World Solve

Current approaches to institutional designs that improve the effectiveness of multi-level climate governance either underperform under variable field conditions or generate externalities that undermine long-term sustainability and equity. Closing the gap requires coordinated advances in science, systems design and enabling institutions.

Achieving pathways for achieving high levels of energy efficiency in existing building stocks at meaningful scale demands simultaneous progress in fundamental research, engineering integration and socio-technical systems that work for low- and middle-income settings. Existing efforts remain fragmented relative to the magnitude of the challenge.

Coastal aquifers in Fiji are increasingly contaminated by saltwater intrusion driven by overextraction and rising sea levels, threatening long-term drinking water and irrigation supply.

Remote communities in Nigeria are often the last to receive formal disaster response, making locally trained first-responder networks essential but currently under-resourced.

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.

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.

Develop mechanisms that address mine-level income, safety, child labor, local consent, and environmental damage rather than relying only on paperwork audits.

Develop city-level data and economic models that quantify barriers in transport, housing, employment, education, and public services to guide investment.

Create data, enforcement, housing, and tourism policies that manage short-term rental growth without harming legitimate small hosts or local economies.

Identify and remove institutional, cultural, pedagogical, and confidence barriers that prevent girls from persisting in high-level quantitative study.

Develop practical instructional tools, scheduling models, and training for teachers simultaneously educating students across several age and ability levels.

Develop methods to quantify livelihoods, health, culture, land, and social losses caused by drought, salinization, erosion, and chronic heat.

Design legal and social systems for relocating communities exposed to erosion, flooding, drought, or sea-level rise while preserving rights, livelihoods, and identity.

Create low-cost monitoring, recharge, storage, and governance systems for coastal aquifers threatened by sea-level rise and excessive groundwater extraction.

Improve forecasting by combining meteorology, vegetation, field observations, and community reporting so control efforts can occur before swarms devastate crops.

Create cheap, reliable detection and mitigation systems for aflatoxin contamination in maize, groundnuts, and other staples before they enter diets and markets.

Create accurate, validated screening tools that detect dangerous neonatal bilirubin levels in homes and rural clinics without requiring expensive laboratory equipment.

Current approaches to pathways for achieving high levels of circularity in the plastics and packaging sectors either underperform under variable field conditions or generate externalities that undermine long-term sustainability and equity. Closing the gap requires coordinated advances in science, systems design and enabling institutions.

Flash floods in Australia frequently strike with too little warning for effective evacuation, because rainfall and river-level monitoring networks remain too sparse to model localized risk accurately.

Despite recognition of its importance, reliable methods for interventions that reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases through population-level action are still lacking. Progress is hindered by incomplete mechanistic knowledge, high capital and operational barriers, and the absence of deployment models suited to the contexts of greatest need.