Sponsored Challenges

As an online platform that brought together a large community, Climate Colab attracted the interest of public and private organizations that sought to make use of its members’ problem solving capacity. This led to the launching of sponsored challenges, each of which was run by the Climate CoLab team in collaboration with a sponsoring organization. Climate CoLab conducted 24 sponsored challenges. You can see some of the organizations who were involved on the People and Partners page.

Challenges	Problem description	Date	Entries
Reshaping development pathways in LDCs 2019	What are solutions to restore degraded landscapes, helping communities in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) become more climate resilient?	2019	62
Helping Small and Medium Businesses Go Low Carbon 2018	What initiatives, products, services or tools can help Ontario’s small and medium-sized businesses thrive while reducing their emissions?	2018	30
Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency 2018	What innovative solutions can help improve energy efficiency across a range of corporate facilities?	2018	20
Circular Economy, Economie circulaire 2018	What projects, initiatives, technologies or strategies can support cities in their transition towards a circular economy?	2018	43
Changemaker Challenge 2019	How can digital and technological initiatives, products, services or tools help to make travel and mobility more sustainable?	2019	17
Absorbing Climate Impacts 2018	How can climate risk insurance be linked with other forms of social protection to help vulnerable communities absorb climate impacts?	2018	71
Exploring Synergistic Solutions for Sustainable Development 2018	What combinations of Climate CoLab proposals could help achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals?	2018	69
Anticipating Climate Hazards 2017	How can vulnerable communities best prepare for climate-related hazards, and what new tools can be used to incentivize early action?	2017	94
Rain Enhancement 2017	What can be done to increase the efficiency of rain enhancement in UAE and around the world?	2017	10
Materials Matter 2016	Fabrics and textiles impact our climate -- a lot. How can we spark a materials revolution by rethinking how we value and use them?	2016	37
MIT Climate Mitigation Solutions 2016	How can MIT demonstrate innovative climate mitigation solutions on campus?	2016	19
Improving firewood for clean cookstoves 2016	How can rural residents in Colombia efficiently and inexpensively dry firewood for clean cookstoves?	2016	10
Harnessing the power of MIT alumni 2016	What is the most effective thing that MIT alumni can do to help implement the MIT Plan for Action on Climate Change?	2016	90
Fostering Climate Collaboration in Boulder, CO 2016	How can we build community engagement and connectivity around climate change?	2016	40
Designing High Density Urban Bike Parking 2016	Is there a design solution that provides high-density, accessible, cost-effective bicycle parking in the urban context?	2016	16
Anticipating Climate Change in the Pamir Mountains 2015	How can traditional ecological calendars used to guide agricultural activity link to climate science so as to anticipate climate change in the Pamir Mountains?	2015	16
Atypical Ideas for Carbon Neutrality 2015	What atypical, innovative ideas can turn Somerville, MA into a carbon-neutral city?	2015	31
Energy solutions for Latin America 2015	How can we create more efficient, renewable energy solutions to reduce GHG emissions from the electricity sector in Latin America?	2015	14
Urban Heat Island Effect 2015	How can we effectively mitigate the urban heat island effect in Cambridge, Massachusetts?	2015	33
Communicating Coastal Risk and Resilience 2014	How do we best communicate climate risk and resilience to coastal communities?	2014	18
Youth action on climate change 2014	How can we enable young people to take leadership now, and make a difference against climate change?	2014	40
U.S. Government 2014	What new actions or policies can the U.S. government agencies implement to mitigate climate change?	2014	28
Creating public demand for green buildings 2014	How can we empower the public and communities to build awareness and demand for green buildings?	2014	32
Urban Resilience: Climate Actions for Urban Areas 2014	What priority actions can urban areas take to increase their resilience to climate change?	2014	18