Wellington innovation challenge pushes Kiwis to solve NZ’s carbon crisis

The Low Carbon Challenge has officially launched in Wellington.

This year's challenge will support six teams to grow their low carbon project or business.

For the past three years, a growing community of organisations and partners in Wellington have been helping innovative low carbon solutions to raise funding and build momentum.

This has grown into the Low Carbon Challenge programme.

This year marks the launch of the Wellington Low Carbon Partnership Fund.

This city-wide open fund supports the projects that enter the challenge by providing dollar for dollar match funding to crowdfunding campaigns to amplify the work of local communities.

The fund is being led by Wellington City Council and is supported by BNZ, Powershop and the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Each partner in the fund will support the teams and campaigns that align with their strategies as well as the impact they want to make.

The fund is open, which means any organisation in the city can commit funding and help to support the growing movement of people tackling climate change.

Based on the city's long-term low carbon strategy the four key areas that have an impact on Wellington's carbon emissions are housing and building, waste, transport and energy.

By supporting ideas to launch a crowdfunding campaign, and also have this matched by a citywide partnership fund, the programme creates a huge collective public action.

This supports visibility for ideas that directly take action on climate change.

Successful projects from past years that continue to thrive include electric car share, Mevo, electric cycle hire, Switched on Bikes and closed loop waste minimisation business, Misprint.

This type of programme, with collaboration from across sectors, is another example of Wellington's innovative, collaborative city supporting good ideas to grow.

These innovative challenges can create tangible, practical urban responses to climate change.

The challenge can be joined by start-ups, community projects, existing businesses that want to support staff by launching something new.

The challenge is being run in partnership with Enspiral.

Enspiral is a collaborative network that helps people do meaningful work.

Enspiral consists of three parts, a foundation, professional service companies and start-up ventures.