Expertise Thursdays: Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.

At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership.

They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth.

In June 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, more than 178 countries adopted Agenda 21, a comprehensive plan of action to build a global partnership for sustainable development to improve human lives and protect the environment.

Today, the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) provides substantive support and capacity-building for the SDGs and their related thematic issues.

Source: https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Expertise Thursdays: Business AR/VR

AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), MR (mixed reality), and XR (extended reality) are finally experiencing traction as an alternative to in-person experiences.

The design community has embraced these new technologies in solutions for new consumer needs.

Usage has increased in retail as VR hardware has become higher quality, less expensive, and less bulky.

AR has become more sophisticated and widely adopted. It is now used for try-before-you-buy experiences for products like glasses and makeup.

The physics and lighting built into XR visualizations allows consumers to explore products in highly dynamic ways.The combination of fit, feel, and scale makes exeriences from clothing to automobiles real.

Source: https://www.thedrum.com

Expertise Thursdays: Zero Waste Grocery

Innovators like Lauren Singer of Trash is for Tosser's fame and owner of the profitable and VC backed Package Free Shop in Brooklyn have inspired others in the package-free or zero waste space.

Anamarie Shreeves founded Fort Negrita to increasing awareness by offering opportunities for marginalized people to make a livelihood while living and giving gently on planet Earth.

Zuleyka Strasner says she first saw, on her honeymoon, the ways in which plastic use destroyed the environment. That experience culminated in the creation of Zero Grocery.

Bea Johnson became a social media celebrity for her work reducing consumption and living waste-free, and launched Zero Waste Home.

As effects of climate change become reality we expect contunied innovation from startups and demand from investors for elimination of plastic in supply chains.

Source: https://techcrunch.com