09/02/2026
What if a classroom project could actually make it out into the world?🌎
In Ecuador, a community looking for better ways to grow food began exploring aquaponics, using fish water to help plants grow when traditional farming conditions make things difficult.
Through AllPeopleBeHappy, they connected with Professor Travis Johnson and his students at the University of Illinois, who worked alongside the community to design and prototype two systems.
We then funded the $3,500 project to help turn those prototypes into something the community could actually use.
The system is still evolving, and that’s what makes this project exciting. It’s not a finished case study sitting in a classroom. It’s being tested, adjusted, and used by the people it was designed for.
And that’s exactly where we want ideas to go!