Innovation, entrepreneurship and global reach are some of the characteristics shared by the semi-finalists of the "Estrecho de Magallanes Award for Innovation and Exploration with Global Impact" organized by Imagen de Chile, which seeks to recognize those Chileans who contribute with local solutions to global problems, having an impact far beyond our borders.
"On the 500th anniversary of the crossing of the Strait of Magellan, Imagen de Chile seeks to commemorate the spirit of that voyage, which was the first circumnavigation of the planet and marked the beginning of globalization. The innovative force of those navigators and their eagerness to explore, in a way, stayed with us, and are part of our identity that we want to highlight and tell the world about. This award seeks to recognize the "Chilean Magellan" of the 21st century," said Constanza Cea, executive director of Imagen de Chile.
The Presidential Advisory Council 500 years Magallanes was in charge of selecting the semi-finalists who will move on to the next stage. There are six applicants in the "National" category and three in the "Magallanes" category, the latter being exclusively for those who reside in or come from that region of our country.
These outstanding projects will be published on @MarcaChile' s Facebook and Instagram and on its website, so that the public can choose their favorites. The two initiatives in each category that obtain the highest number of "Likes" added between both platforms will be the finalists and will move on to the next phase.
Then, the Presidential Advisory Council 500 years Magallanes will deliberate and choose the winners, whose stories will be part of the pieces of diffusion of Imagen de Chile, presenting their projects and thus opening its borders to the rest of the world. Among the nominations, initiatives related to climate action, technology and positive social impact to citizenship stand out.
Semifinalists for the Strait of Magellan Award for Innovation and Exploration with Global Impact:
NATIONAL CATEGORY
★ Native Root
Social innovation company that, by recycling native woods, manufactures unique gifts, which are made by inmates and former inmates of prisons. Part of the profits of Raíz Nativo are destined to reinsertion plans for people deprived of liberty in new prisons.
★ FreshWater Solutions
Technological innovation, social and environmental impact initiative that seeks greater social inclusion, delivering purified water from the air to communities located in remote areas without water. This system contains software that simulates and accelerates the natural water cycle by capturing the microparticle of water in the environment and transforming it into "cloud and rain", passing through filtering, purification and sterilization processes to generate high quality purified water.
★ NotCo
A company that is revolutionizing the food industry by creating products similar to animal products but with 100% plant-based ingredients. NotCo uses artificial intelligence to create a base of thousands of plants and discover how to use them to recreate the same taste, smell, function, appearance and style of animal products. It is already in 3 countries, highlighting Chile's name in the global food industry.
★ Yakka
Yakka agua is a spherical spiral that collects water from the fog. When it comes into contact with it, it starts to rotate, capturing the water particles inside, which are stored to be used in agriculture and/or domestic use. Each module can collect up to 10 liters of water, depending on the area where it is located.
★ O-WIND
O-Wind is the first truly OMNI-directional turbine, capable of generating power from horizontal, vertical and any direction in between. It works in situations where other turbines cannot due to the erratic nature of the winds present, such as in cities, highways, railroad tracks, airstrips, heliports, ships, etc.
★ Connecting the dots
Atando Cabos is a Circular Economy project, which, based on collaboration, takes care of the massive plastic pollution in the Chilean Patagonia. They recover, recycle and transform thousands of tons of plastics that were in the environment into new products.
MAGELLAN CATEGORY
★ NUNATAK-CHILE
Nunatak-Chile is the first Natural Laboratory on Glacier Pollution and Climate Change. This laboratory-shelter functions as a platform for environmental monitoring instruments and as a living space for scientists. Some of its projects and objectives are to evaluate the transport of selected atmospheric pollutants from cities to the Andes Mountains, evaluate the state of mountain ecosystem services as a support for the survival of endemic species, biodiversity sustainability, among others.
★ Cape Horn: A Natural Laboratory for the World
Twenty years ago, an exploration identified the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion as a world center of bryophyte and lichen diversity. This discovery, made by the scientific team of Omora Park, has given rise to the concept of a sub-Antarctic natural laboratory and innovative ways of valuing and conserving the biological and cultural diversity that coexists in the ecosystems of America's latitudinal summit through ecotourism with a magnifying glass.
★ Racing Patagonia
Adventure race in a non-stop expedition format through the wild nature of Southern Patagonia that seeks to connect people with nature. Usually known as "The Last Wild Race", it consists of competitions of mixed teams of four members who must stay together covering distances of more than 500 km facing sections of mountaineering, trekking, trail running, mountain biking and kayaking.
Other related news
