UNLEASH Amazon is bringing together changemakers representing the 9 states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon, with 80% of participants identifying themselves as being part of Indigenous and Traditional Communities (incl. Quilombola, Riverside, Extractive, and many more).

 

At UNLEASH, we believe that those closest to the problem, are best suited for developing and selecting the solutions, so for UNLEASH Amazon we will have the participants themselves vote for and evaluate the solutions that come from the Innovation Lab to select our top performing teams.

 

This approach ties to Brazil’s innovative history of being the birthplace of participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, the first example of giving citizens decision making power over their own local budgets. At UNLEASH, participatory approaches will be ingrained in every step of our process for UNLEASH Amazon. The participants will organize into teams to research and detail a specific problem that they select, brainstorm solutions, and create a viable plan for implementation over a week of intensive programming. At the end of the week, all teams will have the opportunity to pitch their solutions in front of their peers, Facilitators, and local Experts. All participants will then have the opportunity to evaluate these solutions based on their potential impact. The top 8 teams will then move on to our Pitching Finals based on these evaluations for the chance to win three cash awards, provided by Bemol. One of the three awardees will be selected by a community vote, ensuring that our community is leading the way from inception to selection.