THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE AWARD RECIPIENTS REPORT MAJOR
IMPACT SINCE RECEIVING PRIZE

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June 17, 2010, Washington DC — Allan Savory and the African Center for Holistic Management received the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge prize of $100,000 and the Omni-Occuli sculpture at a ceremony and reception at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on June 2nd, sponsored by The Buckminster Fuller Institute. The winning proposal presents a remarkable breakthrough solution to reversing global desertification of our grasslands — one of the leading causes of climate change. The event, streamed live by TheUpTake.org, was viewed by thousands world-wide on the Buckminster Fuller Challenge website: challenge.bfi.org. Savory's team reports a surge of interest in their work since receiving the prize.

"The amount of interest that the Challenge award has brought about so far is simply amazing. We will be eternally grateful to the wonderful folks at The Buckminster Fuller Institute as will millions of people if we can use this to take Holistic Management mainstream in time to save their families and communities!" exclaims Allan Savory, President of The Savory Institute.

"Hang on Planet Earth, Help is on the Way" —the title of one of the many articles published about the prize, aptly describes the urgency of the solutions celebrated by The Buckminster Fuller Challenge. Media outlets ranging from design and culture magazines to science, agriculture and climate-change blogs have covered the pressing issues addressed by the winning strategy and those of the finalists. Highlights include: The New York Times.com; NPR's Living on Earth; Seed Magazine; Inhabitat; Fast Company; National Geographic; Daily Beast; Metropolis and an interview with Deepak Chopra to be aired June 26th on SiriusXM radio.


"In his acceptance speech, Savory gratefully acknowledged the honor bestowed by the jury and the need that he and others engaged in comprehensive, anticipatory design work —often under the radar for decades and against formidable odds - have for their work to be recognized. This is exactly what we are trying to do with this prize —to shine a bright light on new, breakthrough approaches to solving humanity's worst problems. We are so thrilled that our winners, finalists and other Challenge participants are receiving the attention their work deserves!" said Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Director of The Buckminster Fuller Institute.

Ryan Chin, team lead from the MIT Smart Cities group, winners of the 2009 Buckminster Fuller Challenge who also served as a 2010 juror added, "Winning the Challenge played a significant role in catapulting our project to a whole new level. The visibility it provided us was tremendous. We were able to seize some amazing opportunities that have come our way since winning the prize and are very grateful for this honor and recognition." Chin and team member Michael Lin presented an update on their project as part of the conferring ceremony events in DC.

Media Highlights:

Listen to PRI Living on Earth story, Reversing Desertification
SEED Magazine, Greener Pastures
New York Times, Using Primeval Methods to Fight Modern Abuses of Agricultural Lands
Fast Company, Method That Turns Wastelands Green Wins 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge
US Politics Today, Hang On Planet Earth Help is on the Way
Deepak Chopra's Wellness Radio, Sirius XM: Stars 102 and XM 155
For a full listing of media coverage to date go to: MEDIA PAGE

Featured Videos:
View Video | Acceptance Speech by Allan Savory on behalf of Operation Hope
View Video | Jury member Hardin Tibbs, leads a short Q & A with the Operation Hope Team.
View Video | Jury member Jose Zagul shared some words on behalf of the 2010 jury.
View Video | Jury member Hillary Brown introduces the Finalists
View Video | Ryan Chin presenting update on 2009 winning proposal Personal Urban Mobility


Photos:

Expand the view and hit "show info" to see photo descriptions.

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-Backstory-
INITIATIVE TRANSFORMING AFRICAN DESERT
NAMED WINNER OF 2010 BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE

Operation Hope, a solution combating one of the major causes of climate change has been named the winner of the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. At its core the winning strategy transforms parched and degraded Zimbabwe grasslands and savannahs into lush pastures with ponds and flowing streams, even during periods of drought. Operation Hope was awarded $100,000 to further develop its work on June 2, 2010 at a conferring ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington DC.

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is the premier international competition recognizing initiatives which take a comprehensive, anticipatory, design approach to radically advance human well being and the health of our planet's ecosystems. The 2010 finalists are providing workable solutions to some of the world's most significant challenges including water scarcity, food supply, and energy consumption. The Challenge is sponsored by the Buckminster Fuller Institute, which is accelerating the development and deployment of whole-systems solutions which demonstrate the potential to solve some of the world's most significant challenges.

