CAF and TIDE Centre Launch the Nature’s Intelligence Ideathon to Catalyse Nature-Inspired Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean

Caracas, Venezuela / Oxford, UK / Belem, Brazil – The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) and the TIDE Centre at the University of Oxford announce the launch of the Nature’s Intelligence Ideathon, an international innovation challenge aimed at uncovering the next generation of bio-inspired solutions to urgent sustainability challenges.

The Ideathon invites scientists, entrepreneurs, startups, and interdisciplinary teams across from Latin America and the Caribbean to submit early-stage ideas and prototypes that emulate biological principles to promote green and blue technologies. Applicants are encouraged to propose solutions aligned with challenges such as renewable energy, sustainable mobility, circular biomaterials, bio-inspired agriculture, with preference for projects that benefit the Amazon region and wider LAC region.

The Ideathon is one of the strategic initiatives of the TIDE Centre’s Nature’s Intelligence Studio, launched at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, seeking to harness nature-inspired innovation to promote sustainable development.

The Ideathon offers finalists mentoring and visibility opportunities, including support from global experts and potential integration into the Nature’s Intelligence Studio pipeline. The submission period opens 21 January 2026 on the official Oxford TIDE platform, closing 26 April 2026.

CAF and TIDE Centre also invite scientists, innovators, and ecosystem builders to apply and disseminate this call within their networks to spark transformative innovation inspired by the wisdom of nature. For more information and to apply, visit the official Nature’s Intelligence Ideathon platform or contact tide@qeh.ox.ac.uk with the subject line Nature’s Intelligence Ideathon 2025 – Inquiry.