National Geographic and R/GA Australia Team up for Make Good Initiative

National Geographic and R/GA Australia have joined forces to create Make Good – a unique, evolving platform designed to address humanitarian, societal and environmental challenges by accelerating innovation for a better world.

“The goal of Make Good is to stimulate new ways of thinking and support young changemakers whose ideas could help address problems they’ve been unlucky enough to inherit,” said executive director business transformation, R/GA Australia, Drew Klonsky. “By partnering with National Geographic, a company synonymous with preserving, protecting and advancing our understanding of the planet, we hope to shine a light on amazing, transformational ideas and help take them to the next level.”

The platform is initially being launched via an intensive, 3-day innovation lab dedicated to the problem of ocean pollution from single-use plastic - the source of over 75% of marine debris. Make Good - Defy Plastic will seek to unearth and develop early-stage ideas that either reduce plastic consumption through behavioural change; revive coastlines by removing plastic waste or keeping it out of oceans; or redesign existing products and services to be plastic-free.

The innovation lab will be run during this year’s Semi Permanent festival which, for the first time, will also be a plastic-free event.

Ideas are currently being sought, with individuals and teams invited to submit proposals between now and the 15th of May. A panel of experts from National Geographic and R/GA will then select participants for the lab, which will include inspirational talks, discussions, and one-on-one time with design, technology and marketing mentors. At its conclusion, one idea will be chosen and showcased live at Semi Permanent, featured in National Geographic editorial, and further developed through ongoing R/GA mentorship.  

“Big, complicated environmental issues like plastic pollution rarely have an obvious fix,” added Sam Boynton, senior manager of business development & partnerships at National Geographic. “So we strongly believe that initiatives like Make Good are needed as a powerful means to identify, develop, and scale solutions that may otherwise have gone un-invented.”

For more information on Make Good - Defy Plastic, and to make a submission for inclusion in the innovation lab, visit the Defy Plastic site.