Impact Stories

Planet Reimagined is building a stronger climate movement. By bringing together young researchers and advocates from around the world, and training them to collaborate for maximum impact, we aim to create the next generation of climate leaders. 

Chosen from a pool of thousands of applicants ranging from undergraduates to post-docs in 100+ countries, the Planet Reimagined fellows create lasting impact in various remarkable ways: from implementing solutions in their communities, to achieving substantial digital reach through media content, contributing to local, federal, and international policy initiatives, engaging in broader campaigns and partnerships, and applying their acquired skills and training to meaningful work in different sectors beyond the fellowship.

Planet Reimagined Report

Common Grounds for a Clean Energy Future

Report about How the U.S. Can Cut Carbon, Expand Green Jobs, and Help Mom-and-Pop Oil and Gas Producers Reinvent Themselves by Putting Wind and Solar Projects on Federal Fossil Fuel Lands

Planet Reimagined is driving changes in U.S. clean energy policies based on a year-long process of consulting policymakers, environmental groups, communities, and stakeholders across the renewable energy and fossil fuel industries.

Inspired by Adam Met’s “How the Universal Language of Music Can Help Us Solve Our Planetary Problem”, Planet Reimagined launched our first one-year fellowship program, Climate Active, dedicated to exploring diverse pathways for change. The fellowship aims to investigate various on-ramps to activism to address the climate crisis and create a sustainable future.

New Futures Fellowship Impact

Hidden Values of Rivers

An international team of Planet Reimagined researcher-advocates sought to unlock the hidden value of rivers in their communities.

New Futures Fellowship Impact Stories

  • In 2020, Planet Reimagined brought together three New Futures fellows from different fields and backgrounds: Alex from New Jersey was an undergrad Business Analytics major, Navaz from India was working on her Master’s in Environmental Design, and Yanaika from the Netherlands was pursuing a Carbon Management MS. Sparking ideas across their areas of interest in supply chains, cities, carbon reduction, and entrepreneurship, they came up with a new way to engage stakeholders in urban farming.

    The fellowship group published an academic paper, developed an advocacy plan, and created a LEGO building to help city dwellers visualize what our world could look like with a garden on every roof. Rows of planters on top of a LEGO supermarket; a LEGO greenhouse full of veggies; and LEGO residents tending everything. 

    To tell the story, our PSA on iHeartRadio urged over 100 Million listeners to consider a carrot—the average carrot travels 3000 miles from farm to supermarket, but an urban garden can lower that to just a few steps.

    Then we brought the idea to life: Planet Reimagined partnered with Small Axe Peppers, which works with low-income urban community gardeners, and Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York, on an urban garden on the Stadium grounds. Small Axe plants their peppers in the garden and Forest Hills uses the peppers in their concessions. If a guest wants nachos or a spicy margarita, they’re getting locally-grown peppers made without 3000 miles of air travel and layers of plastic.

  • Fellows across Planet Reimagined tackled different sectors of the music industry to research and advocate on the climate impacts of touring, streaming, merchandise and more.

    In 2022, The New Futures Fellowship developed a practical set of guidelines, through which musicians are able to measure the carbon impact of a song: from writing to production, and distribution to performance, each step contains concrete recommendations for emissions reductions. Management companies, record labels, and artists have now begun to engage with this Economic, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework as they create new music.

    Jack Dimmock, staying involved as a researcher after his 2021 New Futures Fellowship ended, analyzed the environmental impacts of streaming versus downloading, and climate change’s financial repercussions on merchandise sales due to changing average temperatures in different cities. These projects resulted in articles in Rolling Stone Magazine, with over 7 Million digital impressions.

    The inaugural Climate Active Fellowship is currently examining onramps to activism at concerts. In partnership with Ticketmaster, REVERB, and Climate Outreach, Planet Reimagined fellows will undertake this yearlong study to test solutions for engaging concertgoers in collective efforts for large-scale change in systems and policies related to climate change.

Building the Next Generation of Climate Leaders

Planet Reimagined Fellows have gone on to apply their fellowship training and experience through sustainability-oriented roles in companies, universities, non-profits, and communities throughout the world. They are applying the skills they learned in the fellowship everywhere from the social impact team at Deloitte India; to emergency recovery from climate-linked disasters with UNICEF Brazil; to contributing to a book about reducing climate impacts in Belgium.

  • Ripesh Kharel

    NEPAL

    Ripesh, a 2023 New Futures Climate + River Communities fellow, provided valuable film material from his fellowship travels. Planet Reimagined is editing this content into a mini-documentary, highlighting the story of the Karnali River. His research on a dam-affected community has become especially relevant with an upcoming Supreme Court case on hydropower in Nepal.

  • Alicia Zhang

    USA

    In her fellowship group, Alicia applied her PhD-level expertise in greenhouse gas emissions measurement to the music industry. She has gone on to work on impact measurement and carbon accounting in the utility sector, as well as environmental justice and emissions in Puerto Rico.

  • Ruwanthi Gajadeera

    SRI LANKA

    Ruwanthi’s fellowship addressed environmental damage and cultural preservation through clothing and textile design. Related to the fellowship topic, Ruwanthi’s sustainable fashion collection was honored at Graduate Fashion Week London and the Taiwan Fashion Design Awards.

  • Mercy Adhiambo

    KENYA

    Mercy was in the fellowship group that developed the environmental justice Blue Public Space campaign for a global framework for coastal access. After the fellowship, Mercy went on to a Master’s degree from the Columbia University Journalism School and to work as a Scripps Environmental Journalism researcher.

  • Ghislaine Irakoze

    RWANDA

    As a fellow with Planet Reimagined, Ghislain co-developed a computational model that visualizes climate justice from a waste management perspective. He founded Wastezon, a cleantech company that provides machine-learning-powered services for manufacturers, recyclers and consumers.

  • Nia Smith

    USA

    Nia was in the fellowship group that developed the #WasteNoTime Campaign for reusing and reducing consumer product materials. After the fellowship, Nia leveraged the #WasteNoTime campaign to participate in Mr. Beast and Mark Rober’s #TeamSeas which, in partnership with The Ocean Cleanup, pulled 30 Million pounds of plastic out of the ocean. Nia went on to sit on Planet Reimagined’s Advisory Board.

Fellows also stay active in Planet Reimagined’s work, serving on our Consultative Committee and joining us for interviews to choose new fellows.

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