Innovation

During the application review process, reviewers will be looking for innovative methods of achieving the goals of the Toyota TogetherGreen program. Innovation occurs when people move out of their comfort zones to create something that contributes to a project’s vision.

Innovation can be seen in forging non-traditional partnerships, particularly with groups that aren’t environmentally focused but add value to your project. This added value may come in the form of donated materials, volunteer recruitment, expertise, etc.

• Example: Innovation Grantee Arizona Interfaith Power & Light, in partnership with Audubon Arizona, is working with Spanish-speaking congregations to help their churches reduce energy use and save water through a series of workshops.

Innovation can also be seen in projects that reach out to a brand new and non-traditional audience for your organization (meaning: until now, this organization has never attempted to reach out to this constituency).  Reaching new and diverse audiences is a goal of Toyota TogetherGreen, but reaching audiences your organization is already working with (even if they are considered new and diverse to the conservation movement), is not considered innovative.  Innovation occurs when you propose to work with an audience that is completely new to you or your organization.

• Example: Iraq war veteran, restoration ecologist, and TogetherGreen Fellow Benjamin Haberthur established the Veterans Conservation Corps in Chicago, IL, a volunteer corps of veterans working to restore natural areas. Benjamin hopes that a positive experience with nature can become a broader experience shared by fellow veterans who may be struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

• Example: Working with local nursing home facilities, TogetherGreen Fellow Ken Elkins of Audubon Connecticut created the Bird Tales program. This unique therapeutic program enriches the lives of individuals living with dementia by offering them a means to connect with birds through sight, sound, smell, and touch, and encourages nursing homes to create better bird habitat on their properties.

In addition, other approaches to innovation might include new ideas for planning and implementing programs; the application of new technologies or ideas for improving current technologies; and new ways to evaluate success.

• Example: Innovation Grantee Audubon MD-DC is utilizing a new approach to protect the critical salt marsh habitat of the Mid-Atlantic – social media. They brought over one hundred area residents to the salt marshes and helped them to produce PSA’s advocating for the protection of these areas, and shared them with thousands through social media, radio, and local television.