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RowanBarber's picture

Carbon Counters - the weight watchers of GHG emissions

What's this idea about?

In less than 100 words, what is your idea?: 
I have established a social enterprise. I would like it to become to greenhouse gas emissions what "weight watchers" is to adipose. eg - a member driven enterprise prviding support, advice, social networks, products & services to individuals & families who would like to reduce their environmetal impacts but do not know how.
What is the social need or challenge your idea could address?: 
Looking at ways to overcome gaps in knowledge & motivaton which prevent Australians from reducing their GHGs.
What’s really new about your idea?: 
Adaption of existing concepts and frameworks (from the weight loss sector) & applying them to a new issue.
3.416665
Average: 3.4 (12 votes)
Your rating: None
marcus's picture

Mighty mashups for mindful service targeting

What's this idea about?

In less than 100 words, what is your idea?: 
Help Community Service Organisations (CSOs) answer the question ‘am I helping the people who need it most’ by enabling them to easily test their (de-identified) service provision data against a range of population measures (SEIFA index, nationality information, income data, etc). Results would be displayed as charts/maps to show information such as ‘How many <insert refugee nationality>’s do I provide services to compared to Census data’ (similar for SIEFA index, etc). Sharing of insights and good practice would be encouraged through a discussion area on the site.
What is the social need or challenge your idea could address?: 
Most community service organisations struggle to adequately answer the question ‘am I helping who need it most?’ Wait lists are long, funding limited and outcomes uncertain. Some CSOs perform limited analysis of service provision, but tools and resources limit capacity. More detailed analysis has in specific instances lead to changes that include transition from in-house services to an outreach service model, or changed waiting list provision to give certain people priority. This tool aims to put this type of information in the hands of the decision makers to ensure are servicing the people most in need.
What’s really new about your idea?: 
Leveraging web 2.0 to put the tools and information in the reach of CSOs who can then refine their service provision policy to benefit from the insights. The insights from better targeting of limited resources also has the potential to profoundly change who gets services first. Bringing this information together also gives the potential for new insights (no-one other than the AIHW assembles this information) that can influence government policy. If successful, the website could be expanded to support benchmarking of corporate services or client service provision. The potential for identifying clients that churn through multiple programs also exist (although some privacy challenges exist, but nothing impossible).
3.444445
Average: 3.4 (9 votes)
Your rating: None
marcus's picture

Digs for the disadvantaged

What's this idea about?

In less than 100 words, what is your idea?: 
Short term B&B style accommodation for the homeless provided by people with homes for the benefit of those without. Accommodation would be facilitated through a website that people more fortunate can register to house someone in need for a few days or a week. Accommodation would be allocated by NGOs providing homeless services on basis of need and capacity to live reasonably someone’s house for up to a week (i.e. no illicit drugs, etc). Stories (if agreed) would be captured on the website to increase awareness of issue and evidence of the need for systemic change.
What is the social need or challenge your idea could address?: 
Homelessness is a significant challenge. Waiting times for public housing are close to 20 years in many regions. If you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to qualify for the ‘priority’ list, you only have to wait around five years. More than 50% of people are turned away from crisis accommodation, and many more don’t even bother to try because males can be told ‘if your not a women with children, don’t bother’. Both state and federal governments are investing significant funds in the system, but more needs to be done to effectively tackle the issues. A lot of people want to help, but are not sure how to. This gives them a constructive, practical way to help.
What’s really new about your idea?: 
1. Use of web technology to connect people that want to help with people that need it, brokered by NGOs to increase chance of good match (people offering homes can specify who they are willing to have – family, single male, alcoholic, police record, etc) to ensure risk is understood. 2. Capture of stories by the person providing the accommodation using video, audio or text to evidence the problem and generate drive for change 3. Capacity to readily extend the website into new areas to provide more permanent solutions (jobs, advice, guidance, etc) - or to leverage sites like Anglefish (if they get established in AU) 4. Use of feedback (ebay style) to rate experience by homeless and homed 5. Information regarding the need for and availability of beds would be freely available on the net to improve knowledge of the issue and the need for change.
3.09091
Average: 3.1 (11 votes)
Your rating: None
lloyd's picture

Food Manufacturing for Local Communities

What's this idea about?

In less than 100 words, what is your idea?: 
Set up a site that local communities can use to get the basic knowledge they need to safely manufacture basic shelf stable food products to utilise excess amounts of seasonal local produce that would otherwise go to waste or be sold at low prices
What is the social need or challenge your idea could address?: 
Avoid unnecessary waste of food resources, improve economic return from local agriculture, provide food in times of scarcity.
What’s really new about your idea?: 
Making food science and technology accessible to ordinary people in local communities in a way that it can be practically applied for local benefit
3.142855
Average: 3.1 (7 votes)
Your rating: None
miriaml's picture

Green Economy Toolkit

What's this idea about?

In less than 100 words, what is your idea?: 
The Sustainable Economy Ideas Index (see an early mock-up at http://sustainableeconomy.ideascale.com/) will provide an online forum where people can share and promote ideas on what Australian governments can do to support a sustainable economy. This project will harness the power of crowdsourcing to bring together the best policy ideas for solving the challenges Australia faces in transitioning to an economy that operates within environmental limits. The Sustainable Economy Ideas Index will allow students, academics, policy analysts, forward-looking businesses and other concerned citizens to work together to capture policy ideas from Australia and around the world and collaborate on making those ideas as compelling and easy to understand as possible.
What is the social need or challenge your idea could address?: 
We need a central repository for all the ideas - whether implemented elsewhere or not - that will help inform the debates and decisions made to transition our economy to one that is more socially and environmentally sustainable. The Sustainable Economy Ideas Index will be the place to go to learn about other ideas and contribute knowledge, experience and research. What kinds of ideas will be in the index? The index will focus on policy ideas which could be implemented by federal or state governments in Australia - while we recognise that actions by individuals, civil society and business are also important, ideas for changing government policy are often more complex and harder to find. The index will mainly be a platform for collecting ideas that have already been proposed or implemented elsewhere - although there's room for original ideas where clear gaps in existing proposals can be identified.
What’s really new about your idea?: 
Currenty, many great ideas are buried in the recommendation sections of long reports, or can be found in papers in academic journals, on many other websites and submissions to government inquiries. As yet, there is no project that brings together, translates and synthesises the existing research and ideas in a way that is accessible, usable and interactive. The Sustainable Economy Ideas Index proposes to create the research tool that will do this and bring together in the one space bright and creative researchers to be part of this project: forward-looking thinkers who want to find solutions to the environment crisis, not simply criticise and lament current policies.
3.857145
Average: 3.9 (21 votes)
Your rating: None

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