sustainable vision

Join Sustainable Vision Connect!

Join an international community of faculty who seek to address global challenges through technology and market-based innovation

Join today! Membership is free.

 

Connect for practice

Sustainable Vision Connect brings together faculty who

  • Prepare students to create cross-sector solutions to global problems
  • Build university programs that teach culturally appropriate technology and market-based innovation
  • Promote the launch of scalable businesses, like Greenlight Planet. Watch the video:

 

Who should connect?

University faculty worldwide:

  • From a broad range of disciplines, including engineering, design, sciences, social sciences, business and entrepreneurship
  • With demonstrated commitment to teaching field-based innovation that addresses global problems
  • Who are dedicated to reciprocal partnerships with end-users

 

Join today!

 

If you have any questions about Sustainable Vision Connect, contact Anne Hendrixson.

 

Apply for now a Villgro Fellowship!

If your desire to make a difference to the world was somehow lost in your search for a stable career, here is your chance to rediscover it.

As a Villgro Fellow, you will work with a social enterprise for one year, applying your skills to create real impact in rural India. In charting a better road map for the social enterprise, you may find your own road less traveled. Many Villgro fellows have gone onto work/consult for social enterprises or pursue further studies in the social sector.

Apply for a Fellowship.

Connect for Success

By joining Sustainable Vision Connect, you'll have access to:

Advisors

Iqbal Quadir, Director, Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT

Paul Polak, Founder, International Development Enterprises

Amy Smith, Founder of the D-Lab program at MIT

Paul Hudnut, Co-Director of the Global Innovation Center for Energy, Environment and Health at CSU

 

Principal partner

 

Case studies: global technology projects funded by NCIIA

 

 

Grants Funded by NCIIA: Sustainable Vision

Grants Funded by NCIIA: Sustainable Vision
Below are Sustainable Vision grants funded by NCIIA in recent years. Click any link for more information about the grantees, their project and their institution.
View all grants funded in most recent cycle.
2009

Affordable Universal Socket
for Amputees in Third World Countries Building on Tradition:
Indigenous Green Housing Cycle Ventures:
The Rickshaw Bank Partnership Enabling Effective Management
of Neonatal Jaundice in Rural India Flexible Ad hoc Networks
for Scarce Environments Pico-hydro Electric Power
for Isolated Villages Improved Rural Health Care Through
Low-Cost Telecommunication in Waslala, Nicaragua SocialLite Sustainable Venture Accelerator The Human-Powered Nebulizer
in Central America

 
2008

Advanced Field and Laboratory Testing
for a Sustainable Solar Sanitation System Affordable Solar Thermal Microgenerator Technology
for Rural Cogeneration in Southern Africa Building A Global Network to Support Sustainable
Information and Communication Technologies Entrepreneurship in Senegal Building a Global Sustainable
Supply Chain for Appropriate Technology Clean Water and Energy Technology
Enterprises for Ifugao, Philippines Engineering a Sustainable Business Model Framework for
Scalable Mobile Entrepreneurship in the Developing World GlobalResolve: Development of a Sustainable
Gelfuel Business in Rural Ghana High Efficiency Stove Microenterprise Low-Cost Solar/Wind Drip Irrigation
for Small Farmers in Developing Countries Mashavu: Networked Health Solutions
for the Developing World Sustainable Community-based Arsenic Removal Systems in Remote
Villages of Cambodia in South East Asia

 
2007

Battery Certification Program for
Lead Battery Manufacturing in Vietnam Developing Sustainable
Off-Grid Energy Systems in Rural Mali Low-Cost Solar
Water Heater Sustainable Technology-Based
Entrepreneurship for the Senegalese Market GlobalResolve: Starting a GelFuel
Business in Rural Ghana Hydraulic Hybrid Retrofits
for Developing Nations International Partnership on Safe Water
Technology for Rural Communities in Developing Countries Pico-Hydropower Franchising:
A Test Bed in Rural Honduras Strengthening Manufacturing Capacity of Burmese
Metalworking Firms to Promote Sustained Development Development of a Business Model for the Implementation
of a Sustainable Point of Use Water Filter Program in the Dominican Republic

 

Sustainable Vision TeachingLab 2011 - Presentations

Presentations from the Sustainable Vision TeachingLab
June 13-17, 2011
Colorado State University

Cindy Gilbert

Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Lupita Montoya
& Robyn Sandekian

University of Colorado, Boulder

Dr. Susan Addy
& Daniel Wilson

University of California, Berkeley

Camille George
& David Gasperino

University of St. Thomas

Harold O. Fried
& David A. Hodgson

Union College

John Gershenson
& Kurt Paterson

Michigan Technological University

Adream Blair
& Jay Kapellusch

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Liliana Becerra
& Nathan Allen

Art Center College of Design

Janak Dave
& Janet Dong

University of Cincinnati

Jess Everett
& Jen Kadlowec

Rowan University

David Andersson

Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship

Mónica Vásquez Del Solar

RAMP Peru

Greg Ziegler
& Ricky Bates

Penn State University

Charles "Casey" Goodwin
& Lawrence Darkwah

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi

Vin Pizziconi

Arizona State University

Marian McCord

North Carolina State University

 

AYZH wins World Health Care Congress Award

Submitted by dave on Thu, 04/28/2011 - 09:08

2009 NCIIA E-Team grantee, AYZH, was among projects honored this month as part of the WHCC Affordable Health Innovations Exhibit in Washington, D.C. AYZH is a social venture looking through the eyes of women to identify the tools they want and need to help improve their standard of living. AYZH's main focus is preventing maternal and new-born deaths, by distributing affordable clean birth kits to women and clinics (that cost $2) that dramatically reduce lethal childbirth infection.

