Communities in Tanzania are installing solar panels to power water pumps, providing clean and sustainable energy. This initiative ensures villagers have access to clean water.

Solar water

Communities in Tanzania are installing solar panels to power water pumps, providing clean and sustainable energy. This initiative ensures villagers have access to clean water.

Solar water pumps eliminate the need for long journeys to fetch water and costly, high-maintenance diesel pumps, offering an efficient and affordable solution.

Tanzania is prioritizing judicial modernization and justice service delivery. This involves expanding court services to underserved areas and implementing operational changes to decrease delays

Tanzania is prioritizing judicial modernization and justice service delivery. This involves expanding court services to underserved areas and implementing operational changes to decrease delays and improve efficiency.

The World Bank’s IDA fund supports this initiative, aiming to ensure justice services reach communities most in need. Learn more at IDA.

For generations, the Gwich'in people of Alaska and northern Canada have depended on caribou migrating through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain. Their traditional culture faces

For generations, the Gwich'in people of Alaska and northern Canada have depended on caribou migrating through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain. Their traditional culture faces threats from oil extraction and climate change. Two Gwich'in women continue a decades-long fight to protect their land and future.

The Arctic Refuge is vital for Alaska Native subsistence and represents an unspoiled natural world. Despite its importance, the Trump administration plans to allow oil and gas drilling in the coastal plain. This drilling would destroy intact wilderness and violate the human rights of the Gwich'in, who rely on this sacred place.

The Gwich'in are fighting to protect their future and need support.

Will Amos and a University of California, Irvine team have developed an innovative recycling system that transforms plastic waste into 3D printing material. This cradle-to-cradle system, which

Will Amos and a University of California, Irvine team have developed an innovative recycling system that transforms plastic waste into 3D printing material. This cradle-to-cradle system, which includes a grinder, extruder, spooler, and 3D printer, produces only water vapor as a byproduct. It directly tackles issues of overconsumption and plastic pollution.

An environmental engineer, Amos believes technology combined with education is vital for lasting environmental change. His team showcases the portable recycling system at campuses and TEDx events, emphasizing interactive learning. The project's core mission is to educate and inspire action.

Heidi Kritz has dedicated nearly half her life to protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine. This copper and gold project threatens the world's largest salmon fishery, which is

Heidi Kritz has dedicated nearly half her life to protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine. This copper and gold project threatens the world's largest salmon fishery, which is vital for the local economy, ecological stability, and native cultures.

Kritz has tirelessly fought the mine, organizing rallies and a letter-writing campaign that gathered over 6,000 voices. She also mobilizes new activists by working with tribal high school students. Her leadership has significantly advanced the decade-long effort to defend Bristol Bay, and she remains committed to this crucial fight.

JP Viñals joined Activists Coming To Inform Our Neighborhood (ACTION) in 2013 to address environmental and social issues in Hunts Point, South Bronx. The neighborhood, home to New York's largest

JP Viñals joined Activists Coming To Inform Our Neighborhood (ACTION) in 2013 to address environmental and social issues in Hunts Point, South Bronx. The neighborhood, home to New York's largest food distribution center, endures 15,000 daily trucks, causing severe air pollution and some of the nation's highest asthma rates.

As ACTION's president, Viñals focused on transforming the defunct 1.25-mile Sheridan Expressway into a vibrant boulevard. This expressway restricts access to the Bronx River and green spaces, forcing heavy truck traffic onto local streets, harming residents and contributing to pollution. ACTION supports a broader campaign to replace it with housing, hospitals, and green areas, leading school presentations and community education efforts.

During an ethnographic research visit to Nepal, Tsechu Dolma learned that Geling villagers in Upper Mustang were struggling with food and water insecurity due to erratic climate patterns. Upon

During an ethnographic research visit to Nepal, Tsechu Dolma learned that Geling villagers in Upper Mustang were struggling with food and water insecurity due to erratic climate patterns. Upon returning to the US, she consulted with Nepalese expats and academics to devise strategies for climate resilience among the region's subsistence farmers.

With funding from the Rubin Foundation and Columbia University, Dolma returned to Nepal to study past development projects. She proposed building a community greenhouse using local materials, an idea unanimously supported by the villagers. To address youth disengagement caused by civil war and environmental degradation, the greenhouse would be built in a school, fostering intergenerational sharing and collaboration.

Dolma hopes the Geling greenhouse will serve as a global model for climate resiliency and local ownership in rural communities.

On December 3, 2009, Ecotrust recognized five of the West's most innovative Indigenous leaders for their efforts to improve community conditions. Jim Manion, Janeen Comenote, Allen Pinkham, Sr.,

On December 3, 2009, Ecotrust recognized five of the West's most innovative Indigenous leaders for their efforts to improve community conditions. Jim Manion, Janeen Comenote, Allen Pinkham, Sr., A. Brian Wallace, and Patricia L. Whitefoot were honored for their work spanning youth advocacy, education, renewable energy, cultural restoration, and scholarship.

The Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award is a preeminent program supporting tribal, First Nation, and Alaska Native leaders. These groups are vital nations, governments, landowners, resource co-managers, and economic drivers, contributing long-range vision and sustainable values to the global economy.

Todd Reeve of the Portland, Oregon-based Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) discusses the organization's three core program areas: climate change and renewable energy initiatives; educating

Todd Reeve of the Portland, Oregon-based Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) discusses the organization's three core program areas: climate change and renewable energy initiatives; educating K-12 students on climate and energy; and long-term watershed restoration.

For more information, visit the BEF website: http://www.b-e-f.org/.

Explore more sustainability leaders on the Portland Sustainability Leadership channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/group/portlandleaders#.