Explore SEED through the new Virtual Exhibition and learn about the SEED Winners’ impacts through the new SEED Case Studies
Published: 27 May 2015
SEED is launching a new interactive multimedia feature which will enable you to look into all aspects of SEED’s activities: the Virtual Exhibition, as well as new in-depth Case Studies that have emerged from the latest SEED research. Read more
SDGs:
Green Heat, a SEED Story from Uganda
Published: 26 May 2015
Green Heat is an enterprise installing and marketing biogas digesters that convert decaying organic material from latrines and agricultural waste into biogas fuel for cooking and heating. By using biogas digesters, urban and rural households, schools, prisons, hospitals and tourist lodges in Uganda reduce their dependence on firewood and charcoal, improve their waste management systems, and help reduce deforestation and greenhouse gas emission rates related to methane release. Read more
SDGs:
greenABLE, a SEED Story from South Africa
Published: 26 May 2015
greenABLE has found an innovative solution for recycling empty printer cartridges. The recycled plastic and metals are sold, generating a steady flow of income and employment opportunities for previously unemployed persons with disabilities. Jobs are being created in the enterprise’s recycling facility or as greenAGENTS who run their own home-based cartridge collection business and sell the collected cartridges back to the enterprise. Read more
SDGs:
Greening South Africa’s economy: improved business development support for social and environmental enterprises
Published: 06 May 2015 Julia Rohe-Frydrych, Rest Kanju
According to World Bank, South Africa ranks as an upper-middle income economy, representing the second-largest economy in Africa. While disposing of an abundant supply of natural resources and a modern infrastructure, unemployment, poverty, and inequality remain a challenge. Read more
SDGs:
Protecting wildlife by turning elephant dung into paper: A business case?
Published: 03 March 2015 Carolin Ehrensperger, Jona Liebl
It has long been acknowledged that the equilibrium between humans and wildlife is one that can hang in the delicate balance at the best of times, a devastating one-sided scaling at worst. Read more
SDGs:
Creating inclusive value chains in plastic waste management is paramount for a green economy
Published: 11 February 2015 Amélie Heuër, Sophie van den Berg
For a long time, waste management and recycling were primarily discussed in the context of environmental preservation. However, with natural resources becoming scarcer and prices of raw materials increasing, it is no surprise that materials and energy recovered from recycling waste are gradually recognised as a valuable commodity, particularly by enterprises. Read more
SDGs:
SEED Awards 2015 - Apply by 31 March 2015!
Published: 06 February 2015
In 2015 SEED will make available up to 31 SEED Awards, for which SEED has received support from the European Union, the Government of Flanders, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the international law firm Hogan Lovells. Additional support is provided by the Government of the Netherlands and other SEED Partners. Read more
Small meets big: How partnering with large corporations can scale impact of sustainable entrepreneurs
Published: 23 December 2014 Anais Mangin, Helen Marquard
Are locally-driven social and environmental enterprises too small to have an impact? We at SEED don’t think so, and Organic Africa demonstrates that. In 2007, when everyone was leaving Zimbabwe due to political and economic turmoil, Dominikus Collenberg started to train smallholders in the organic production of herbs, spices and oils. Read more
SDGs:
Social and Green Enterprises – How to Create Enabling Frameworks to Increase their Contribution to Sustainable Development?
Published: 04 November 2014 Amélie Heuër
Over the last four years, SEED has hosted a series of unique multi-stakeholder for a focussed on the Green Economy and Africa - the SEED Symposia - where each year innovative and promising start-up enterprises, that won a SEED Award for their remarkable efforts to address social and environmental challenges at the grassroots, are presented. Read more
SDGs:
Promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development: why, and how?
