Ashoka's Newest Fellows are Innovating for the Environment

Our hearts and minds have been focused on nature’s power after the recent earthquake in Virginia, and the major blow from Hurricane Irene that tore up the Atlantic coast. But if we look past these most recent disasters, we can see signs of opportunity in the environmental recovery and conservation efforts of Ashoka’s change agents.

Ashoka’s French Fellow, Julien Noé, is helping transform the existing electricity market in France with Enercoop, a grassroots cooperative model for incentivizing citizens to rethink their consumption practices while boosting France’s renewable energy production capacity.

In the Indian Himalayas, Pushkin Phartiyal is building a green economy through the Global Community Carbon Forestry Alliance. Combining new technologies with more traditional institutional practices for managing natural resources, Phartiyal brings together various stakeholders to create sustainable livelihoods and address climate change on the Indian subcontinent.

Similarly, in the Irish Burren (a rocky landscape in County Clare), Brendan Dunford is endorsing small-scale farmers as stewards of both biodiversity and a rich cultural heritage with his social venture, Farming for Conservation Programme.

Finally, in the Amazon, conservation expert Vitória da Riva Carvalho is building new value chains around geotourism to stimulate economic growth while protecting the forests. The Cristalino Jungle Lodge (CJL) and the Cristalino Ecological Foundation (CEF) are adaptable organizations that serve to establish and expand national parks, support research and environmental education, and generate high revenue through low-impact tourism.