SEED Award Winners attend the UN Environmental Assembly 2017 Sustainable Innovation Expo

SEED Award Winners Muliru Farmers, City Waste Recycling, Dagoretti, and Ecopost attended the UN Environment Assembly on 4-6 December 2017 in Nairobi. At this event hosted by the highest-level decision-making body on the environment, these model eco-inclusive enterprises had the opportunity to exhibit their products and services at the 2017 Sustainable Innovation Expo.

The event served as a platform for the private sector to engage with senior government officials and other relevant stakeholders as well as showcase innovative technology. The expo followed the structure of Problems, Solutions, and Partnerships, where attendees were able to learn, network and establish partnerships for tackling pollution challenges.

In the Problems section, the expo included a simulated planetarium that reflects human-induced pollution in our environment as well as interactive maps that demonstrated the changes in the land over the years in a different part of the world. This served to raise awareness and foster education around pollution and the environment.

In the Solutions section, the expo showcased 50 cutting-edge technological and innovative solutions from public and private actors to mitigate and adapt to pollution.

In the Partnership section, participants were able to interact with each other to build partnerships and find opportunities to scale up the solutions required for addressing unprecedented pollution challenges. The private sector was also able to register their commitment and pledge towards a pollution free planet.

After the event, Lorna Rutto from Ecopost, 2010 SEED Awards Winner shared his experiences at the event:

The UNEA meeting went extremely well, where I could network with a lot of people who shared the same aspirations as EcoPost. During the event, I even had a chance to introduce how SEED supports organisations such as EcoPost to improve business development and to highlight our impact levels. My main take away from the event is that there is now an increasing global urgency in promoting circular economies, a concept in which EcoPost missions and vision is embedded in.