Sustainable Vision 2011 - Presentations

Presentations from Sustainable Vision 2011 are listed below. Please click a title to view media from each presentation.

Engaging Ethiopian Students to Explore the Viability of Cyanobacterial Bio-fertilizer Production to Improve Soil Fertility and Crop Yields in Africa, Colorado State University

Presenters: Jessica Davis & Michael Massey

Increasing Smallholder Farmer Income through Appropriate Technology in the Jatropha Biofuel Value Chain in Guatemala, University of Colorado at Boulder

Presenters: John Barbee & Michelle Palacios

BioSolar Entrepreneurship: Environmental and Social Sustainability as Mutual Bootstrapping, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Presenters: Ron Eglash & Mark Steiner

A Multi-hazard-resilient Residential Housing Model for Haiti: Rebuilding Communities and Livelihoods through Sustainable Partitioning, University of Notre Dame

Presenters: Tracy Kijewski-Correa & Alexandros Taflanidis

Accelerating Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship through Creativity Capacity Building, MIT

Presenters: Amy Smith & Rebecca Smith

Anza Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship, Brown University

Presenters: Drew Durbin & Barrett Hazeltine

Velovations in Kenya: Co-development to Sustainable Local Production, Michigan Technological University

Presenters: John Gershenson & Ben Mitchell

Sustainable Sanitation in Urban Slums, MIT

Presenter: David Auerbach

Safe Agua Peru: Water System Innovations Breaking the Cycle of Poverty, Art Center College of Design

Presenters: Mariana Amatullo, Dan Gottlieb, Penny Herscovitch

Continuation and Sustainability in 2011/2012: The Water, Sanitation, and Health and Hygiene Program (WASH) in Kibera, Kenya, University of Denver

Presenters: Renee Botta & Karen Loeb

Industry Partnershps Cascade Design

Presenters: Kevin Gallagher & Laura McLaughlin, Cascade Designs

Strategies to Scale or Fail

Presenter: Rashmir Balasubramaniam

Social Entrepreneurship: A revolutionary mechanism, or simply a different perspective?

Presenter: Patrick Walsh

Engaging Ethiopian Students to Explore the Viability of Cyanobacterial Bio-fertilizer Production to Improve Soil Fertility and Crop Yields in Africa, Colorado State University

Presenters: Jessica Davis & Michael Massey   Top of page

Increasing Smallholder Farmer Income through Appropriate Technology in the Jatropha Biofuel Value Chain in Guatemala, University of Colorado at Boulder

Presenters: John Barbee & Michelle Palacios   Top of page

BioSolar Entrepreneurship: Environmental and Social Sustainability as Mutual Bootstrapping, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Presenters: Ron Eglash & Mark Steiner   Top of page

A Multi-hazard-resilient Residential Housing Model for Haiti: Rebuilding Communities and Livelihoods through Sustainable Partitioning, University of Notre Dame

Presenters: Tracy Kijewski-Correa & Alexandros Taflanidis   Top of page

Accelerating Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship through Creativity Capacity Building, MIT

Presenters: Amy Smith & Rebecca Smith   Top of page

Anza Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship, Brown University

Presenters: Drew Durbin & Barrett Hazeltine   Top of page

Velovations in Kenya: Co-development to Sustainable Local Production, Michigan Technological University

Presenters: John Gershenson & Ben Mitchell   Top of page

Sustainable Sanitation in Urban Slums, MIT

Presenter: David Auerbach   Top of page

Safe Agua Peru: Water System Innovations Breaking the Cycle of Poverty, Art Center College of Design

Presenters: Mariana Amatullo, Dan Gottlieb, Penny Herscovitch   Top of page

Continuation and Sustainability in 2011/2012: The Water, Sanitation, and Health and Hygiene Program (WASH) in Kibera, Kenya, University of Denver

Presenters: Renee Botta & Karen Loeb   Top of page

Industry Partnershps Cascade Design

Presenters: Kevin Gallagher & Laura McLaughlin, Cascade Designs   Top of page

Strategies to Scale or Fail

Presenter: Rashmir Balasubramaniam   Top of page

 

Social Entrepreneurship: A revolutionary mechanism, or simply a different perspective?

Presenter: Patrick Walsh   Top of page

BioSolar Entrepreneurship: Environmental and Social Sustainability as Mutual Bootstrapping

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2010 - $34,663

The West African nation of Ghana is mostly rural, with farming constituting 60% of the workforce. Many of these farms are small, but collectively they produce an enormous amount of biomaterial that is currently burned as waste. As a result, the post-harvest sky is choked with air pollution, uncontrolled wild fires are a constant threat, and the burning biomass contributes to global warming.

