Nature Uganda (NU) is the branch of the East Africa Natural History Society (EANHS) in Uganda. EANHS was set up in 1909 and thus the oldest conservation organization in East Africa. It started as a scientific organization with the primary aim of documenting the diversity of wildlife in East Africa.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental, science-based conservation organization that works in over 50 countries around the world. Founded in 1896 as the New York Zoological Society, its mission is to conserve wildlife and ecosystems by generating and applying innovative scientific and field-based solutions to critical problems.
The WCS approach to conservation is rooted in our belief that good conservation requires a sound understanding of the ecology and threats to conservation targets. Our credibility is established through scientific work, which acts as a basis for the development of conservation plans that will work in the real world.
United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK) is a federation of organizations for persons with disabilities in Kenya. Its mandate is to advocate for the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in all spheres of life. It is committed to ensure that Persons with Disabilities share an equal platform and enjoy their rights across all sectors of development.
- Animal Shelter – Many animals in Kenya suffer from neglect, cruelty and abuse. We run a shelter for animals in need; such as lost animals or victims of cruelty. We provide care and a safe environment until animals are reclaimed or re-homed to carefully vetted new owners.
- Investigations and Rescue – We respond to over 6000 calls per year to give help and advice to owners on pet care.
- Education & Advocacy – We arrange and encourage school visits to the shelter to teach children about the importance of animal welfare.
- Spay/Neuter Campaigns – We feel strongly that overpopulation of cats and dogs should be controlled by sterilization rather than by the killing of healthy animals. The KSPCA conducts spay and neuter campaigns in lower income areas when funds are available.
- Humane Slaughter– KSPCA was instrumental in introducing humane slaughter of livestock to Kenya. After having seen the way animals suffer in abattoirs, we embarked on a humane slaughter programme promoting the use of captive bolt pistols. We import captive bolt pistols and blank ammunition, which are sold to abattoirs at cost price. Our inspectors teach slaughter house staff on proper use of captive bolt pistols and their maintenance.
The Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) was established in1992 as an international inter-governmental Organization with diplomatic status.This was in response to the convention adopted by the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible For the Environment (CAMRE) , in 1991 and upon the initiative of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Arab fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD).
Ajima Farms Energy Division is an exciting, young social enterprise located in Nigeria that seeks to promote energy access in rural off-grid communities. Their Waste-2-Watt project uses biogas to generate electricity. Through targeting energy access to productive activities, Fatima, the founder of Waste-2-Watt, seeks to ‘transform off-grid communities by expanding energy access for socio-economic development.’ We asked Fatima and Sabrina, from the finance advisory team at BfE, for some more insights into the journey that Ajima Farms has taken so far.
FRIENDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT NIGERIA
Mpala facilitates and exemplifies sustainable human-wildlife co-existence and the advancement of human livelihoods and quality of life. We do this through education, outreach, and by developing science-based solutions to guide conservation actions for the benefit of nature and human welfare.
CYNESA’s Mission is to help young Catholics in sub-Saharan Africa – their movements and communities, individually and with their colleagues – to respond to the twin challenges of environmental degradation and climate change in an effective, coordinated and evangelical manner, culturally sensitive and spiritually grounded. Its mission is to link young Catholics together with colleagues in mutual encouragement and support.
1. Effective : CYNESA aims to create core teams of young Catholic leaders in each country, appreciating what Catholic youth are doing and making these efforts known, strengthening initiatives already underway, and helping potential programs to get off the ground.
“Today the ecological crisis has assumed such proportions as to be the responsibility of everyone…. Its various aspects demonstrate the need for concerted efforts aimed at establishing uties and obligations that belong to individuals, peoples, states, and the international community.” –Pope John Paul II
2. Coordinated in mutual encouragement and support, working not individualistically but as a body, taking advantage of social media to communicate and give shape to this initiative. As in any network, communications is CYNESA’s nervous system and its blood supply too. With Catholic youth scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, communications are vital capillary and nervous systems which help bind us into one body. CYNESA encourages those involved and links them together step-by-step in an active continental network with its own voice and capacity to act and advocate in coordination.
3. Evangelical: As God’s children, we have a special responsibility toward each other and the rest of Creation. Nature is our sister. As responsible stewards and co-workers with Christ, we are part of Creation, not separate from it. We must demonstrate the meaning of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection in our treatment of Creation. We are to begin the process of properly conserving, developing, and restoring Creation, a process that will be completed by God – the Creator (Father), Redeemer (Son), and Sanctifier (Holy Spirit) of the whole Universe.
“For the mystery of the Incarnation of God is the salvation of the whole of Creation.” ~ St. Ambrose (about 339-397).
