Mundo Marino, a Spanish company operating along the Mediterranean coast (Valencia, Costa Blanca, and Málaga), has integrated sustainable practices into nautical tourism through the design and operation of hybrid and electric catamarans. The flagship vessel Mundo Marino Eco combines sail power with Torqeedo Deep Blue electric propulsion, solar panels, and hydrogeneration systems. This innovation reduces carbon emissions by 40% compared to conventional vessels, achieving an average of 22 g CO₂ per passenger/km.

The project goes beyond tourism, serving as a platform for environmental education, citizen science, and collaborations with research institutions in marine biodiversity monitoring. By offering sustainable maritime mobility and raising awareness among thousands of visitors each year, Mundo Marino contributes to reducing pressures on marine ecosystems, aligning with the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework and supporting the 30×30 target in Mediterranean coastal waters.

This solution is part of Sparśa, a Nepali non-profit initiative producing compostable menstrual pads made from locally processed banana fiber.

It describes the first phase of the production chain, detailing how banana pseudostems are sourced from farmers and processed at a factory near the plantations. The solution includes replicable CAD-supported designs for semi-automatic fiber extraction and pseudostem-cutting machines, enabling local manufacturing and adaptation. It also outlines sustainable fiber-drying methods and a circular system that converts the remaining biomass into organic compost fertilizer, which is returned to farmers. The extracted fiber is then turned into absorbent paper sheets used as the core of Sparśa menstrual pads. Overall, the solution strengthens circular economy practices, creates rural employment, empowers women, supports environmentally responsible menstrual hygiene options in Nepal, and offers a model that can be replicated in other banana-growing regions worldwide.

In Panama’s western highlands, small coffee farmers face growing pressures from pests, plant diseases and climate change. Heavy reliance on chemical pesticides has harmed biodiversity, degraded soils and threatened pollinators. This solution shows how endophytic fungi, microorganisms that live naturally inside plants, can serve as effective biological pest control adapted to local conditions. Fungal strains were identified and transformed into low-cost formulations that were tested on coffee farms, where they significantly reduced the need for chemical inputs. The initiative brings together scientists, government institutions and local communities, with a strong focus on training and empowering women farmers. By addressing biodiversity loss, land degradation and gaps in technical capacity, the project strengthens sustainable livelihoods and climate resilience. Farmers benefit through higher yields, lower costs and healthier ecosystems, creating a scalable model for sustainable coffee production in Panama and beyond.

The HandyHeroes Project leverages the idea of “small repairs, big impact” through three key innovations: activating community-based talent (technician training), integrating community service with market mechanisms, and standardizing carbon reduction. These innovations address challenges such as service shortages in older residential communities, the lack of transparency in market-based repair services, and difficulties in managing household products without warranties. Currently, the HandyHeroes project provides services to over 450 residential communities across eight main districts of Xi’an, China. The model has also been adopted in 10 cities covering 100 communities nationwide, creating a low-cost, low-barrier, and sustainable approach to community micro-renewal and senior services. The Project’s achievement is reflected not only in carbon reduction metrics and tangible improvements to neighborhoods but also in raising public awareness that “repairing products is a form of environmental protection.”

The Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (HHRT), covering 16,603 hectares in Southern Yunnan, was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2013 under criteria (iii) and (v). The cultivation of traditional rice has deeply moulded the landscape and shaped the farming culture of Hani people which have sustained these terraces for centuries. However, deep social changes make the sustainability of the terraces uncertain. Ecological challenges combined with loss of traditional knowledge menace the conservation of this spectacular landscape. In order to address these challenges, before the inscription of the site, Honghe prefecture developed a strategy which focuses on the recovery of the traditional water management system based on the water-wood concept and the restoration of traditional leadership. Through participatory research and a multi-level partnership, this initiative has ensured water supply to villages and sustain terraces while recovering ancient cultural practices.

Water is an essential requirement for human survival and economic development, but is an increasingly limiting factor in areas undergoing climate change and increased urbanisation. Many of the available freshwater resources supplying the world’s cities are undergoing degradation due to poor management and the introduction of pollution from direct and indirect (diffuse) sources. A large proportion of water pollution originates from non-point sources, from both urban and agricultural areas, which makes tackling the cause of the problem a challenge. A complementary solution to traditional water treatment methods is the use of vegetation in slowing the flowrate and removing contaminants from freshwaters. The Earthwatch Institute launched an investigation in the Valle de Bravo watershed in Mexico to research the efficacy of vegetation strips as buffers to water pollution in the region.  

