Conservation Entrepreneurship: Scale and Sustainability

We are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction driven by human activity. Conservation faces an inflection point. The problems are exponential, but current approaches and solutions are incremental.  Conservation efforts... [ view full abstract ]

We are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction driven by human activity. Conservation faces an inflection point. The problems are exponential, but current approaches and solutions are incremental.  Conservation efforts have been too siloed, backward-looking, technophobic, and fail to integrate design and entrepreneurial principles.  The future of conservation relies on addressing the underlying causes of human-induced extinction from the need to feed a growing global population to demand for extractives like rare-earth minerals.  How can we harness the scale and sustainability of technology innovation and entrepreneurship to solving critical conservation problems?  At Conservation X Labs, we are applying partnerships, direct technology development, and open innovation to source, develop, and scale new innovations in the conservation field.  Our work has offered insight into how conservation entrepreneurship can drive positive change and what tools are necessary to reach revolutionary solutions.  Examples of the potential for change in conservation exist and offer lessons for future efforts to design and scale solutions to growing conservation challenges.  This session will explore the nature of conservation entrepreneurship, core principles to its success, and the path forward for the field.