LixiLab—started by Valentina Perez Escobar, Maria Alejandra Parra Garcia, and Lina Natalia Sanchez Medinar—is tackling heavy-metal water contamination using a biodesign approach that bridges the gap between science and real-world applications. In collaboration with a farming community located near Colombia’s main landfill site, which is affected by soil and water contamination, LixiLab designed Bacua: an on-site, portable water filter system that employs dead bacteria to cleanse water of heavy metals intended for irrigation purposes.

LixiLab also addresses concerns of crop loss and animal illnesses due to metal contamination through educational workshops that raise awareness about the issues and explain the bacteria’s performance, fostering community engagement and biotechnology appropriation, contributing to the Clean Water Sustainable Development Goal.

The LixiLab Team was part of the Young Climate Prize Cycle 02 Cohort and mentored by Rosario Hevia. 

The Young Climate Prize was created by The World Around, a NY-based nonprofit organization dedicated to championing and amplifying the work of architects and designers addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. Designed to support the generation born into the climate crisis, the program empowers young changemakers who are uniquely equipped to confront it. Participants are paired with mentors from The World Around’s international design community, whose guidance helps accelerate their impact and connects them to a global network tackling climate and social issues through design.