Earthwatch India addressed knowledge gaps in the management of urban lakes, wetlands and green spaces by researching how these ecosystems can increase the resilience of urban areas to impacts from climate change and urbanisation, whilst delivering benefits to people and wildlife.

In Bengaluru, Earthwatch is working with the Indian Institute of Science to study the impacts of land-use change and influence of human settlements on green buffer areas surrounding and protecting key urban lakes. Results are being used to create a framework for assessments of these lakes and their roles in driving blue-green infrastructure development.

“The environmental quality of an urban lake has an immediate bearing on the quality of the fringe habitations, specifically in terms of air and water quality. By addressing issues that concern urban blue and green spaces we can mitigate air and water quality issues, enable temperature and flooding control and provide a buffer for habitats.” – Prof. Sudhakar M. Rao, Indian Institute of Science

Biomatrix specialises in water restoration. Our Floating Ecosystems are engineered to improve water quality within rivers, lakes, ponds and canals as they increase aquatic life, leading to a balanced and revitalised waterscape.

Floating Ecosystems inject life into an area, as the islands provide an opportunity for nature and wildlife to take hold. Islands break up open water surfaces and provide shade under water. Plant roots provide habitat for Microbes to break down pollution and nutrients, and are a shelter and feeding ground for small fish. Mechanical aeration can further improve water quality. Birds can find an undisturbed nesting and resting space in areas where there is often little safety.

The Biomatrix floating ecosystem structure is designed to make wetland creation and water restoration possible, even in locations with waves, changing water levels, hard edges and fast currents. The structural floating technology allows thriving wetland communities to be created in challenging and dynamic waterbodies.

CurieuzeNeuzen is a Flemish wordplay that is difficult to translate but refers to someone who is curious to learn. It is the largest ever citizen science project to monitor air quality throughout the Flanders region of Belgium. Over 53,000 candidates registered, from which 20,000 citizens, but also organisations, schools and companies were selected to participate. They each received a user-friendly toolkit that enabled them to measure their street’s NO2 concentration which is primarily released from the burning of fossil fuels. Participants attached a V-shaped billboard onto their first-floor window on the street side. Two passive NO2 samplers attached within collected data from April 28 until May 26 in 2018. Participants were eager to know their results as more than 99% returned their tubes for processing. Internationally, this was the first time that citizens were actively involved on such a large scale in a scientific project on air quality which yielded incredibly detailed results.

In South Africa almost 90% of South Africa’s marine plastic pollution originates from its own river systems.​The Litterboom Project (TLP) uses a large pipe that is anchored across the river, which acts as a catchment for all surface-level plastics- which are predominantly HDPE and PET. This preventative measure is set up strategically where it can collect the most rubbish and where the team collects, sorts, and sends the plastic off for recycling.

The Centre for Environmental Justice and Development (CEJAD)aims to combat plastic and waste pollution by promoting sustainable solid management through public education on impacts of plastics to the environment and demonstration of BATs/BEPs such as source separation of waste, reuse, recycling and recovery as well value chain efficiency.

The project seeks to conduct the following activities:

• Equipping the women artisans with machinery, tools, and equipment for making sculptures and items out of plastic waste.
• Training women artisans on product development and packaging.
• Establishing a pilot waste segregation at source and management system for recovery, reuse, and recycle of plastic and other waste.
• Training women artisans on marketing and how to maintain market linkages.
• Undertaking a market research for their products.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a key concept for ‘closing the loop’ in the packaging value chain. 

The EPR Toolbox, developed by the PREVENT Waste Alliance, is a collection of internationally relevant knowledge on the topic of EPR for packaging. Its aim is to promote knowledge exchange and enhance development of EPR systems worldwide. It contains detailed training materials on EPR and provides an introduction to a number of distinct issues, such as roles and responsibilities, finance, or collection and recycling of packaging waste. 

Practical country examples and a set of FAQs offer a more in-depth understanding on the complex issue of EPR. The EPR Toolbox is therefore a collection of building blocks that can be adapted and applied to different contexts. It will be available in Vietnamese, Bahasa, Thai and Chinese.