Green Inspiration is a series of articles developed by Local.mx to showcase the most relevant environmental projects. In collaboration with Rolex's Perpetual Planet initiative, our goal is to raise awareness, inspire new generations and encourage all good ideas that improve life on Mother Earth. Rolex is supporting inspiring organizations and individuals on a mission to make the planet perpetual. #PerpetualPlanet. For more information visit rolex.org
Although our focus is located in Mexico City, we remain attentive to the world, because we know that we are part of an intricate network of relationships. We care that actions, no matter how small, contribute something to the environment or to communities, and above all that they can grow and multiply. That is why Perpetual Planet is such an admirable initiative for us, because it has the resources and the vision to support projects that truly make a difference on the planet.
2019 Rolex Awards Laureate Topher White and forest ranger José Manuel Anapa place a "Guardian of the Forest" atop a tree in the Canandé Reserve in Ecuador. ©Rolex/Stefan Walter
In the 1930s, Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf saw the world as a living laboratory and sent his watches to remote and unknown places to perform endurance tests. That attitude of exploration has continued, now as a means of preserving nature.
The Rolex Perpetual Planet initiative keeps alive the spirit of its founder. The three pillars of this initiative not only promote scientific research to conserve the systems that sustain life on Earth, in conjunction with the National Geographic Society and Mission Blue. Also, through the Rolex Initiative Awards, it supports pioneers who, from their place, seek to make the world a better place and whose projects respond to the most incisive and current concerns of our planet.
In search of the best initiatives
Rolex's Perpetual Planet philosophy is reflected in the Rolex Awards for Initiative which, since their creation in 1976, have honored 150 scientists, artists, entrepreneurs and environmentalists, not only to recognize their work, creativity and determination, but to give them the support and exposure they need to achieve their goals.
Miranda Wang, a 2019 Rolex Awards Laureate for Initiative, has researched the chemical processes that convert plastic into valuable industrial chemicals. ©Rolex/Bart Michiels
Miranda Wang (left) examines waste with Emily Hanson, Director of Business Development at GreenWaste Recovery. ©Rolex/Bart Michiels
In the Rolex Awards, the projects are diverse, but all have in common the commitment and potential to perpetuate the amazing diversity of our planet, from the micro to the macro: from the tiny - and terrifying - battle against superbugs to the exploration of volcanoes in Melanesia to understand their impact on global warming, through the recovery of traditional techniques to build boats, the care of bats (♥) or the fight against time against the proliferation of plastics.
To learn more about the Rolex Awards
Rolex remains on the lookout for innovative projects that help expand knowledge about our world or improve the quality of life on the planet. The 5 Laureates for 2021 - in the categories applied technology, cultural heritage, environment, exploration, and science and health - will be announced next June. If you would like to learn more about the projects from previous years, as well as about the jury and the categories, you can find all the information here.
Encontrarse de frente con la naturaleza
en la ciudad
As you know, at Local we are always looking for projects that help to improve the world from their own trenches to give them diffusion. In a city so large and developed, diverse and crowded, discovering a wetland, a nursery, a hidden forest, a space for the preservation of endemic fauna is not always easy. But there they are. Meeting nature face to face in Mexico City is a matter of attitude. It is a matter of exploring, of keeping an ear attentive to the daily trills and squawks, of following the clues of those who work in large and small projects that strengthen our bond with nature and of celebrating the findings: a miniature initiative for the preservation of bees, a sustainable refuge to isolate ourselves from the noise of the city or a walk in search of our favorite amphibian.
Throughout the year we will feature some of Perpetual Planet's most interesting projects and explore our own city and its surroundings in search of the people facing the environmental challenges we care about most. We want to raise awareness, inspire and encourage all the good ideas that are brewing to improve life on our Earth. Our planet is perpetual if we work together to heal it.
Krithi Karanth laureate of the 2019 Rolex Awards for Initiative, founded Wild Seve, which helps millions of people live in harmony with animals. ©Rolex/Marc Shoul
Dasaiak (left) calls Wild Seve regarding the family cow that a tiger killed on his farm. ©Rolex/Marc Shoul
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Green Inspiration is a series of articles that fills us with excitement. Throughout the year, we will showcase the most relevant environmental projects that have been carried out around the globe under Rolex's Perpetual Planet initiative, and we will also tell the local stories of those facing enormous environmental challenges.
#GreenInspiration