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SDG Awards 2024

Finalist Profile

Welcome to the SDG Awards, a distinguished recognition program honoring the remarkable contributions of individuals, organizations, and initiatives in championing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Finalist Profile

Hexagro

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Hexagro
About Company
  • Company Type: Biotechnology Industry
  • Founded in 2016
  • Located at Milano, Lombardia
  • Employees: 2 -10

SDG Awards 2024

Category - SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Economies
Voting Portal

Their innovative systems, such as soilless farming and IoT automation, enable efficient, space-saving cultivation of fresh produce in urban settings.

➜ Their innovative systems, such as soilless farming and IoT automation, enable efficient, space-saving cultivation of fresh produce in urban settings.
➜ This approach reduces food miles, enhances food security, and promotes sustainable living practices.
➜ Hexagro’s educational initiatives and community-building efforts empower individuals and schools to engage in sustainable agriculture, fostering greener and more resilient urban communities.
SDG_Icon 11

1. What is the local impact your organization has achieved regarding your selected SDG? (No Word Limit)

Hexagro has significantly impacted SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities by empowering people to grow fresh, healthy food through our accessible urban farming solutions, reducing the environmental impact of food transportation and enhancing local food security. By integrating educational apps and community-driven initiatives, we foster a network of urban farmers who actively contribute to greener, healthier cities. Our social impact projects in developing regions like Colombia support smallholder farmers with vertical farming technologies, enhancing local food production and community resilience. Our modular smart gardens, made from sustainable materials and equipped with water-efficient systems, promote sustainable consumption and help reduce carbon footprints. By creatively utilizing urban spaces such as balconies, rooftops, and small indoor areas, we address the challenges of limited green spaces, enhancing urban resilience against climate change and transforming cities into more sustainable and inclusive environments.

2. What is the global impact your organization has achieved regarding your selected SDG? (No Word Limit)

Globally, our impact on SDG 11, while limited by our current capabilities, has been amplified through strategic brand promotion, educational outreach, and awareness campaigns addressing the key issues of urban farming and sustainable living. We actively engage with a broad audience online, sharing knowledge and inspiring action through social media, webinars, and educational content that highlight the importance of green urban spaces and sustainable food production. Additionally, we participate in conferences, special projects, and collaborations with educational institutions worldwide, where we share our expertise, promote sustainable urban agriculture, and encourage communities to adopt eco-friendly practices that contribute to healthier and more resilient cities.

3. What is the scalability of your innovation and how do you plan to achieve it? (No Word Limit)

Our innovation is highly scalable due to its modular design, digital integration, and low barrier to entry, allowing us to expand rapidly across diverse markets. We plan to achieve scalability by leveraging our hardware-enabled software model, which reduces customer acquisition costs and increases customer lifetime value through ongoing digital services. By expanding our distribution channels in Europe and the U.S., partnering with retail and B2B2C networks, and utilizing our educational app to engage and retain users, we will drive market penetration. Additionally, our focus on continuous product development and strategic partnerships will enable us to adapt to new market demands and scale our impact globally.

4. What is your organization’s unique strategy for using technology to achieve your selected SDG? (150 Words Limit)

Our strategy is based on building and leveraging our online community of clients and supporters to showcase the tangible impacts of our technology. By engaging users through our AI-powered educational Hexagro app, we collect valuable data from the gardens and users to calculate CO2 emission savings, water conservation, and optimized land use, among other metrics. This data is shared with our community, highlighting the positive environmental impacts achieved collectively. We empower users to track and share their contributions to sustainability, creating a network effect that amplifies our message and drives further engagement. By using real-world metrics, we not only educate our audience on the benefits of urban farming but also build a strong, data-driven narrative that motivates action. This transparent approach fosters a sense of collective achievement, driving our mission to transform urban spaces into sustainable, resilient communities.

