Announcing the finalists of the Nudge Global Impact Award 2018

Imagine standing on stage at the Peace Palace in the Hague, presenting your dream for the future to 200 esteemed guests, including CEOs of multinational companies.

That’s what our 6 finalists will be doing at the Nudge Summit on 16 October, with the hope of being chosen by the jury as a winner of the Nudge Global Impact Award 2018.

These passionate young professionals were selected from our 2017 alumni group for having created the most impact with their impact plans over the past year, in a selection process carried out by our strategic partner Vrije University Amsterdam.

Anacelle Bautista – Wild card participant – PeoplePods Corporation (The Philippines)

“PeoplePods is an impact-driven startup developed with the aim to solve the global problem of affordable employee housing. We provide dignified dormitory communities for bottom-of-the-pyramid migrant workers in the Philippines, and the first sites will be exclusively for female factory workers. Through Nudge, we found value in constructing and operating in a more sustainable way. PeoplePods goes beyond housing by providing solar energy, distance education, free internet connectivity, remittance services, mini mart, recreational space, cooking, laundry etc.”

Arturo Robles – Heineken Mexico – Feed with Beer (Mexico)

“The project “FEED WITH BEER” is being developed at Primus Brewery, a Heineken México Craft Brewery at San Juan del Río, Querétaro.  The project consists of making granola bars out of the waste of malt (spent grain) produced in the beer process. Currently we have 265 tons of waste per year (2018 estimated). About 37% of the community where the brewery is located (Quéretaro, México) lives in poverty (85,000 people) and 5% lives in extreme poverty (13,000 people).  Also 20% of the community has scarce access to food. The business model is to sell 2 granola bars and give away 1 to a low-income community. We want to develop an innovative product that helps the community with the urgent need of access to food but also to help improve the reputation of the brewery. Additionally it is an appealing product for the consumer that takes care of their health and food habits.”

Karen Lopez – Heineken Mexico – Barley husk cups (Mexico)

“Barley husk cups at all our events to make a sustainable impact through a reduction of CO2 emissions and plastic consumption. The original idea was to reduce the plastic pollution at all our events (concerts, festivals, soccer games, etc). I found this activity essential due to the different events we have every day all around the country and how the cups are necessary to drink our beer and to have contact with consumers. Fortunately, I found a partner to create bioplastic from barley husk into cups and I’m working to substitute 100% of plastic cups. Consumers, press, media and more companies recognize this big achievement and have started to follow us, proposing additional ideas to reduce the plastic garbage at all the different events. Thanks to that, this initiative is now one of Heineken Mexico’s priorities and of course we want to replicate this achievement across the world.”

Kevin Shahbazi – Philips – Circular design initiative (Belgium)

“I have been leading the circular design initiative – enabling and nudging our ±450 design community and leadership to leverage circular economy principles in new product development across Philips: developing training materials and delivering mindset-shifting workshops, working to get circular requirements in project charters (yearly planning), creating design tools and methodology, and creating proof points (case studies). My project promotes responsible consumption and production (SDG12) by working with businesses and product development teams to design value propositions and business models for customers with circular principles embedded into the core offer.”

Marta Mazza – Gruppo Mondadori – Dream Warriors (Italy)

“Dream Warriors – True stories of children and teenagers who are changing the world. My project is a book for children to increase awareness and encourage behaviour change in young people. The book will be a collection of short stories, true stories of courage and passion told by Viviana Mazza, an Italian journalist who met or was in touch directly with the protagonists. From China to Honduras, from Yemen to United States, from Great Britain to Afghanistan: 12 extraordinary stories on the topics of sustainability. My project will include the following stories and more:

– Wang Fuman, the Chinese boy known in the world as “snowflake boy”: his story is a call for a NO POVERTY world.

– Negin Khpalwak, from Afghanistan, who is the first female conductor in her country. She is an example of GENDER EQUALITY.

– Aitzaz Hasan, from Pakistan, saved his school from a kamikaze attack: his story is included in the book as a symbol for PEACE and JUSTICE.”

Sarah Schiffer – Gispen – Sofa made out of plastic waste (The Netherlands)

“I work at a company where circular economy is a good business model, but the market had to change in this direction too, to ensure that materials and products do not become waste. I see it as my job to be a sustainable leader and change this way of doing business for the whole market by developing products that show material does not have to become waste. For this challenge, a sofa made from plastic waste. My project contributes to responsible consumption and production because we create value with used materials: instead of using them only once, we keep using them. For example, we just saved 5000 kilos of plastic waste from ending up in the ocean, since they have become 110 new design sofas.”