At the Renaissance Awards, Eco-Age Celebrates a More Sustainable Future
At the second annual Renaissance Awards in Florence (home of the Renaissance), hope was in the air. This year, the ceremony took place at the newly restored Palazzo Portinari Salviati, where 16 honorees, recognized for their efforts as changemakers, received a physical award with one-of-a-kind NFTs built in. Presented by Eco-Age cofounder Livia Firth, the Renaissance Awards works to amplify voices across four categories: socially just, environmentally restorative, economically inclusive, and technologically balanced.
“I think that coming together in coalitions is so important, and in a space like this, it’s incredible to see how we’re able to make things happen and inspire each other,” says 20-year-old honoree Sophia Kianni. The evening was met with great support as notable guests such as Minnie Mills, Rupert Everett, Doina Ciobanu, and Italian designer Stella Jean cheered on the young leaders.
In addition to the recipients of the main category awards, the Renaissance Awards partnered with ChangemakerXchange to honor five societal luminaries they call possibilists. Here, a possibilist is defined as an alliance of activists working together to create an overall larger impact and gain a wider reach to champion their efforts.
One final award, the Method Renaissance changemaker award, recognized a single recipient, and it was received by the artist, designer, and researcher Mary Lempres. With help from Method products and its Method for Change initiative launched in 2021, the award focuses on honoring an individual who is driving change through sustainable design. “My goal as a designer is to design tools that can be used by communities to solve their own problems,” Lempres tells Vogue.
With these honors, the Renaissance Awards continues to shine a light on innovators working toward a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive future—and it’s a night that acknowledges that change can only be made possible through support.
Photo: Getty Images1/14Sophia Kianni
Sophia Kianni is an Iranian-American environmentalist studying climate science and health policy at Stanford University. She is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals, an international nonprofit with 8,000 volunteers in 40+ countries working to translate climate information into over 100 languages. She represents the U.S as the youngest member on the inaugural United Nations Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. She sits on boards and advisory councils for The New York Times, World Economic Forum, Inkey List, Iris Project, JUV Consulting, Ashoka, and American Lung Association.
Photo: Getty Images2/14Mary Lempres
Through an interdisciplinary lens, Mary Lempres co-designs with biological processes in order to design tools that empower non-experts to harness natural processes from nature where systems achieve near perfect economies of energy and material. By linking nature and culture, she hopes to provide individuals and communities with the tools for resilience, economic prosperity, and social equity. Her most recent projects include: open-infrastructure for plastic biodigestion by mealworms, in situ biocementation for flood resilience, water filters derived from food waste, and 3D printed wind turbines for community microgrids.
Photo: Getty Images3/14Vee Kativhu
Vee (Varaidzo) Kativhu is a 24 year old Girls’ Education Activist and YouTube visionary from Zimbabwe and the UK. She is the founder of Empowered By Vee, a youth empowerment organisation, which uses social media to help underrepresented students fulfil their academic potential. A graduate of both Oxford and Harvard, Vee has been named a Diana Award Legacy Award recipient by Prince Harry and Prince William, a UK Rare Rising Star by MPs, and Diversity Champion by Oxford’s Vice Chancellor. Author of ‘EMPOWERED’, a practical self-help book for young people, Vee is an active ambassador for United World Schools, CAMFED and Girl Up Zimbabwe. Vee was recently appointed as a Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations, a role that she’ll hold from 2022-2024.
Photo: Getty Images4/14Abigail Gualinga (left), Alexis Grefa (right)
Left: Abigail is a youth organiser and climate justice advocate and a young mother from the Kichwa People of Sarayaku. She is the former president of SAMARUTA indigenous youth organization of Sarayaku, and has been on the forefront in the fight against extractive industries on indigenous land for many years. Right: Alexis a young Kichwa indigenous leader from Santa Clara in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Alexis has been protecting the Piatua River on which his peoples’ livelihood depends upon. He has been on the forefront organising the defense against land degradation and the construction of an ilegal hydroelectric dam on the river that would be devastating for all life in the river, as well as the communities along the riverbank. Together his people have successfully paused the project and exposed corruption in the justice system that was meant to protect the Kichwa People of Santa Clara.
Photo: Getty Images5/14Lavinya Stennett
Lavinya is a writer, activist, and Founder and CEO of The Black Curriculum. Graduating with a first-class from SOAS in 2019, she has most recently authored a paper exploring Maroon ecology in Jamaica and Brazil. Lavinya was recently named as one of the Sunday Times 50 Women of the Year and was awarded Trailblazer of The Year by Hello Magazine, as well as GQ for her activism. The Black Curriculum is a social enterprise founded in 2019, working to teach and support the teaching of Black history all year round, aiming to empower all students with a sense of identity and belonging. Lavinya is currently writing her debut book on Black History ‘Omitted’ due out for publication in Spring 2023.