Operation Hope is a project of the Africa Centre for Holistic Management in Zimbabwe and its sister organization the Savory Institute in Albuquerque, NM. Its successful approach to land management contradicts accepted practice and theories of resting land from animal grazing. Instead, Savory's holistic management process re-establishes the symbiotic balance between plant growth and the behavior of herding animals, returning unusable desert back into thriving grasslands, restoring biodiversity, bringing water sources back to life; combating global climate change, and increasing crop yields to ensure food security for people. The approach is currently being practiced and producing results on over 30 million acres world wide.

"Our work proves that we do have the ability to simultaneously better mankind's experience while bettering the Earth," said Allan Savory, founder of the Africa Centre for Holistic Management and the Savory Institute. "We are thrilled that the Buckminster Fuller Challenge exists to recognize and support work such as ours, and thank the jurors for this honor."

Berlin-based Watergy Greenhouse was named runner up of the Challenge. Watergy Greenhouse, headed up by Dr. Martin Bucholz, is a closed system greenhouse that provides extremely efficient farming capabilities in water-scarce communities. The approach, being demonstrated in Almeria Spain, allows a dramatic shift in resource efficiency for the supply of water, food and renewable material, and can be deployed across urban and rural conditions.

ALL FINALISTS DEMONSTRATE SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL TO
SOLVE SOME OF HUMANITY'S MOST PRESSING PROBLEMS

The remaining four finalists were given Honorable Mentions they are as follows:

»Barefoot Women Solar Engineers of Africa, Asia and Latin America (Tilonia, Rajasthan, India), which teaches illiterate, rural women in India and Africa to be solar engineers within their communities, providing energy to their communities, catalyzing their local economies and improving their quality of life;
»BK Farmyards, (Brooklyn, NY, US) a leading model in the urban agricultural movement, which is creating a web-based crowd-sourcing platform to advance urban farming as a viable business and food source for local communities;
»UrbanLab (Chicago, IL, US) which has re-conceived the Chicago street-grid as a holistic Bio-System that captures, cleans and returns 100% of the city's wastewater and storm-water to the Lakes, ensuring constant regeneration of that natural resource while producing added economic, energy, social, and environmental benefits; and
»Living Building Challenge (Seattle, WA, US) which has developed the most advanced green building rating system in the world. Living Buildings are virtually self-sustaining, generating their own power, using renewable sources, and capturing and treating all their own water.
construct, renovate and occupy and to serve as a catalyst for innovation.

"My grandfather believed that we have the ability to apply transformative strategies based on whole systems thinking, Nature's fundamental principles, and an ethically driven worldview to better the world and our own experiences. He called this approach comprehensive anticipatory design science," said Jaime Snyder, Buckminster Fuller's grandson and co-founder of the Buckminster Fuller Institute with his mother, Allegra Fuller Snyder. "I'm proud that the Institute is supporting the creative pioneers who are bringing this vision to light, and thankful to our partners who sponsor the Challenge and work with us to fulfill our mission."

ABOUT
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge originated in 2007 and awards $100,000 annually. Support for the program has been provided by the Atwater Kent Foundation, The Civil Society Institute, The James Dyson Foundation, The Highfield Foundation; The Jewish Communal Fund, and the members of The Buckminster Fuller Institute.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in New York, The Buckminster Fuller Institute is dedicated to accelerating the development and deployment of solutions which radically advance human well being and the health of our planet's ecosystems. BFI's programs combine unique insight into global trends and local needs with a comprehensive approach to design. BFI encourages participants to conceive and apply transformative strategies based on a crucial synthesis of whole systems thinking, Nature's fundamental principles, and an ethically driven worldview. By facilitating convergence across the disciplines of art, science, design and technology, BFI's work extends the profoundly relevant legacy of R. Buckminster Fuller. For further information visit www.bfi.org
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LINKS
Movie:The 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge Finalists
-Photos, Press & Media Media
- About the Challenge
- Operation Hope, 2010 Winner
- Watergy Greenhouse, runner-up
- Semi-Finalists
- Jury
- 2008 and 2009 Entries, Idea Index.
- To Watch the Buckminster Fuller Challenge video visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/movie
- To view the 2008 winner visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2008
- To view the 2009 winner visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2009
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