4. Culturally sensitive: Globalized culture is obviously imposing itself on Africa with irresistible orce, manifesting itself through consumerism and individualism. African indigenous knowledge on the environment has guided communities over many generations in making environmentally sound choices. This knowledge needs to be integrated in current responses, and must not be allowed to erode in the face of globalization. CYNESA aims to make its contribution by engineering its responses in a way which is sensitive to local culture, faith and spirituality, and which works side by side with other agencies in the field, especially within the Church.
5. Spiritually grounded: An ongoing formation of moral conscience and discernment for making difficult choices according to Gospel and Church teaching, is a main pillar in CYNESA’s approach to the environmental crisis. Our relationship with Christ is fundamental in walking the path of social responsibility and responsibility for creation. Such fidelity is the “guarantee of freedom (cf. Jn 8:32) and of the possibility of integral human development.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. We believe that everyone can play a part in ending hunger.
The need for a grassroots organization that would galvanize communities across Africa to positively contribute towards sustainable management of natural resources was an idea born out of a discussion by a group of environment and natural resource management practitioners gathered in Arusha Tanzania in 2010. The idea was subsequently shared with other like-minded individuals and culminated in the formation and subsequent registration of Africa Nature Organization as Non-Governmental Organization on the World Wetlands Day 2nd February 2012. Our focus has been to promote sustainable environmental and natural resource management best practices among grassroots communities working closely with civil society organizations, private sector actors and Government.
Welcome to the Buckminster Fuller Challenge (BFC) archive! Here you will find a comprehensive history of the BFC program and a curated archive of the ‘best of’ entries reviewed by the program from 2007-2017 making visible the vibrancy and dedication of an emerging field of comprehensive, whole-systems designers. This searchable archive is offered as a resource and tool for educators, the design community, and the general public to use to discover the remarkable ideas and successful projects at work in the world today.
ORIGINS AND HISTORIES
In 2010 Fuller Challenge juror David Orr – the esteemed sustainability educator and author – remarked that human civilization has entered the historical equivalent of shooting the dangerous rapids of a treacherous white-water river. With a broken paddle. Blindfolded.
Buckminster Fuller put it in stark relief with this famous question: Are we heading toward Utopia or Oblivion? He challenged his contemporaries to creatively respond to the urgency of this moment by re-framing the crisis as an opportunity pointing to humanity’s “option to make it – to live successfully without compromising the ability for all of life to thrive.”
Fuller demonstrated through his research and design practice that the resources needed for all forms of life on the planet to live in relative peace and prosperity exist. Creatively deployed, these resources are more than enough to raise the standard of living for everybody.
He called for a revolution by design –not political or military – but a revolution driven by the problem-solving creativity of design combined with the empirical demands of science.
Fuller’s practice took a comprehensive approach, starting with the whole; anticipating future trends and needs; employing the scientific method; and aligned with nature’s operating principles. He saw that this way of thinking and doing was to be the future of design. He called his practice design science. And in the 1960’s he launched the Design Science Revolution with an open call to the world’s creative communities “to make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”
In 2007 The Buckminster Fuller Challenge Prize program reintroduced Bucky’s vision. After extensive research we determined that the development of a competitive prize – an open call to anyone creatively addressing any of the world’s most urgent problems – would enable us to accomplish several goals:
1. honor the legacy of Fuller and create a prestigious program that would encourage innovation and recognize integrity;
2. draw attention and support to the thinkers and doers applying a comprehensive, whole-systems approach to designing solutions to the
great challenges we face today;
3. leverage the power of a prestigious innovation prize to demonstrate the importance of whole systems-thinking and its integral function in design-
thinking;
4. educate a new generation of designers to take up Fuller’s Challenge to transform our world through design, by showcasing world class projects
and celebrating the people behind them”,
Over the program’s ten-year history (2007-2017) the Fuller Challenge attracted thousands of initiatives from across the globe, tackling every conceivable issue facing humanity and the planet today. Each team submitted an application that was subject to a rigorous vetting process in which our esteemed review team and juries invested hundreds of hours of investigation, research, and debate to select our honored entries.
First recognized in 2011 by Metropolis Magazine as “socially responsible design’s highest award”, the program conferred an annual grand prize of
$100,000 to a project that best fulfilled the entrance criteria and embodied what we have called the ‘spirit of the Challenge’. Winning projects are visionary initiatives that address multiple problems simultaneously, and evoke inspiration for others to study and replicate.
The winning team also received with The Omnioculi, a commissioned sculpture created by artist Tom Shannon in collaboration with geodesics expert Joseph Clinton.
While one project was selected as the winner, each year the Fuller Challenge program awarded resources and support to an additional 40-60 projects through our Catalyst Program. These projects typically represented the top 20% of the entry pool and received opportunities for additional funding and investment, pro-bono legal services, fast-track access to accelerator programs, mentorship opportunities, and international press coverage.
