BSIC is a global network supporting social and environmental impact through blockchain-based innovation. Each Fellow will receive $5,000, a two-month minimum residency at a global ConsenSys location, and the opportunity to participate in a bootcamp in Santa Monica, CA. Successful residency can lead to additional funding or investment from ConsenSys Ventures or other members of the coalition. Applicants must include a link to a published white paper in their application by July 20, 2018. Eligible Solver teams may be selected from any of Solve's four current Global Challenges.

Judging Criteria

  • Alignment: The solution addresses the challenge that has been set forth using technology.
  • Scalability: The solution can be grown and scaled to affect the lives of more people.
  • Potential for Impact: The planned implementation of the solution has the potential to impact lives.
  • Innovative Approach: This is a new technology, a new application of a technology, a new business model, or a new process for solving the challenge.
  • Feasibility: It is feasible to implement the solution, and the team has a plan for the solution to sustain itself financially.

Solutions

Selected

Marauder Robotics: Marauder ONE (M1)

By Dennis Yancey
Dennis Yancey Arthur McClung Marc Minotto
Selected

GROW Oyster Reefs!

By Evelyn Tickle
Evelyn Tickle David Richards Josef Rieger Julie Bargmann Dana Goldsmith Brian Williams
Selected

Green Stream Flood Monitoring and Warning System

By Karen Lindquist
Karen Lindquist Larry Atkinson Tal Ezer Wouter Deconinck Rand Walker Michael Parkour James Gray Mouhamed Rebeiz
Selected

Wave2O - Clean Water From Ocean Waves

By Olivier Ceberio
Olivier Ceberio
Selected

Maritime Blockchain Labs: Shipping Emissions MRV

By Deanna MacDonald
Deanna MacDonald Katherine A. Foster
Selected

ISeeChange

By Julia Kumari Drapkin
Julia Kumari Drapkin Isaac Chansky Lindsey Wagner Dan Leininger Jean-Philippe Lapierre Samantha Harrington
Selected

Highland rice farming for those who affected by SLR

By Sungjin Choe
Sungjin Choe Young Hoon Choe
Selected

GREEN KEEPER AFRICA, a flower against pollution

By Fohla Mouftaou
Fohla Mouftaou Genevieve Yehounme
Selected

ColdHubs

By Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu
Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu
Finalist

Riskmap: Real-time Flood Information Sharing Platform

By Miho Mazereeuw
Miho Mazereeuw Aditya Barve Mayank Ojha Abraham Quintero
Finalist

BCoSE: an AI-backed planning tool for coastal resilience

By Joyce E. Coffee, LEED AP
Joyce E. Coffee, LEED AP Jessica Ruvinsky Theodore Wong
Finalist

EarthSpark's Participant Power

By Allison Archambault
Allison Archambault Madison Sturgess Rachel McManus
Finalist

Biogenic Coastal Solutions, Let The Oysters Do The Work

By Tyler Ortego
Tyler Ortego Matthew Campbell
Finalist

ECO - Coastal Liners

By Adi Neuman
Adi Neuman Shimrit Perkol-Finkel
Finalist

FishCoinOA

By Katharine Leigh
Katharine Leigh Alistair Douglas Jayson Berryhill Mark Kaplan

Meet the Judges

Leadership

Paul Robinson

Paul Robinson

RISE || Judge for The RISE Award for Coastal Community Resilience, Executive Director
Pina Albo

Pina Albo

Hamilton Insurance Group, CEO
Heidi Nepf

Heidi Nepf

MIT, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Marci Bortman

Marci Bortman

The Nature Conservancy, Director of Conservation Programs
Nicole Hu

Nicole Hu

OneConcern, Co-Founder and CTO
S. Atyia Martin

S. Atyia Martin

All Aces, Inc., CEO & Founder
Kerry Emanuel

Kerry Emanuel

MIT, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science
Cherie Nursalim

Cherie Nursalim

GITI Group, Vice Chairman
Jerry Gupta

Jerry Gupta

Swiss Re, Senior Vice President
Dara Akala

Dara Akala

Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), Executive Director
Carolina Bastidas

Carolina Bastidas

MIT SeaGrant, Research Scientist
Aimee Gonzales

Aimee Gonzales

Partnership in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Executive Director
Marcus Winter

Marcus Winter

Munich Re, Head of Division, Reinsurance Development
Gerard Alleng

Gerard Alleng

Inter-American Development Bank, Climate Change Senior Specialist
Fran Ulmer

Fran Ulmer

U.S. Arctic Research Council, Chair
Steve Fletcher

Steve Fletcher

UN Environment - World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Chief Strategy Officer
Jacqueline Uku

Jacqueline Uku

Western Indian Ocean Marine Sciences Association, President