Three nominees selected on September 27 during the Pitch Event at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands, will compete in the final round of Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award for sustainability pioneers. The finalists, Fonger Ypma (Arctic Reflections), Milan Meyberg (Rights of Nature / GAIA) and Rong Wang (EGGXPERT), will present their ideas again on October 25 in Venlo to determine the winner of this year’s award. 

Six candidates competed for a place in the final with their ideas to contribute to accelerating the sustainable transition for a future-proof society. Read on to learn more about the innovative pitches that made it to the final.

The finalists

Fonger Ypma – Arctic Reflections 

Arctic Reflections was founded in early 2023 by its CEO Fonger Ypma to stop the melting of Arctic ice and promote its regrowth to counter the effects of global warming. The idea is to increase the volume of ice by pumping seawater onto it during winter and thickening the ice layer so it does not completely melt during the warm summer months, adding an extra layer of ice to 100,000 square kilometers each year. More about Arctic Reflections.

Milan Meyberg – Rights of Nature / GAIA

Milan Meyberg’s concept, Geospatial Artificial Intelligence Assembly (GAIA), aims to give environmental entities (such as forests, jungles, rivers and oceans) a personality, a face, a voice and even a character. This is achieved by using an open-source network of environmental artificial intelligence and could help improve the protection of nature. More about Milan Meyberg.

Rong Wang – EGGXPERT

Dr. Rong Wang, the co-founder of EGGXPERT, presented the idea of using the untapped potential of valuable substances found in eggshells to help reduce pollution and waste, as currently, about 8.5 M tons of eggshells end up in landfills every year. The first products using eggshells as a raw material have already been validated, including as a biobased raw material for skin creams and packaging materials. More about EGGXPERT.

About Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award

The award pays homage to Marc Cornelissen, the Dutch polar explorer and sustainability pioneer who died during a polar expedition in 2015. Its main objective is to motivate sustainability pioneers in areas such as circularity, nutrition, digitalization and health. Stamicarbon has co-sponsored this award since 2020, supporting breakthrough ideas and the talented people behind them. 

Learn more on the Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award website.