NTC Now is a program launched by the Nature Tech Collective where members drop in to present time, exchange updates, and connect. Each event kicks off with a special guest, followed by a pulse on the nature tech sector and community including member only special announcements, updates and activities.

Special Guest, Gunthar Hartwig

Our guest this week was Gunthar Hartwig, a design leader and practitioner with 20+ years of experience developing B2C and B2B software for US and global markets. He joined us from Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and a highly biodiverse region of the world.

Design for Stakeholders of Nature & Biodiversity

Gunthar is collaborating with mission-driven organizations focussed on climate- and nature- related technologies and with local organizations putting those services to use. He believes the development of such tools and systems should be informed by and serve the needs of communities, scientists, policy makers, and leaders addressing needs at both a local and international level.

He is particularly interested in technologies and practices related to remote sensing, reality capture, and ground truthing, and how they can address location specific needs while connecting to global systems. Gunthar is an active NTC member and shared a number of success stories and connections he has made within the NTC ecosystem of organizations.

Collaboration Success within the NTC Ecosystem

An Andean Spectacled Bear feeding in the canopy at the Maquipucuna Reserve in the Choco-Andino forest of western Ecuador. Photo by Gunthar Hartwig.

In our call with we heard a lot about the importance of design and collaboration and what that means to put stakeholders (human and non-human) at the center of activities. Since joining NTC, Gunthar has made connections with the leaders within several leading nature tech organizations and most recently helped to foster a collaboration between the Maquipucuna Reserve and NTC member Space4Good. Maquipucuna is a large bio-reserve in the Choco-Andino of Western Ecuador, with a focus on the Andean Spectacled Bear. Maquipucana Fundacion are pioneers in conservation, eco-tourism, and fostering collaboration with local communities to preserve nature and provide positive impact for the local population. With an understanding of ground realities, the capabilities (and limitations) of technologies, and a sense of the key stakeholder needs, Gunthar was able to foster the kickoff of a pilot program bringing Space4Good’s satellite analysis capabilities to bear on some of the key monitoring needs of the reserve. Mapping, GIS, MRV and the like support the reserve’s conservation and research work there are many challenges; from balancing needs of the bears and wildlife with local communities, to issues with illegal mining and deforestation. The latest technologies, with the ability to monitor the rugged reserve including Space4Good and nature tech can help.

Other organizations have been in touch with Gunthar too and are benefiting from his expertise and the introductions that the Nature Tech Collective is helping to facilitate including with Thryve, Agerpoint, Greenbox, and Wilder Sensing. As the nature tech sector progresses it is expected that design practitioners will play an increasingly important role to help streamline complex workflows, make sense of data sets, align with business models, and ultimately help leadership teams include nature in their decision making.

Want to get in touch with Gunthar to learn more about how design can help your organization?

Connect with Gunthar via Linkedin.

Community Led Events

During last week’s call, we learned of several community-led programs emerging within the Nature Tech Collective ecosystem an exciting evolution. Reconciling Ground Truth Data with Earth Observation is a forthcoming event to be led by Mozaic Earth. In this forthcoming series speakers we’ll hear from both sides of the data equation to explore gaps and how to accelerate interoperability. This forthcoming program is especially of interest because our guest today has offered to lend his enterprise UX and design background has stepped up to help facilitate the series. The first event will be announced soon and kicked off with Replanet.

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Design, collaboration & connection with Gunthar Hartwig in Ecuador