Conservation X Labs - Make for the Planet

Thank you & congratulations to the many hackers, coders, makers, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, creative thinkers and tinkerers, who celebrated Earth Day weekend 2017 by creating solutions to challenging conservation problems in front of a global audience!

Multidisciplinary teams competed in an on-site event called Make for the Planet over three days of the Smithsonian Institution's Earth Optimism Summit in Washington, D.C. (April 21-23, 2017).


MAKE FOR THE PLANET WASHINGTON D.C., 2017

#Make4thePlanet

Hackers, coders, makers, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, creative thinkers and tinkerers, celebrated Earth Day weekend 2017 by creating solutions to challenging conservation problems in front of a global audience! Multidisciplinary teams competed in an on-site event called Make for the Planet over three days of the Smithsonian Institution's Earth Optimism Summit in Washington, D.C. (April 21-23, 2017). Teams had access to a pop-up maker's space with equipment to create prototypes and models of hardware and/or software solutions to specific conservation problem. 

What: Make for the Planet is a team competition/hackathon to create hardware and/or software solutions to specific conservation challenges. Teams worked to solve global conservation challenges through creative and transformative solutions that harness emerging science and technology, entrepreneurship, and design.

How: Conservation X Labs provided conservation challenges two weeks before the event and global conservation experts pitched the problems on the first day of the Earth Optimism Summit to kick-off the event. Teams had until the morning of April 23rd to create solutions for display in a science-fair setting for viewing by judges, the public, and other Smithsonian Earth Optimism attendees. Solutions were presented as a physical or digital representation and more than a written explanation or pitch. Teams created solutions for one of the proposed conservation challenges using the equipment provided on-site over rather than bringing a pre-baked solution.    

Who: The first Make for the Planet event in 2017 hosted 16 multidisciplinary teams. There were no restrictions on age, occupation, education, or gender.

Read about the challenges, teams, judges and solutions