The problems facing our planet can be too daunting to solve on our own, but the NextNow Collaboratory recognizes that by bringing people together to work on these problems we can increase our chances for success.
The Collaboratory launched in September of 2006 to tap into advances in data visualization and other technologies to study the interdependencies between the world’s numerous environmental crises and to build a network of concerned individuals working together to solve these problems.
In June of 2007, the Collaboratory helped produce the Fifth Annual International Symposium for Digital Earth, a five-day conference focused on making the world of information gathered about our planet accessible to everyone living on our planet. The conference is the brainchild of R. Buckminister Fuller, and received support from Vice President Al Gore.
Since then, the NextNow Collaboratory has helped develop numerous other projects and conferences. The Collaboratory is currently working with the Plastic Pollution Coalition on a project to raise awareness about Trash Island, the floating piles of waste in the Pacific Ocean more than twice the size of Texas.