The projects included in the archive demonstrate that design can and must be applied to every aspect of the global system, and reveal a groundswell of successful solutions to our most complex and urgent problems.
With an expanded view of design’s scope, we were able to recognize design innovation in places and projects that were unusual and new. And in the process we discovered an extraordinary group of passionate people with an unusual capacity to feel a deep sense of generosity for the future. It is our hope that
history will look back on their sacrifice, commitment and creativity to recognize that these were the trimtabs of our time who navigated us to safer shores, calmer waters, a world that works for all.
On behalf of the Fuller Challenge staff, review team and our generous supporters we thank you for your interest in this project and hope you will enjoy this archive!
-Elizabeth Thompson, Founding Director
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
We are working to contribute towards creating an enabling environment for the effective advancement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Post 2015 Development Agenda. UNA Tanzania has been involved in MDGs Awareness for the past eight years and with the MDGs edging closer to expiration in 2015 (as well as MKUKUTA II and FYDP in Tanzania), this experience will help in contributing towards accelerating the achievement of the remaining milestones for Tanzania and taking stock of lessons in implementing the MDGs on how we can do better in the future through the expected SDGs as they are localized in our national development framework.
DEMOCRACY, GOOD GOVERNANCE & HUMAN RIGHTS
Under this area, we are working to promote positive civic and media engagement in the electoral process and advocate for the inclusion and visibility of human rights in the development process and new constitution for Tanzania. Throughout its existence, UNA Tanzania has endeavored to contribute towards strengthening democracy, good governance and human rights; and the establishment of the Tanzania Human Rights Commission, promoting press freedom, conducting national media monitoring in 2000 and 2005 elections as well as civic voter education in 2010 elections have been key program successes for the organization.
PEACE AND SECURITY
UNA Tanzania has been and continues to actively engage in the ICGLR (International Conference on the Great Lakes Regions) peace process. As such, this is a maintained program area where we aim to enhance youth and CSOs engagement in the process. Specifically, UNA Tanzania will be working towards establishment of the national Peace and Security Chapter for the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region peace process; increased representation of marginalized voices – youth, women and children – in the process, and enhanced representation on and intervention against Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
The Mara Conservancy is committed to working with local leaders, communities and partners to sustainably manage the Mara Triangle and its surrounding ecosystem through a transparent and accountable approach that creates a secure environment for wildlife, visitors and the community.
ETC Group works to address the socioeconomic and ecological issues surrounding new technologies that could have an impact on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. We investigate ecological erosion (including the erosion of cultures and human rights); the development of new technologies (especially agricultural but also other technologies that work with genomics and matter); and we monitor global governance issues including corporate concentration and trade in technologies. We operate at the global political level. We work closely with partner civil society organizations (CSOs) and social movements, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
We are..
- Dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. To this end, ETC Group supports socially responsible developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalized and we address international governance issues and corporate power.
- Working in partnership with other CSOs for cooperative and sustainable self-reliance within disadvantaged societies, by providing information and analysis of socioeconomic and technological trends and alternatives. This work requires joint actions in community, regional, and global fora.
- Developing strategic options based on research and analysis of technological information (particularly but not exclusively plant genetic resources, biotechnologies and biological diversity), and in the development of strategic options related to the socioeconomic ramifications of new technologies.
- Focused on global and regional (continental or sub-continental) levels. ETC Group supports partnerships with community, national, or regional CSOs, but does not make grants or funds available to other organizations. We do not have members.
A non-profit organisation specialising in Primate rehabilitation and rescue,
based in Kwazulu Natal – South Africa
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) establishes and manages global sustainable standards, known as the GSTC Criteria. There are two sets: Destination Criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers, and Industry Criteria for hotels and tour operators. These are the guiding principles and minimum requirements that any tourism business or destination should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources, while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for conservation and poverty alleviation.
The GSTC Criteria form the foundation for GSTC’s role as the global Accreditation Body for Certification Programs that certify hotels/accommodations, tour operators, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place. GSTC does not directly certify any products or services; but it accredits those that do.
The GSTC is an independent and neutral organization, legally registered in the USA as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that represents a diverse and global membership, including UN agencies, NGO’s, national and provincial governments, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, individuals and communities – all striving to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism. It is a virtual organization without a main office, with staff and volunteers working from all six populated continents. Financial support from donations, sponsorship, and membership fees allows us to provide services at low costs and to create, revise, and make available the GSTC Criteria.
Membership is open to all interested parties and does not by itself imply endorsement by the GSTC of the policies and practices of the member organization
To find out why we focus on education visit Why Education?
We believe that at the heart of any education system are teachers and schools, and we work directly with them and operate within the school system. Our relationships with teachers and school administrators helps us to build support for the changes that need to take place in schools in order for quality education to be accessible for all. This makes us ideally placed to support the concrete changes necessary if Ethiopian schools are to provide quality, learner-centred education to all children in their community.
