World Creativity and Innovation day (#WCID) was recently held on 21 April 2019. It’s a day when people all over the world are invited to think creatively and innovatively about how we can achieve the sustainable future we all want. In this article, we will look at 5 of the innovative ideas that emerged from World Creativity and Innovation Day.
World Creativity and Innovation Day: sustainable development goals
The innovative ideas presented at World Creativity and Innovation Day are designed to further the United Nations sustainable development goals, which are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for us all. The goals are:
- Donate what you don’t use – 836 million people live in extreme poverty
- Avoid throwing away food – over 1/3 of the world’s food is wasted
- Vaccinate your family to protect them and improve the public health
- Help children in your community to read
- Call out sexist language and behaviour
- Avoid wasting water – water scarcity affects more than 40% of the world’s population
- Use only energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs
- Buy from green companies that are equal opportunity employers
- Think of innovative ways to repurpose old material
- Raise your voice against discrimination
- Bike, walk or use public transportation to keep our cities’ air clean
- Recycle paper, plastic, glass and aluminium
- Educate young people on climate change to put them on a sustainable path early on
- Avoid plastic bags to keep the oceans safe and clean
- Plant a tree and help protect the environment
- Use your right to elect the leaders in your country and local community
#WCID
On World Creativity and Innovation Day, the world is encouraged to adopt the idea that innovation is essential for harnessing the mass potential of nations and that it can encourage economic growth and job creation.
Top 5 innovative ideas from World Creativity and Innovation Day
Tiny houses
These tiny houses measure just 22-square metres and consist of one room with a loft or pull-out bed, a kitchen, hidden storage and kitchen. These small houses could be a solution to the world’s housing problem. The design was created by the UN environment agency and the Centre for Ecosystems in Architecture at Yale University in the USA in collaboration with UN-Habitat.
A recycled boat
This boat is made from recycled plastic and flip-flops and is known as the Flipflopi. It was created to encourage awareness of the need to combat one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges, which is destroying the life in our seas – plastic pollution. The boat is made from 10 tonnes of recycled plastic.
Sustainable polyester
This innovative idea is part of a push to make the fashion industry more sustainable. It takes 7 500 litres of water to make a single pair of jeans – which is depleting the world’s most precious resource. Polyester made from recycled bottles is an innovative idea to integrate sustainable principals into the clothing retail world.
Drone-delivered vaccines
Remote locations make vaccination difficult. This drone can cover rugged mountainous terrain and enabled a one-month-old baby on a remote island in the South Pacific to receive a life-saving vaccine.
Space technology becomes earth-bound
A UN space-based tool is now being used to track land-use on the Earth’s surface. This satellite-based tracking is open to all and allows users to inspect any location on the planet from glaciers to rainforests with satellite data. The use of up-to-date data allows us to track even the smallest changes in our environment in a more efficient manner, helping us to keep a close eye on climate change.
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