We Need Your Help Mapping Out These Topics!

See a topic that's interesting to you? Let us know and we will connect you to the person behind the mission!

We are collaborating with community-embedded organizations who have each proposed special projects as part of the Map the System program. These projects have been carefully considered and are critical pieces of work to help shape and move forward key pieces of work for these community partners.

If you choose one of these special projects as your chosen topic, you will benefit from directly working with a representative from the organization at points throughout the MTS program to align your work and seek guidance (including resource recommendations to connections within the field).

Check out details on the special projects below

Special Topics 2023/24

Longer Descriptions & Videos

3. Creating a global resource to promote Inclusive Climate Innovation

Name of Organization: Inclusive Innovation
Contact: Courtney Savie Lawrence

Short problem description:
Understanding the Inclusive Climate Innovation Landscape

Courtney Savie Lawrence, co author of Inclusive Innovation, and a team of multidisciplinary professions globally are co-creating a resource that supports, facilitates and explores Inclusive Climate Innovation. The resource is envisioned to support global communities to promote inclusion with a particular focus on climate related impacts. Scoping and understanding the current ecosystem in the context of specific climate related parameters will help to identify the constraints and opportunities of what the resource could become and who it could impact.

Link: https://www.inclusiveinnovation.io

Dandelion Philosophy.mp4

4. Building the system for a resilient community in Cambridge Village, South Africa

Name of Organization: Dandelion Philosophy

The aftermath of apartheid in South Africa further compounds the challenges experienced by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) communities. Corruption, lack of access to basic resources, opportunities, education, housing, food and water, inhibit the mobilization and advancement of communities. Cambridge Village, in South Africa, faces a 97% unemployment rate and a multitude of other nuanced challenges. Addressing systemic constraints to create resilient communities requires comprehensive, sustainable interventions, and global support, guided by the SDGs. 

5. Mortgage Loans for low income women in South Africa

Name of Organization: Oxfam

To what extent do systemic inequality, racism and poor governance affect access to mortgage loans to low income women in South Africa?

6. Gender Divide

Name of Organization: Oxfam

Title: Closing the digital gender divide in South Africa

Short problem description:
The digital gender divide is negatively impacting women’s economic empowerment in South Africa

Long problem description:
The digital gender divide is coding gender bias into the technologies, tech education, and tech landscapes on which people around the globe increasingly rely in their day-to-day, professional, and social lives. In South Africa, the number of men pursuing computer science and engineering education is far greater than the number of women. This gap increases when examined intersectionally to include queer and trans women and women with disabilities. Furthermore, the women who do pursue technical computing degrees, drop out of their programs and, later, tech positions at a greater rate than male counterparts, resulting in a male-dominated industry where technical roles, such as computer scientists, engineers, and developers, are largely occupied by men, and a technological landscape where digital tools and algorithms are designed by and for men. It also impacts women’s economic empowerment, given that technical roles within the information and communications technologies industry are among the highest paying jobs in the world.


It’s time to get more women, including queer and trans women, and women with disabilities into tech education programs and technical roles in South Africa, and get them to stay in the tech pipeline, from the college-level to C-Suite, to create a more equitable world for all.

7. Scaling Composting, Reducing Food Waste, and Increasing recycling in MNPS

Name of Organization: VUMC

Our elementary school is trying to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing what we put into local landfills through composting and recycling. We started with a small cafeteria composting program for leftover fruit and expanded it for this school year to be able to compost all types of food waste. Implementation has been more challenging than we thought, but we see these obstacles as opportunities for new learning and problem solving.

We need help making our sustainability program sustainable throughout the school year. We want to make our composting program repeatable for the future and for other Nashville schools, and we want to expand our current recycling program. We estimate that 80% of our school’s trash production is compostable or recyclable, but we have learned that this will only happen if our government leaders, private industry, and public service organizations work together. We need your help to map both our smaller school system and this larger societal system. It is only through mapping the larger system that we can build the communication and collaboration needed to make this dream a reality for our community. 

Note: Food waste has a significant impact on our planet because it goes into landfills where the process of bacterial decomposition creates harmful methane gas. If instead, the food is composted, it breaks down aerobically and produces carbon dioxide. Both are considered “greenhouse gases,” but according to the EPA, “Methane gas is 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide for trapping heat in the atmosphere.”

Sustainability Request-GREENER Julia Green.mov
AimHiTN .mp4

8. Mapping support organizations for youth

Name of Organization: Association of Infant Mental Health in Tennessee (AIMHiTN)

9. Reviving Civics Education in the U.S.

Name of Organization: Kidizenship

Reviving Civics Education and Student Journalism in the U.S.

Short version Problem: The civics education crisis in American schools

Longer problem statement:

The civics education crisis in American schools is driving distrust, polarization and youth voter disengagement in our democracy. It stems from the lack of required and optional curricula related to government studies, current events, student journalism and activism, especially in rural and under-resourced communities.  Nationally, on average, for every $50 spent per student on STEM curricula in public schools, 5 cents are spent on civics curricula. It’s time to energize and modernize civics and student journalism programs inside and beyond the classroom.

Kidizenship.mp4

10. Leveraging the potential for AI to protect civic space and preserve democracy

Name of Organization: Oxfam

Topic: Leveraging the potential for AI to protect civic space and preserve democracy

Short Version Problem Statement:
Democracy is increasingly in danger. We are witnessing how digital tools are being used in negative ways to close down civic engagement and attack human rights defenders around the world. With the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), is there an opportunity here despite the risks AI presents to society?

Longer Version Problem Statement:
The world is seeing increasing crackdown on democracy and closing civic space. Citizens and organized human rights defenders are unable to speak out freely without being at risks. We are also witnessing military coups of democratically elected regimes. Digital surveillance, misinformation, and spread of hate speech online are few manifestations of the phenomena we are observing. AI is emerging as a powerful tool despite all the risks and dangers it presents to society. We are curious to understand the policy, structural and cultural barriers that are creating closing civic space and putting democracy at risk. How are they interconnected and what options activist organizations and social movements working to defend human rights have with digital technologies and artificial intelligence specifically to continue to exert influence and achieve positive outcomes while managing the risks?

11. Affordability for Artists in Nashville

Name of Contact: Kelsey Driscoll


What does affordability look like for Nashville-based artists?


As a lifelong Nashvillian, independent music artist, and member of the Wond'ry Innovation & Design Strategy team, I'm curious about what defines a truly creative city and the conditions that foster vibrant creative communities.

Amidst Nashville’s current phase of immense economic growth, the challenge of rising living costs has emerged, particularly for artists. Having grown up in this dynamic city, I deeply appreciate its culture of creative, civic, and entrepreneurial endeavors.

This project dives into the complex issue of artist affordability in Nashville, investigating various factors such as the availability of public and private resources for artists, the affordability of work and living spaces, income sources, and accessibility to these resources. 

By understanding these elements, we aim to identify ways in which stakeholders can intervene to support artists. Preserving the arts and nurturing a vibrant creative scene in Nashville is not merely a matter of cultural enrichment; it's an investment in the city's well-being and long-term prosperity.