COMMUNITY LED EDUCATION
Many organisations take top down approaches to reforming the education system, working at Addis Ministry level without any insight on the every-day experience of schools and teachers. This often results in seemingly progressive education policies that have little impact on the ground. By working directly with teachers, schools, students and parents we are well placed to identify the specific challenges faced by individual schools as well as broader cross-cutting issues within the regional and national education systems. This defines our community-led approach to education, where schools, teachers, students and parents identify their needs, and Link Ethiopia helps them to meet them.
Our presence in the schools also allows us to effectively monitor the results of our activities. We are able to get direct feedback from teachers and students on the effectiveness and challenges of different programmes and projects. Through our work we wish to promote the fact that strong education systems require input and participation of teachers, schools and students in the design and realisation of education reform.
OUR PRINCIPLES
At Link Ethiopia we are guided by three main principles that inform our work. We believe in access to education, ensuring that all groups of Ethiopian society receive an education; quality of education, by improving skills and resources in schools; and global learning through promoting cultural exchange in education. To deliver these outcomes to we run a range of complementary programmes so that all Ethiopian children receive the education that they deserve. Whilst all our work encapsulates these principles, some of programmes are more focussed on 1 or 2 of these areas.
The then mainly colonial administrators and other professionals used to collect specimens from the wild during their expeditions and deposited them into a collection centre, which later grew to become the present National Museums of Kenya.
In Uganda, the EANHS activities continued till the inset of political turmoil in the 1970s. Majority of the society members fled into exile and thus the society activities were halted. When the NRM government took power in 1986, conditions were very conducive to rejuvenate the society activities in Uganda. A few of the surviving members, mainly lecturers at Makerere university, came together in the early 1990s and restarted the EANHS-Uganda branch with a few activities mainly bird watching and nature walks.
By 1994, EANHS-Uganda had attracted more members and engaged in other activities including scientific research, conservation action, public awareness raising, advocacy and research. In response to this and also to streamline operations, the Society was registered as a non-profit independent national organization in 1995 with an operational name: NatureUganda – The East Africa Natural History society branch in Uganda. During the same period, NU joined the BirdLife International partnership and became the BirdLife partner in Uganda.
NU is now the leading membership-based conservation organization in Uganda championing the protection of birds and their habitats.
ACT Alliance is the largest coalition of Protestant and Orthodox churches and church-related organisations engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work in the world, consisting of 155 members working together in over 140 countries to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards.
ACT Alliance is supported by 30,000 staff from member organisations and mobilises about $3 billion for its work each year in three targeted areas:
- humanitarian aid
- development
- advocacy
ACT Alliance is deeply rooted in the communities it serves. It has earned the trust and respect of local people long before large international interventions scale up, and remains steadfast in its grassroots commitments for many years after world attention has shifted elsewhere.
This means that every day, ACT Alliance is on the frontlines:
- addressing systemic poverty
- supporting survivors of disasters, wars and conflicts
- training rural communities in sustainable agricultural techniques
- helping people adapt to environmental change,
- and influencing governments and other key decision makers to safeguard citizens’ human rights.
Members are associated with the World Council of Churches or the Lutheran World Federation.
The global secretariat of ACT Alliance is based within Switzerland, Jordan, Thailand, El Salvador, Kenya, Canada and New York. In addition, the ACT Alliance Advocacy office to the EU is based in Brussels, Belgium.
Founding Documents, Statutes and By-Laws
ACT Alliance Statutes here
ACT By-Laws here
ACT Founding Documents here
International codes and standards
ACT Alliance is a signatory to the highest humanitarian codes and standards, including the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief.
ACT Alliance is a member of the International Council for Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR) and a member of the CHS Alliance.
ACT is committed to the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response and has a seat on the Sphere Board.
ACT is also a member of Reuters AlertNet.
The Renewables Academy (RENAC), based in Berlin, Germany, is a leading international provider of training and capacity building in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Since 2008, about 5,800 participants from more than 140 countries have attended RENAC programmes.
RENAC delivers customised educational solutions, as well as capacity building and market development services that target the entire market value chains; starting from the setting up of political frameworks, to financing, design and installation, through to operation and maintenance of applications. RENAC transfers know-how on solar thermal energy, photovoltaics, CSP, wind power, bioenergy, hydro power, hybrid technologies, grid integration and energy efficiency.
RENAC clients belong to companies, energy agencies, governmental bodies, NGO’s, associations and educational institutes, among others.
Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association (EEJA) is a non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan local organization founded by senior media professionals interested to contribute their share in areas of media, communication, and sustainable development. EEJA was established in 2006 with the support of Henrich Boll’s foundation of Germany and Panos Ethiopia. EEJA has 47 members drawn from international, private and state-owned media houses.