Macquarie Community Resilience Prize

The Macquarie Community Resilience Prize, powered by MIT Solve, seeks to support innovative projects that build climate-resilient communities while creating meaningful employment and skill-building opportunities.

The Prize targets technology-enabled solutions to support sectors such as energy and grid resilience, water resource management, agriculture and food systems, infrastructure protection, disaster preparedness and avoidance, and other areas that promote community resilience.

Across Australia, the Pacific Islands and Brazil, up to ten projects helping to address the growing impacts of climate change while training and employing workers to protect and future-proof their communities will be awarded a total of $A1.5 million.

Each will receive funding, along with a dedicated support program including access to workshops, coaching, in-kind resources and mentorship by Macquarie employees. 

Finalists

Congratulations to the finalists of the Macquarie Community Resilience Prize, selected for their innovative solutions that build climate-resilient communities while creating meaningful employment and skill-building opportunities. The winners will be announced in May.

Australia

• Circular Solar Resilience Hub
  An initiative that repurposes recycled solar infrastructure to support climate‑resilient community agriculture and create skilled jobs.
  
  
• Daintree Renewable Microgrid
  A First Nations‑owned organisation delivering climate‑resilient renewable power and skilled employment to remote Australian communities.
  
  
• Indoor Plant Factories
  A production model that decouples agriculture from variable climate, labour and land by growing crops indoors using renewable energy.
  
  
• PowerChord
  A digital platform that enables a bottom‑up energy grid, powering communities and supporting local jobs.
  
  
• Reef Census Skills Training
  A capability‑building program that strengthens Sea Country management through AI‑assisted reef monitoring and intelligence.
  
  
• Resilient Landscapes Pilot
  A technology‑led solution that applies robotic prescribed fire to enable safer, scalable fuel reduction and workforce pathways for land managers.
  
  
• Women‑led Off‑Grid Solar
  A community‑driven initiative that strengthens resilience by supporting women to lead the transition to clean energy in Vanuatu.

Pacific Islands

• Fixim Sola (Vanuatu)
  A locally led organisation that builds energy resilience by embedding solar repair skills, livelihoods and long‑term clean energy access.
  
  
• Moana Sense (Fiji)
  A climate intelligence platform that combines multi‑sensor drone data and AI to strengthen Fiji’s climate monitoring capability.
  
  
• Neti Solar Water (Papua New Guinea)
  An infrastructure solution that uses solar‑powered boreholes to deliver climate‑resilient water and lighting to rural communities.
  
  
• Vanua Resilience Hubs (Fiji)
  A networked hub model that integrates solar power, disaster readiness, nature‑based protection and local livelihoods.

Brazil

• Apoena Bioindustrial
  A bioindustrial organisation that operates a Babassu biorefinery to generate green jobs, increase incomes and preserve forests.
  
  
• BioSustento
  A community‑based food system that deploys aquaponics infrastructure to improve food security and climate resilience.
  
  
• CL Agroforestry Intelligence
  A data‑driven solution that scales climate‑resilient agroforestry to restore ecosystems and increase farmer income.
  
  
• Raks Irrigation Intelligence
  A precision agriculture solution that improves water efficiency through soil‑moisture data, analytics and farmer training.
  
  
• Retratos das Enchentes
  A social technology that uses citizen‑generated data to strengthen climate resilience in underserved communities.

Further information

Find out more about the Macquarie Community Resilience Prize including eligibility, judging criteria and FAQs, visit the dedicated MIT Solve website.