5. What challenges did you encounter while working for your selected SDG, and how did you address them? (150 Words Limit)

We continue to face several challenges in achieving SDG 11, including maintaining user engagement, building a community from scratch, scaling our hardware and software products, and defining metrics to measure our impact. Engaging users consistently remains difficult, so we are enhancing our Hexagro app with personalized content and interactive features to retain interest. Building a community from the ground up is a slow process, but we focus on fostering connections through online forums, workshops, and collaborations with influencers. Scaling our products presents technical and operational hurdles; to address this, we invest in R&D to improve our technology and streamline production processes. Defining impact metrics, such as CO2 savings and water conservation, is complex but crucial; we are continuously refining our data collection methods to provide clear, actionable insights to our community and stakeholders, helping us drive further engagement and demonstrate our collective environmental impact.

6. How did you engage local communities and stakeholders in your work, and what was their feedback? (150 Words Limit)

We engaged local communities and stakeholders by organizing workshops, webinars, and hands-on training sessions focused on urban farming and sustainability practices. By partnering with local schools, community centers, and environmental organizations, we educated participants on the benefits of urban farming and how to use our smart gardening solutions. We also collaborated with local influencers and gardening enthusiasts who helped amplify our message and fostered a sense of community. Feedback from these engagements has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants expressing appreciation for the practical, easy-to-implement solutions we provide. Many users reported increased awareness of sustainable practices and felt empowered to contribute to greener communities. Stakeholders, including local governments and educational institutions, have recognized our efforts as a valuable contribution to enhancing urban resilience and food security, encouraging continued collaboration and expansion of our initiatives within their networks.

7. Which organizational skills and resources did you use to deliver goods/services without harming the environment or society? (150 Words Limit)

We prioritize sustainability in our operations to minimize environmental impact. During our in-person events, we conduct workshops using reused materials like plastic bottles, hosted in existing venues to reduce resource use. We avoid printed materials entirely by using QR codes and digital media to share information, cutting down on paper waste. Hexagro’s hardware products are designed with recycled materials, reducing the demand for new resources, and we source components locally from Italian suppliers, shortening the supply chain and lowering the carbon footprint of transportation. To ensure our efforts are aligned with our environmental commitments, we perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) annually to measure the impact of our products and operations. This ongoing evaluation allows us to identify areas for improvement and maintain accountability, reinforcing our dedication to delivering our goods and services in a way that respects both the environment and society.

8. In your view what roles do businesses, governments, and civil society should play in achieving the SDGs, and how can they collaborate effectively? (150 Words Limit)

In my view, businesses, governments, and civil society each have critical roles in achieving the SDGs, with education at the forefront. Businesses should lead by example, creating sustainable products and educating consumers on how to make environmentally friendly choices. Governments must not only regulate but also invest in public education campaigns that highlight sustainable living practices and the importance of the SDGs. Civil society, including NGOs and community organizations, is essential in raising awareness, providing education at the grassroots level, and empowering individuals to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. Effective collaboration can be achieved through partnerships that prioritize educational initiatives, transparent communication, and shared resources. By working together, these sectors can educate the general public on sustainable living, inspire collective action, and drive the behavioral change needed to achieve the SDGs, ensuring that everyone is informed and motivated to contribute to a more sustainable future.

9. What advice do you have for individuals or organizations aiming to create positive change and support the SDGs? (150 Words Limit)

My advice for everyone should be to live the values of sustainability and give the example to the closest peers so they can do the same. Nothing is more impactful than that but it requires awareness, education and action! don't leave those values behind nor forget them, promote them actively in everything you do.

10. How would winning this SDG Award help you enhance your impact and expand your project? (150 Words Limit)

It would give us a lot of recognition and credibility that a small brand like ours needs to increase the trust from the broad audience and convert into clients. With more Hexagro clients the bigger the impact we can achieve, and if this award can help us to grow our visibility it will convert into tangible impact!

11. What are your future objectives regarding your selected SDG? (150 Words Limit)

Our future objectives for SDG 11 focus on expanding and integrating our online community fully into our new Hexagro app to actively measure and enhance our impact. By creating a connected ecosystem within the app, we aim to empower users to track their sustainability contributions in real-time, such as CO2 emissions saved, water conserved, and optimized land use. This integration will provide valuable data that not only helps us measure our collective impact but also motivates our community members by visualizing the difference they are making. Our goal is to leverage these insights to drive further engagement, continuously improve our products and services, and expand our reach to new markets and user groups. Ultimately, we aim to foster a global community of urban farmers who actively contribute to creating more sustainable, resilient cities and communities.
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