World Solve

Municipal waste collection in rapidly growing cities of Poland fails to reach large portions of the population, resulting in informal dumping and public health risks.

Rivers feeding into coastal waters near Democratic Republic of Congo carry substantial plastic waste from inland cities, and municipal waste management systems lack the capacity to intercept it before it reaches the ocean.

The absence of robust, context-adapted solutions for participatory sensing networks for air quality in rapidly industrializing cities creates cascading risks across interconnected human and natural systems. Key missing elements include durable performance, low lifetime cost, and governance arrangements capable of sustaining impact beyond pilot stages.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for design principles for cities that remain livable under 3 C of global warming. 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.

Despite recognition of its importance, reliable methods for architectural and planning approaches that make cities more walkable and less car-dependent 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.

Achieving solutions for managing the health impacts of air pollution in rapidly growing cities 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.