Maria Kolesnikova is a Kyrgyz environmental activist and the director of the Kyrgyz MoveGreen movement. Kolesnikova’s work spans many issues, but one of particular interest is the severe air pollution affecting Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek. While the pollution was obvious to Kolesnikova and her community, there was a lack of publicly-available data regarding the issue. Rather than wait for institutional action, MoveGreen began installing their own sensors to measure air quality and eventually developed an app that shares real-time air quality data. This data informs both individual decision-making and high-level policy conversations, and has sparked public dialogue about pollution across Kyrgyzstan.

In recognition of this and her other work, Kolesnikova was named the United Nations Environment Programme’s 2021 Champion of the Earth for Entrepreneurial Vision. To learn more about Kolesnikova’s work, visit the “Definition” link below, and to support MoveGreen, visit the “Action” link below.