Repository of problems worth solving
World Solve is a public institutional repository for identifying real unresolved problems across science, society, health, governance, economics, and local systems. Each entry is intended to be citable, inspectable, and actionable.
Publicly citable
Every problem has a stable citation code for reference and discussion.
Filtered by relevance
Search by category, geography, status, and keywords.
Builder-oriented
Use the repository to find startup ideas, policy leads, and research agendas.
4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
open
United States, North America
Coastal communities in United States face progressive land loss from sea-level rise, but planned relocation efforts lack frameworks for preserving livelihoods, land rights, and cultural continuity during resettlement.
economics-resources
north-america
united-states
coastal
communities
sea-level
rise
united
states
relocating
threatened
land
face
climate-environment
fishing
sea
level
global-unspecified
open
United Kingdom, Europe
Communities in Ukraine recovering from disasters have almost no access to trained mental health counselors, and existing psychosocial first-aid programs are not designed to scale past a handful of trained volunteers.
health-biology
europe
united-kingdom
mental-health
psychosocial
disasters
ukraine
scaling
low-cost
support
natural
trained
communities
recovering
low
mental
health
global-unspecified
A large share of rural handpumps and boreholes in Kenya sit broken at any given time because there is no real-time monitoring system to alert maintenance crews before communities revert to unsafe water sources.
climate-environment
africa
kenya
monitoring
water
time
rural
point
functionality
real
large
share
global-unspecified
african
urban
open
South Africa, Africa
Women remain significantly underrepresented in STEM higher education and careers in South Africa, a gap that begins with unequal encouragement and resources at the secondary school level.
social-civic-problems
africa
south-africa
women
stem
south
increasing
representation
fields
remain
significantly
underrepresented
global-unspecified
health-biology
society-governance
open
Chile, South America
Girls in parts of Chile disproportionately drop out of secondary school due to a combination of early marriage pressure, unpaid domestic labor expectations, and lack of safe transportation to school.
social-civic-problems
south-america
chile
school
secondary
girls
reducing
dropout
rates
among
parts
disproportionately
education
remain
gaps
global-unspecified
asia
open
Papua New Guinea, Oceania
A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for methods for reducing the environmental footprint of the global healthcare system. Scientific understanding, engineering readiness and institutional capacity remain insufficient to translate promising concepts into durable impact under real-world constraints of cost, skills and governance.
society-governance
oceania
papua-new-guinea
methods
reducing
environmental
footprint
healthcare
system
breakthrough
approaches
persistent
solutions
systems
scalable
climate-environment
practical
governance
open
Haiti, North America
Low digital literacy among vulnerable populations in Haiti increases susceptibility to online scams, grooming, and exploitation, with few structured public education programs addressing the gap.
social-civic-problems
north-america
haiti
digital
literacy
gap
online
exploitation
closing
enables
low
among
technology-computing
access
global-unspecified
african
inclusive
Low-income households in Kenya have almost no financial protection against climate-driven income shocks, and existing microinsurance products remain too costly or poorly understood to achieve meaningful uptake.
climate-environment
africa
kenya
products
against
shocks
low-income
households
designing
insurance
climate
have
economics-resources
income
community
global-unspecified
scale
Translate quantum sensing advances into rugged, affordable tools for detecting pollutants, groundwater changes, magnetic anomalies, and infrastructure defects.
climate-environment
quantum
sensing
low-cost
environmental
monitoring
translate
advances
rugged
affordable
tools
infrastructure
technology-computing
society-governance
science-space
global-unspecified
health-biology
Create safe, affordable, shelf-stable alternatives or complements to donated blood for trauma, obstetric emergencies, and disaster settings.
economics-resources
blood
developing
stable
substitutes
remote
emergency
care
create
safe
affordable
communities
island
health-biology
social-civic-problems
missions
medical
Develop practical biomonitoring and exposure assessment for workers in recycling, dyeing, tanning, metalwork, and small manufacturing.
economics-resources
asia
india
exposure
detecting
toxic
informal
industrial
work
develop
practical
biomonitoring
assessment
climate-environment
workers
waste
global-unspecified
african
Create datasets, validation standards, monitoring, and governance so diagnostic AI works reliably across devices, sites, skin tones, and patient populations.
health-biology
populations
reproducible
medical
imaging
diverse
create
datasets
validation
standards
monitoring
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
society-governance
climate-environment
prevent
mathematics-logic
Develop delivery systems, manufacturing, payment models, and governance that move gene therapies beyond rare diseases and wealthy health systems.
society-governance
delivery
diseases
safe
equitable
gene-therapy
common
systems
develop
manufacturing
payment
climate-environment
governance
health-biology
technology-computing
economics-resources
ensuring
models
Build locally actionable models of how warming, rainfall, urbanization, immunity, and mobility reshape mosquito- and tick-borne disease risks.
climate-environment
africa
east-africa
disease
understanding
climate
effects
vector-borne
range
shifts
build
locally
actionable
health-biology
society-governance
global-unspecified
whether
non
Create scientific and economic models that overcome the lack of commercial incentives for new antibiotics while ensuring equitable global access.
economics-resources
antibiotics
discovering
effective
against
priority
resistant
pathogens
create
scientific
economic
society-governance
equitable
access
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
rapid
lunar
open
United States, North America
Develop accessible multidimensional diagnostics and treatments for chronic pain that reduce reliance on addictive medications while avoiding dismissal of patient suffering.
health-biology
north-america
united-states
chronic
pain
understanding
treating
opioid
dependence
develop
accessible
multidimensional
diagnostics
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
whether
haven
mathematics-logic
Create discovery, trial, manufacturing, stockpiling, and access systems for drugs effective across viral families with pandemic potential.
health-biology
pandemic
developing
broad-spectrum
antivirals
next
create
discovery
trial
manufacturing
stockpiling
systems
technology-computing
economics-resources
society-governance
global-unspecified
mobility
ensuring
open
United States, North America
Establish reliable exposure measurement, causal evidence, biological mechanisms, and practical interventions for microplastics in food, water, and air.
mathematics-logic
north-america
united-states
exposure
understanding
long-term
effects
microplastic
health
establish
reliable
measurement
causal
climate-environment
global-unspecified
health-biology
whether
society-governance
open
United Kingdom, Europe
Develop privacy-respecting tools that help detect progression and treatment response in Parkinson's, epilepsy, dementia, and other disorders outside specialist centers.
mathematics-logic
europe
united-kingdom
disorders
low-cost
monitoring
neurological
everyday
settings
develop
privacy-respecting
tools
help
health-biology
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
way
Create validated organoid, organ-on-chip, computational, and regulatory approaches that better predict human outcomes while reducing animal use.
society-governance
animal
human
scalable
alternatives
testing
complex
biology
create
validated
organoid
ethical
philosophy-ethics
systems
reducing
protocols
long
methods