Project Management Institute and TIME Studios have launched the second season of The Solutionaries, a documentary series examining how project management is being used to turn climate-focused innovations into solutions capable of operating at scale.
The three-part series follows projects spanning live music, maritime decarbonisation and artificial intelligence, focusing on the work required to validate new approaches, prepare them for operational environments and establish the systems needed for wider deployment.
Season two features US-based sustainability organisation REVERB, UK maritime technology company Seabound and AI infrastructure business Amini, which operates from Barbados and Kenya.
PMI said the series is intended to highlight the gap between developing an innovative idea and successfully implementing it at scale.
Project execution takes centre stage
The new series comes as organisations face increasing pressure to translate sustainability strategies into operational programmes.
PMI cited its own research showing that 59% of organisations are struggling to fully integrate sustainability at project and functional level.
Each episode examines the project work behind moving a climate solution beyond its initial concept, including validation, financing, operational planning and implementation.
Menaka Gopinath, Chief Marketing Officer at PMI, said: “We need bold ideas to solve the world’s biggest challenges, but ideas alone don’t drive change. Progress happens when people turn vision into action.
“Projects are how great ideas become real, and the professionals who lead them make that possible.”
The series was produced in partnership with TIME Studios and Good is the New Cool and directed by Edward Buckles Jr.
Projects span shipping, live music and AI
One episode follows REVERB, a US sustainability nonprofit founded by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and musician Adam Gardner. The organisation works with artists, festivals, tours and venues to reduce the environmental impact of live music.
Since its establishment in 2004, REVERB has worked on 400 tours and says its programmes have helped eliminate more than 4.6 million single-use plastic bottles and address more than 464,000 metric tonnes of CO2e.
A second episode focuses on Seabound, a UK startup developing modular onboard carbon capture technology for the shipping industry.
Its containerised system is designed to attach to ship exhaust stacks and capture up to 95% of carbon dioxide and sulphur emissions from engine exhaust gas. The company has completed two pilot projects with shipping companies and raised more than $10 million through equity and grant funding.
The third follows Amini, which is developing sovereign AI infrastructure intended to allow countries in the Global South to retain greater control over their data and AI capabilities.
Founded by Kate Kallot in 2022, the company now works across approximately a dozen countries. It says it has digitised more than 10 million historical and institutional records and trained 15,000 data scientists and developers.
In Barbados, Amini has also established a national AI technology stack used by the government and capable of providing services in more than 90 languages.
Focus on scaling successful solutions
Jeff Smith, Head of Production at TIME Studios, said the second season highlights both the global nature of the climate challenge and the delivery work required to move new ideas into practical implementation.
The series places particular emphasis on the less visible stages of innovation, including building delivery teams, securing resources, managing stakeholders and establishing repeatable operating models.
For PMI, the three projects provide examples of project management acting as the link between sustainability ambitions and measurable implementation, particularly where organisations are attempting to move from successful pilots to solutions capable of being replicated at greater scale.
All three episodes of The Solutionaries Season 2 were released on 29 September.
