North America

Digital transformation is do-or-die in today’s tech-fueled business world, but rather than just investing in the latest whiz-bang tech, Levi Strauss & Co. is also betting big on its people. In 2021, the fashion giant partnered with artificial intelligence consultancy Launchpad.ai to create an eight-week Machine Learning Bootcamp, considered the first of its kind in the industry. The program is open to employees across the enterprise—from those working the sales floor to those designing next season’s styles. Participants cover the foundations of data science, coding, machine learning and agile, and dive into use cases specific to the apparel industry, such as predicting manufacturing defects or optimizing the inventory mix at a store. “Every organization today is a digital, data and AI one—whether it realizes it or not,” says senior VP and chief strategy and AI officer Katia Walsh.

Without a robust charging network in place, electric-vehicle sales won’t gain much speed. So the U.S. government is spending US$7.5 billion to build out a much-needed network of 500,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations throughout the country. But the private sector is making some power moves, too. In March, coffeemaker Starbucks and Swedish automaker Volvo announced a joint project to build a public network of high-speed EV chargers at Starbucks locations between Denver and Seattle. The pilot is scheduled to be completed later this year, and Starbucks has already announced it may consider expanding the project nationwide.

Miami has been called “ground zero” for climate change in the United States. Mindful of the threat posed by rising temperatures and sea levels, last year Miami-Dade County appointed Jane Gilbert to fill the newly created role of chief heat officer. She’ll co-lead the county’s Heat Health Task Force on a US$1.1 million project to develop a new system of resilience hubs that aim to ensure residents can stay safe during extreme heat events or power outages. The county partnered with the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center to develop a master plan and prototype for three hubs, to be completed by May 2023, that will distribute resources and house government services during extreme weather events. The initiative could potentially create a model of resilience for other urban areas facing rising temps.

Consider the lotus leaf: naturally water-repellant, through a combination of surface structure and waxy coating. Two engineering professors at Canada’s McMaster University took inspiration from this natural wonder to design a surface coating that naturally repels liquids and particles. And in February, the team announced trials showing RepelWrap fends off not only bacteria, but viruses as well. That makes this new entrant a possible gamechanger in the antimicrobial-coating market—expected to grow nearly 12 percent annually through 2025. The product shows wide potential utility for high-touch areas—from workplace doorknobs to hospital equipment, school railings to concert hall seats. Just ask FendX Technologies, which purchased licensing rights to the formula.

For the mountain lion community in Southern California, USA the 100-year-old highway that cuts through their natural habitat strands animal populations on either side, disrupting their ecosystems and sometimes impacting their very odds of survival. Tearing up the 10-line highway wasn’t exactly an option. So a slew of partners—including Caltrans, National Wildlife Federation, National Park Service, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority, the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains—took a different tack. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which had its groundbreaking in April, will be a lush, lion-friendly walkway that spans the massive highway, providing a path between the protected lands on either side. The project is particularly high profile, given the growing interest (and new federal funding) for projects that can reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.

“Everyone loves to talk about being carbon neutral, but it’s really hard and really expensive. We’re trying to set a precedent others will follow,” Tim Leiweke, CEO of developer Oak View Group (OVG), told Time magazine. Bold words for a bold project: A US$1.15 billion push to turn Seattle’s 60-year-old stadium into the world’s first net-zero carbon arena in the world—while also doubling its size. But the team ultimately prevailed: The 18,100-seat Climate Pledge Arena celebrated its grand opening in October 2021—and now serves as home to two professional athletic teams and hosts concerts by stars like Billie Eilish and Bruce Springsteen.

It came to be known as “the purge”: Through the mid-1990s, LGBTQ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Public Service Commission of Canada were systematically harassed and fired. In 2016, those affected sued, and the LGBT Purge Fund was set up to manage roughly CA$25 million of the settlement money, which was to pay for projects memorializing that dark chapter of the country’s history. In March, the largest such project hit a major milestone: Thunderhead was selected as the winning design for a national monument in Ottawa. Billed as a “space for expressions of grief, healing and celebration,” the CA$8 million monument will include both an intimate gathering space and an expansive performance area. Construction on the Team Wreford structure is slated to begin next year, with the project scheduled to be completed in 2025.

Canada’s Moment Factory has gained a global reputation for its dazzling displays of light and sounds. But the illuminated nightwalk Onhwa’ Lumina, which opened to the public in June, is both dazzling and deeply impactful. Nestled in a wooded area of Quebec City, the 1.2-kilometer (0.75-mile) path immerses visitors in the myths, rituals and traditions of the indigenous Huron-Wendat culture through multimedia projections, original music and powerful storytelling. During the nearly two-year development project, Moment Factory worked closely with the Huron-Wendat Nation Council and the Wendake Tourism Office, in part to ensure the high-tech approach amplified rather than overshadowed the groups’ rich past.

Shortly after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, Brother Vellies founder Aurora James called on major retailers to devote 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands like her luxury accessory line. The logic? Black people make up 15 percent of the U.S. population. The Fifteen Percent Pledge took hold almost instantly and has so far redirected an estimated US$10 billion in retail revenue to Black-owned businesses. In November 2021, U.S. tech giant Google and James’ group rolled out a new project to continue that momentum: The Business Equity Community offers Black-owned brands a structured way to scale their business through free digital training, tools and in-person events. They’re also added to a 1,500-member searchable database. Doubling down on the early call to action isn’t just a feel-good move on the part of retailers—it’s fast becoming a business imperative to reach the quickly rising segment of “inclusive consumer,” which McKinsey estimates to include well over 100 million people in the United States alone.

Canada is the world’s largest supplier of potash, a critical mineral for crop fertilizer. But the country hasn’t hosted a major potash mining project in more than 50 years. That’s now changing with a BHP initiative to build not only one of the world’s largest potash producing mines, but also one of the lowest-emission mines. In July, the Australian company announced the US$5.7 billion project in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan would be accelerated by a full year in response to the fertilizer shortage caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Russia and neighboring Belarus account for nearly 40 percent of global potash production.) The first phase is expected to be operational in 2026, and once fully completed, the plant could supply 25 percent of the world’s potash demand.