The Buy Nothing Project is a global network of hyper-local gift economies, founded in 2013. It uses a digital platform and mobile app to enable people to give away for free unwanted items and skills within local communities, fostering connections, circulating value, and reducing waste. The network transacts around 2.5 million gifts per month over 230,000 communities, 10 million neighbors with 13,000 volunteers.
- circular economy
- community
- localization
- mutual aid
DepolarizingGPT is a political AI chatbot that gives three answers to every prompt: one from a left-wing perspective, one from a right-wing perspective, and a third answer from a depolarizing or "integrating" perspective. DepolarizingGPT was created by data scientist David Rozado and political philosopher Steve McIntosh. DepolarizingGPT's left-wing responses have been fine-tuned with content from left-leaning publications and writers, while its right-wing responses have been fine-tuned with content from publications and writers. The model's depolarizing responses have been fine-tuned with content from the Institute for Cultural Evolution think tank, from McIntosh's inclusive political philosophy. The model's depolarizing responses are designed to transcend centrism and reach a "higher ground" balance by exposing users to multiple views across the political spectrum.
- civic engagement
- decision-making
- politics
- sensemaking
Gitcoin is a crowdfunding and collaboration platform that coordinates stakeholders to fund and innovate open source and digital public goods. Through blockchain-enabled infrastructure, it empowers communities and entrepreneurs to fund digital tooling for the commons. The platform also enables quadratic funding, a term for using unique mathematical formula that rewards funds based on the number of people who have donated, not only donation size. In effect, this prioritizes projects with a broad appeal from many funding parties over those with similar liquidity but reliant on fewer large donors. Gitcoin’s platform coordinates stakeholders across the ecosystem to submit ideas, vote on ideas, contribute funds, tokenize capital, collaborate on projects, allocate those funds digitally.
- blockchain
- crowdfunding
- digital platforms
- digital public infrastructure
- open source
- regenerative finance
- web3
Space4Good is a team of impact-driven data scientists, remote sensing & GIS experts, software developers, environmental and urban planners using their unique skills and experience collectively for social and environmental impact. They offer expertise in remote sensing, data analysis, geospatial analytics, capacity building, and developing bespoke solutions. It began in the European Space Agency (ESA) Business Incubation Center in The Netherlands, Space4Good B.V. in 2017 and became a certified Benefit Corporation (B.Corp). Now based in The Hague, the city of Peace and Justice, they work around the world and collaborate with NGOs, universities, public authorities, multinationals and other social enterprises to change the status quo for a better planet and society. Through their core values of Collaboration, Impact, and Passion, Space For Good delivers solutions for clients and partners that solves problems, enhances livelihoods, ensures peace & justice, and protects the environment.
- digital platforms
- marketplaces
- remote sensing
- social media / community
ISeeChange empowers communities to tackle climate change impacts by integrating public input into infrastructure design and response management. Headquartered on America's Gulf Coast, ISeeChange prioritizes community, connection, integrity, equity, and insight, driving citizen science-based solutions. Residents contribute real-time observations of climate events like flooding and heat waves, which ISeeChange transforms into actionable insights using AI and sensor data. These insights enable cities, engineers, and utilities to prioritize infrastructure investments and design resilient solutions.
- artificial intelligence
- citizen science
- cloud
- data
- digital platforms
- edge computing
- marketplaces
- nature tech
Houdini sportswear caters to adventurers and athletes with a focus on eco-conscious, high-performance clothing. They craft technical apparel that combines durability, functionality, and minimalist design for activities like hiking, climbing, skiing, and trail running. Houdini prioritizes sustainability throughout their production process, using recycled materials whenever possible and employing practices that minimize environmental impact. Beyond performance and eco-friendliness, Houdini is known for innovation in material science and garment design, creating lightweight, weather-protective, and versatile pieces for dedicated outdoor enthusiasts.
- circular economy
- clothing
- digital platforms
- marketplaces
- material science
- textiles
Ecosia is a search engine that uses its profits to plant trees around the world. It functions similarly to other search engines, using Microsoft's Bing as a foundation, but distinguishes itself by allocating a significant portion of its ad revenue towards reforestation efforts. Users can support environmental initiatives simply by conducting web searches through Ecosia's platform.
- internet
- reforestation
- search
Ooooby is an digital platform that functions as a decentralized network for local and small-scale food producers, empowering independent farmers and artisans to sell directly to consumers through strategically placed packing hubs. This approach bypasses traditional distribution channels, giving producers greater control and a larger share of the profits. Ooooby utilizes technologies to enable local producers to set up their shopfront and streamline the ordering and delivery process, offering convenience to customers of fresh, local, and sustainable food options. Their mission is to rebuild a food system centered around small-scale community-oriented producers using ecologically sound approaches to food production and consumption. Ooooby also partners with local institutes to support market gardening education and learning opportunities.
- digital infrastructure
- digital platforms
- marketplaces
- reduced food waste
- sharing economy
- social media / community
NatureMetrics is a global nature intelligence technology company providing an end-to-end nature monitoring and impact reporting solutions for nature-based data. NatureMetric's Nature Intelligence Platform, utilizes environmental DNA (eDNA) technology for efficient biodiversity data collection. Their platform analyzes this data to generate insights on a company's impact on nature. This approach converts the complexities of nature into simple insights to inform effective biodiversity management, measure and manage business impacts and dependencies on biodiversity at scale, and inform decision-making.
- artificial intelligence
- data
- digital platforms
- nature tech
Kumu is a digital social mapping tool for visualizing and understanding complex relationships by creating visualizations of data sets of people, systems and networks. Kumu allows users to create interactive maps that represent systems, stakeholders, networks, and nodes between relationships. Kumu's intuitive interface and drag-and-drop functionality provides a platform for users and groups to build and customize visually appealing maps that can be used to tackle real world problems. By visualizing data in a clear and concise manner, Kumu helps users identify patterns, connections, and potential areas for development.
- artificial intelligence
- data
- digital platforms
- social media / community
Openversum is a watertech company which has created an all-in-one biodegradable drinking water filter removes pathogens, pesticides, heavy metals, and micropollutants, lowering the risks of recontamination. Its mission is to provide water goods and services to disadvantaged rural areas and thus empower local communities to have a positive impact on public health. The organization offers a microfranchising model to train entrepreneurs to locally manufacture and distribute filters. Openversum continually measures the impact of its initiatives to refine and improve its model.
- bioremediation
- education
- health and education
- public health
- water distribution efficiency
Freegle is an online platform for exchanging stuff. The platform pair speople who have stuff they don't need with people who need stuff they don't have. This promotes reuse and keeps things out of landfills and incinerators. Freegle has over 2.7 million members across the UK.
- digital platforms
- marketplaces