What is the name of your organization?
Better World Museum
What is the name of your solution?
Coral Collective
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
A mobile virtual coral reef co-created by 1M+ global users to spark ocean action, raise funds, and send the reef to the Moon.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Minneapolis, MN, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
USA
What type of organization is your solution team?
Other, including part of a larger organization (please explain below)
If you selected Other, please explain here.
Better World Museum intentionally partners with a local arts nonprofit, United Artists Collective, as our fiscal sponsor for Nonprofit initiatives and grants. We foster long-term relationships with diverse-led small businesses.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Out of sight, out of mind is a major barrier to action and funding for SDG 14: Life Below Water. The ocean’s vastness and the overwhelming scale of coral bleaching—affecting over 50% of reefs globally—creates a sense of helplessness and inertia. Because coral loss is invisible to most people’s daily lives, urgency and ownership are often absent.
Our solution addresses this invisibility through accessible virtual world-building. We empower people—especially women, teens, and underrepresented communities—to create 3D coral and immersive reef environments using AI-generated tools within Meta Horizon Worlds. Participants can place a coral in a shared reef in under 5 minutes, join a 1-day build-a-thon, or enroll in a 6-week incubator.
By building a mobile-accessible virtual coral world, we transform passive concern into active participation. This gamified, creative action breaks inertia and catalyzes a global movement. The reef becomes a platform for fundraising, education, and international coral summits—available to anyone with WiFi.
Over 1 million people could participate in the Coral Collective, creating visible, communal action to restore visibility and hope for our oceans. Together, we are making coral—and its protection—seen, felt, and possible again.
What is your solution?
The Coral Collective is a mobile-accessible virtual coral reef co-created by a global community to inspire climate action and digital empowerment. Using Meta Horizon Worlds and AI tools—such as Udio AI for immersive audio, and AI-generated 3D models, textures, skyboxes, and Typescript code—participants design and place coral into a shared virtual reef.
Anyone can contribute in under 5 minutes, or dive deeper by joining a one-day world-building workshop or a 6-week incubator focused on immersive storytelling, tech literacy, and ocean education. The project especially uplifts women, youth, and underrepresented communities to become environmental creators.
The reef serves as a global gathering space for virtual summits, education, fundraising, and creative expression—accessible via mobile phone wherever WiFi exists. Through this virtual world, we transform passive concern into joyful action.
In a groundbreaking next step, the Coral Collective is being submitted to go to the Moon, symbolizing humanity’s shared responsibility for ocean restoration across Earth and space.
View our early community-built coral designs here: https://youtu.be/6P1hI8PmQtg?si=L5HkzznotHn46f9U
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
The Coral Collective serves women, teens, and diverse creators, especially those aged 13–23—who are often underrepresented in emerging technologies and environmental leadership. These groups face limited access to immersive tools, mentorship, and opportunities to meaningfully engage in global challenges like climate change.
Our solution provides a pathway for these underserved communities to gain agency through accessible, joyful world-building. Participants learn to create 3D coral, immersive environments, and interactive storytelling using Meta Horizon Worlds and AI tools, including Udio AI for audio and AI-generated code and assets. Through one-day workshops or 6-week incubators, they develop real-world skills in immersive design, AI literacy, and digital collaboration.
This hands-on creative experience helps build confidence, leadership, and a sense of belonging in tech and climate spaces—fields where they are often excluded. It also connects them to a global movement for ocean preservation, where their creativity becomes a visible, impactful part of something bigger.
By building coral, they build futures: for themselves, for their communities, and for the planet. Our mobile-first approach ensures wide accessibility, so more young people—regardless of geography—can take part in shaping both virtual and real-world change.