This team proposes to convert the post-harvest biomass into usable energy with a solar enhanced pyrolysis device. Pyrolysis, the decomposition of biomass in an oxygen-free environment at elevated temperatures, results in biofuel (gas and oil) and a biochar residue that can be used to enhance soil fertility. The team’s device uses corncobs and concentrated solar energy to convert the waste into energy and biochar with high efficiency and throughput.

The team is partnered with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. Travel funds to enable two-way student exchanges have been provided by an alumnus to enhance the project.

Velovations in Kenya: Co-Development to Sustainable Local Production

Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech), 2010 - $47,500

Velovations is a group of roughly thirty Michigan Tech undergraduates, graduates, researchers, and faculty performing testing, research, and development for the bicycle industry. In cooperation with Michigan Tech’s Mechanical Engineering Peace Corps Masters International (PCMI) program, and led by returned Peace Corps volunteers who have worked in Africa, Velovations has identified a set of bicycle product opportunities particular to East Africa. Over the next three years, Velovations will work with Cycling out of Poverty, the African Bicycle Network and others (including a designer who worked on bikes for the Tour de France and Beijing Olympics) to develop products that meet East African needs and provide opportunities for local production.

Per their market research, the students will specifically look into modifying, accessorizing, or servicing the ubiquitous Tata bike, a brand of bicycle that is omnipresent in Africa. Key issues they identified were large load carrying, a lack of female riders, men being uncomfortable using women’s bikes (conversion kits), and flat tires (the solution is an affordable solid tire).

NCIIA funding will allow for increased product development capabilities, enable travel to East Africa to solidify relationships and find new development and production partners.

Continuation and Sustainability in 2011/2012: The Water, Sanitation, and Health and Hygiene Program (WASH) in Kibera, Kenya

University of Denver, 2010 - $50,000

The lack of hygienic sanitation facilities in slums is a primary cause of 1.5 million child deaths each year. Improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrheal deaths in young children by more than a third. The Kibera Working Group (KWG), a collaboration of University of Denver faculty and graduate students, Nairobi-based water and sanitation company Ecotact, and the Rotary Clubs of Denver Southeast and Langata-Nairobi is working toward the goal of improved sanitation facilities in the Kibera slum of Nairobi.

KWG’s three main objectives are: 1) assist residents of Kibera in improving health conditions by improving the technological innovations and associated processes in the water and sanitation systems; 2) ascertain best practices in facility development and operations in order to create sustainable facilities; and 3) evaluate and refine its model. KWG is nearly finished developing its proposed model; next the model framework will be tested on existing facilities and a full-time project manager in Kenya will be enrolled to oversee the implementation and operation.

Increasing Smallholder Farmer Income Through Appropriate Technology in the Jatropha Biofuel Value Chain in Guatemala

University of Colorado at Boulder, 2010 - $49,951

Roughly half the population of Guatemala lives on less than two dollars a day, with the majority of rural households making a living through subsistence agriculture. At the same time, the country depends entirely on unsustainable energy sources to power the economy, importing all of its fossil fuel, while most rural households use firewood as their primary cooking fuel.

To address the dual issues of poverty and environmental degradation, this grant supports the development of briquettes made from the locally available Jatropha plant and other agricultural waste to meet rural families’ cooking fuel needs. Fuel briquettes are an environmentally friendly substitute for expensive or unsustainable fuel sources and can be produced at low cost using manual technology and free raw materials—in this case, Jatropha seedstock waste left over from the production of biodiesel. The team is partnering with TechnoServe, an international NGO with an office in Guatemala that has been creating biodiesel from Jatropha since 2006. The team has prior experience in briquette production, having collaborated with an Afghani NGO to launch a successful fuel briquette microenterprise in Kabul (funded by another Sustainable Vision grant).

Engaging Ethiopian Students to Explore the Viability of Cyanobacterial Bio-fertilizer Production to Improve Soil Fertility and Crop Yields in Africa

Colorado State University, 2010 - $45,200

Soil fertility depletion on small farms is a fundamental cause of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in large parts of the developing world. Africa has the lowest fertilizer use rates in the world, leading to declining yields and incomes.

This project explores the use of locally grown cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer to empower people and improve soil fertility, crop yields, and living standards in Ethiopia. Cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) are nearly ubiquitous in nature due to their unique ability to carry out both photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. Rice farmers in Asia have grown cyanobacteria in their paddies for centuries to improve yield, but to be of value to all farmers, this practice must be adapted so that it can be applied to a variety of crops.

This team proposes a new approach to an ancient concept: growing cyanobacteria in outdoor ponds on-farm and harvesting them for use as a fertilizer that can be applied to any crop. The team will utilize an existing collaboration with Hawassa University in Ethiopia to research the feasibility of scalable bio-fertilizer production in that country, as well as pave the way for large-scale implementation by Ethiopian entrepreneurs.

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