Inventors : Professor Nazia Habib & Deborah Jamieson OBE, Cambridge Centre for Resilience & Sustainable Development, Land Economy
The inventors have a background in applying engineering systems approaches into political economics problems, and developing systems and methodologies which can be applied to multiple problems and geographies.
Their recent COMPASS project (COMPASS = COMmon Pooled Asset Structuring System) focused on the question of how to achieve sustainable funding for youth and biodiversity projects in small island states. As a result of this work, which consulted over 5,000 people and ran policy simulation labs with the African Development Bank, the idea of youth investment banks was developed and launched with the EU as a $500m fund.
The key premise behind the COMPASS approach is to draw on blended finance models to diversify risks and create a net benefit in both economic and societal areas, as well as ensuring that the benefit is sustainable in the longer-term.
The inventors now want to build on the methodology and expand it into new areas. Their current focus areas are :
- Creating a financial and societal approach for the empowerment of women and children, in particular creating long-term support for anti-violence programmes, possibly through focusing on the fashion industry
- Improving food security for all members of society, though working with the agriculture sector
The challenge for the i-Team is to interview relevant sector experts and identify which aspects of COMPASS would be of most value to take forward in these different sectors, as well as recommending initial target geographies, so that the inventors can maximise their impact and create positive societal change.