Hosted by World Culture Open, the 2019 Better Together Challenge invited thinkers, activists, changemakers, scientists, and creatives from around the world to share diverse projects addressing some of today’s most pressing social issues. Held on the grounds of the historic 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, the 3-day gathering was attended by over 300 people. The Challenge provided an open stage where 30 finalists, selected from over 1200 projects and 122 countries, were invited to share their stories in a unique contest format. Based on public voting from hundreds of audience voters and a special jury panel, 6 projects were awarded the final 2019 Better Together Challenge award. We are excited to share that PetaBencana.id was among the final winners, awarded with the 2nd place prize!
The 1st place prize was awarded to Korean finalist Sangho Yi, founder of Mand.ro, for using 3D printing technologies to develop affordable electronic prosthetics for amputees. Other award winners included Eseyam Nyador, founder of Miss Taxi, a female-driven taxi service in Ghana; Momal Mushtaq, founder of The Freedom Traveller; Jiyeoung Lee, conserving and spreading awareness about the forests in Gotjawal; Camilo Herrera founder of Litro de Luz, developing infrastructures for communities in conflict zones to mitigate electric exclusion; and Abdul Wahab and Haejin Kim from Help Syria, an organization helping Syrian refugees.
Finalists shared diverse experiences and projects including upskilling programs in conflict-affected communities, empowering residents with land and property rights information to reduce land conflicts in Uganda, sustainable methods of honey production to empower rural communities in Zambia, developing accessible technologies to support agriculture and food security in East Africa, among many others.
The 3-day event included workshops and talks by Dave Hakkens (named as one of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators under 35 Europe 2017), Raed Alsaleh (Head of The White Helmets organization providing humanitarian support in Syria, and named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2017), Pyeongchang Mayor Han Wang-Gi, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, among many others.
We are grateful to have had the opportunity to share our story and learn from so many inspiring projects around the world! We are honored by the recognition and grateful to be able to share this award with all project partners including USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB), the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), as well as with all residents of Indonesia and contributors to the PetaBencana.id platform for reducing risk together!
PetaBencana.id is a platform run by Yayasan Peta Bencana as a free, transparent platform for emergency response and disaster management in megacities in South and Southeast Asia. PetaBencana.id is a part of the USAID BNPB InAWARE: Disaster Management Early Warning and Decision Support Capacity Enhancement Project in Indonesia.