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WORLD VISION'S SANITATION CHALLENGE

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Overview

This challenge was the first open-innovation project for World Vision in which SeaFreight Labs served as Project Advisor.  The challenge launched to the public on 14 October 2020 and closed to new submissions on 12 January 2021.  It was presented as an ideation challenge with prize money of US$15,000.  It attracted 525 registered solvers from 82 different countries.  They submitted 126 proposals.   A group of 9 judges participated in various stages of evaluation to determine the 3 winning solutions.  World Vision announced the three winners on 29 June 2021.  Each winner won US$5,000.  Click HERE to read the press release.

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Challenge Definition

The lack of adequate sanitation facilities is a global problem with an estimated 2.3 billion people using unimproved toilets or no toilets at all when eliminating waste. This problem leads to significant public health issues with an estimated 280,000 diarrheal deaths per year attributable to inadequate sanitation. Poor sanitation is also a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma as well as contributing to malnutrition. World Vision, supported by SeaFreight Labs, is seeking novel new ideas, concepts, and approaches to attack the lack of adequate toilets and latrines in some of the poorest areas of the world.

 

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.  The detailed problem statement is available HERE.

Winning Solutions

The scope of the problem of affordable sanitation is massive and no one solution can work in all situations.  Therefore, World Vision decided to make three awards in the challenge.  They were:

  1. Best Scalable Design: HappyLoo Toilet designed by Leo Prakash (of India) which uses locally sourced materials to build properly designed toilet.  Submission   Cost Information    Drawings-#1      Drawings-#2       About-the-Solver

  2. Best Use of Eco-Friendly Materials: Bottle Toilet designed by Gagan Sharma (of India) with an innovative design for separating urine and feces to make toilet more usable.      Submission     Drawings

  3. Most Versatile Design: 20 Combinations proposed by Mario Alejandro Rosato (of Italy) with innovative solutions replicable across multiple global contexts and cultures.    Submission     Cost Information     Drawings     About-the-Solver

Need more details? Contact us.
SeaFreight Labs is a consultancy delivering crowd-solving services to  businesses and non-profits.  We serve as "Project Advisor" on global challenges to cost effectively deliver breakthrough innovation to intractable problems.
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