UNLEASH

Winners of SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Gold winner: Asha

Asha won the gold prize for their solution, which will identify and catalyze franchise opportunities for youth.

Asha creates a matchmaking service that can capture our users’ skill set such as his/her previous job experiences, soft skills and career aspirations, and match them with micro-franchising and employment opportunities. 

 

They prioritize micro-franchising as the preferable business model to engage, utilizing data-driven protocols to determine what are the best matches between the existing user profile and market demands to choose the correct micro franchise. The solution will empower skilled displaced young people but also drive SME growth and job creation for the broader urban communities, key components in building inclusive and sustainable cities and mitigating future employment challenges. In addition to income and the change of a better life, it will also provide these youth with hope for the future, which is what the name Asha means.

Asha works with unemployed but skilled and talented youth in future African megacities like Nairobi, Lagos and Khartoum, connecting them with potential business or employment opportunities within the micro-franchising field. Our solution helps them to explore their untapped potential in skills, talents and knowledge to ultimately improve their quality of life and develop their communities.

 

Silver winner: Capasitor

Capasitor won silver for a solution that would make public transportation easier to access for wheelchair users.

Public transport systems are the most cost-effective solution to traffic congestion, but are inaccessible or inconvenient for less mobile people, especially during peak hours. Capasitor, is a system that preemptively notifies travelers on the train to make space if wheelchair users are on the platform, allowing the wheelchair users to board once the train arrives in the station.

Capasitor notifies travelers to evacuate the designated space for wheelchairs before the train arrives at the platform, allowing for a fast boarding process. The process is triggered by the ushers who work at all major MRT stations during peak hours. They have an app which shows them a CCTV image from the next train that will arrive, to determine if the car is full or empty, and offers actions to alert the travelers on the train. Firstly, vibration devices installed in the retractable seats near the designated space will cause the seats to vibrate, prompting the seated travelers to stand up and stow the seats. Secondly, an LED mat on the floor of the designated space will light up and pulse, prompting the travelers standing on the designated space to move towards the newly created spaces near the stowed seats. The wheelchair user will be able to board the train when it arrives.

 

Bronze winner: Wakimbizi

Wakimbizi won for a solution which will create a community in the refugee camp, Kakuma.

65.6 million people around the world have been forced from their home. 180,000 refugee families in Kakuma camp, Kenya need a way to feel a sense of home and belonging to a social community during their uncertainly long period of stay at the camp because the spacial configuration (and function) of the camp is arranged for short-term staying, not for sustainable living, so that the refugee families are not building a socially-integrated community.

Taking full advantage of the existing structure and materials, it is proposed to merge the separated shades of the shelters to create the social point that has been missing, for bringing the refugee families together. The created space is meant for joint activities such as resting, chatting, exchanging culture and experience, plus other potential communal uses including planting, cooking and much more. This solution also helps with the weather conditions, providing both protection from the rain and the sun as well as giving shade. During night time, while all the refugees are inside the shelter, there is no space for their valuable belongings, this could also help in keeping it together. This simple and low-cost solution will impact the refugees with a higher community feeling, keeping them away of the instability created by a short term living solution.

 

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