The Social Innovation of Pedal Power in Uganda Brings Ape Films to Life

This is a story about social innovation and the Great Apes Film Initiative, an organisation that aims to bring conservation education to communities located on the edge of the Mgahinga national park, Uganda, by showing films about the primates. The screenings are effective in teaching people about the plight of the gorillas and their natural habitat. For many locals, this would be the first time that they would have seen the images of the gorillas, even though they live right next to the national park set up to protect the great apes.

However, this charity has been a victim of its own success—too many people would turn up for a showing and would have to be turned away due to overcrowding, including children who had walked more than 20 miles. Madeleine Westwood, director and founder of the charity, realised the project needed an affordable, sustainable and eco-friendly way of bringing the films to life. So, her organisation partnered with Electric Pedals to find a social innovation solution to create the world's first a pedal-powered field cinema. The technology is simple. The back wheel of a stationary bike is fed into a generator, which powers the projector and sound system.

Madeline Westwood, says, "So many of the children and their teachers have never seen a film before, and to add to this novelty we also have a bicycle that generated the power to show the film. Some teachers shake their heads and declare a miracle. When we explain the science behind the system, they teach the children about physics. It's also an ideal situation for them to talk about conservation and sustainable development, both for their own community and for Uganda as a whole". Since this pedal-powered social innovation cinema was launched less than 12 months ago, around 43,000 people, including several thousand adults, have attended viewings.

The screenings that take place across this part of east Africa are basic. Two children's mountain bikes are hooked up to the system and a single guitar amp provides the sound. This means that the whole cinema can be set up and dismantled by two people in a matter of minutes. It's lightweight enough to carry up to most hilltop villages, yet robust at the same time to hold up to the potholes of a typical rural Ugandan road. This social innovation idea has low running costs and has been a huge success.

This simple social innovation technology has the potential to transform conservation outreach work, as well as public health, agricultural training and many other initiatives that use film as an educational tool, right across the developing world.

Photo Credit: Great Apes Film Initiative Website