Published: 23 October 2014 Helen Marquard
When UNEP, UNDP and IUCN decided to register the SEED Initiative as a Type II partnership at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, they clearly thought they were on to something – but possibly not quite what SEED is now. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Piratas do Pau Upcycling Centre
Published: 05 September 2014
Piratas do Pau (PdP) Upcycling Training Centre trains and employs young Mozambicans in the design and production of modern furniture made from 90% reclaimed materials. The products are sold locally through a distribution network. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Women’s Off-season Vegetable Production Group
Published: 05 September 2014
The enterprise uses agricultural techniques, notably poly-tunnels and greenhouses, to grow and market organic vegetables in a climate where weather usually limits year-round production. The aim is to improve food security and nutrition while empowering marginalised women through job creation. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: All Women Recycling
Published: 05 September 2014
All Women Recycling turns discarded plastic bottles into unique gift boxes, called kliketyklikboxes, which are sold internationally. The enterprise provides employment opportunities for young women, street waste collectors and others; it also strengthens societal environmental awareness and contributes to cleaner townships. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: greenABLE
Published: 05 September 2014
greenABLE has found an innovative solution for recycling empty printer cartridges. It provides income-generating opportunities for previously disadvantaged and unemployed persons with disabilities in the waste recycling industry and supports its employees with education and training programmes. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Waste to Food
Published: 05 September 2014
Waste to Food (W2F) provides an alternative to the disposal of organic waste in landfills. A combination of two technologies offers a commercially profitable and scalable processing system for recycling food waste into high-quality compost. The franchise model fosters enterprise development. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Appropriate Energy-saving Technologies Ltd.
Published: 05 September 2014
The enterprise sells and distributes biomass charcoal briquettes and cook stoves in Teso region, Uganda. Formed to help address local deforestation and environmental degradation, the staff put emphasis on partnering with local groups to provide the region with clean, sustainable cooking fuel. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Green Bio Energy
Published: 05 September 2014
Green Bio Energy (GBE) offers low-income Ugandan families cost-saving, safe and environmentally-friendly energy solutions including energy-efficient cookstoves and eco-friendly charcoal briquettes. The enterprise’s Briketi Charcoal Briquettes and Eco Stoves replace inefficient products that contribute to deforestation. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Green Heat (U) Ltd
Published: 05 September 2014
Green Heat offers an alternative to conventional waste management and environmentally destructive use of charcoal and firewood for home cooking and heating. Household and agricultural waste is funnelled through biogas digesters producing a low-cost, safe and reliable source of energy. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Kataara Women’s Poverty Alleviation Group
Published: 05 September 2014
Kataara Women’s Poverty Alleviation Group runs an innovative small-scale enterprise selling handicrafts made from elephant dung paper, and energy-efficient cookstoves. The enterprise aims to not only alleviate regional poverty but also to conserve its environment for future generations. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: KingFire Briquettes
Published: 05 September 2014
KingFire is an urban recycling initiative using organic material otherwise considered waste to create briquettes. Sourced from local materials, the briquettes offer an alternative energy source to firewood or charcoal and provide quality, affordable, sustainable fuel for heating and cooking. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Diseclar
Published: 31 August 2014
Diseclar has developed a method to create furniture made from recycled plastic and agro-industrial waste including sugar cane pulp, coffee and rice chaff. Customers benefit from long-lasting products, while the local community benefits from job creation and positive environmental impacts. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Proplanet
Published: 31 August 2014
Proplanet transforms materials that are hard-to-recycle, such as long-life Tetra Pak and plastified paper, into paper fibre, sustainable construction materials, and urban furniture, thereby reducing pressure on landfills. Through biodegradable food packaging with FSC certification, it helps to substitute plastics. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Recycling for Environmental Recovery
Published: 31 August 2014
The enterprise will establish a plastics recycling plant to produce secondary raw materials for the plastics industry in Morocco and abroad. It seeks to improve health and safety for waste workers, particularly those involved in waste collection. Read more
SDGs:
The circular economy and opportunities for small businesses
Published: 28 August 2014 Anais Mangin, Francesca Culcasi
Current ways of production and consumption are not sustainable, disregarding the efficient use of natural resources, the minimization of toxic materials and the emission of waste. Read more
SDGs:
How Women Entrepreneurs are contributing to the Green Economy
Published: 01 August 2014 Anais Mangin
Particularly women are increasingly perceived to play a significant role in realising the transformation to a greener economy and poverty reduction in countries with developing economies. Read more
SDGs:
