Student Work: WSC Action Plan Example – Rising Sea Levels (Middle)

Parametric Payouts for Livelihood Continuity

Our top middle team identified ways to reduce flood-driven income and asset losses so that local livelihoods remain stable during coastal floods.

Additional Information
Team: Arjun, Sai (Virginia)
School: Gum Spring Middle School
Topic: Rising Sea Levels
Division: Middle
Competition: 2025 World Solutions Challenge (First Place)
Supplemental Item: Podcast (Audio Recording)

Summary

Across the Caribbean and Hawaii, rising seas are driving high-tide floods and storm disruptions that cut wages, spoil inventory, and close markets and schools. Our UP asks: in what ways might we reduce flood-driven income and asset losses so that local livelihoods remain stable during coastal floods, for coastal communities by 2030? Our winning solution launches Parametric Payouts for Livelihood Continuity: island governments and local credit unions partner with insurers to offer low-cost coverage triggered by verified tide/surge thresholds, with mobile-wallet payouts in ?72 hours. Payouts are paired with pre-approved micro-grants to restock essentials. Complementary pilots—elevated shared storage hubs, market microgrids, wetland/dune buffers, and solar lighting—further reduce closure days. Year-1 targets: enroll 10,000 households and 2,000 micro-enterprises across three pilot islands; cut average days closed ?10%. We will track payout speed, $ losses avoided, days of operation regained, and equity of coverage, while honoring ecological and cultural safeguards.

Action plan

1) Need and Fit to Underlying problem

Rising seas are producing more high-tide floods and surge events that interrupt wages, spoil inventory, and close markets and schools. Our Underlying Problem targets the economic core: reduce flood-driven income and asset losses so livelihoods remain stable. Parametric microinsurance with rapid payouts (?72 hours after verified triggers) cushions income shocks immediately and lets micro-enterprises reopen sooner. We pair finance with practical continuity supports (shared raised storage, market microgrids, wetland/dune buffers, solar lighting) so cash relief translates to days open regained.

2) Goals and Objectives

12 months:

• Enroll 10,000 households and 2,000 micro-enterprises across 3 pilot islands.
• Meet median payout time ?72 hours from verified trigger to wallet.
• Pre-position 5,000 emergency micro-grants for restocking essential goods.
• Achieve ?10% reduction in average days closed at pilot markets/clinics.

3 years:

• Expand to 60,000 households and 12,000 micro-enterprises.
• Achieve ?25% reduction in days closed at participating hubs.
• Maintain median payout time 48–72 hours with SLAs and backup rails.

3) Stakeholders & Roles

• Island Governments (program lead & regulation): program charter, premium subsidies, consumer protection.
• Local Credit Unions/Co-ops: enrollment, KYC, mobile-wallet payouts, member support.
• Insurers/Reinsurers: parametric product design, risk capital, claims SLAs.
• Disaster Agencies: publish tide/surge trigger data, send alerts/SMS.
• Chambers/SME Centers: vendor onboarding, continuity coaching, access to storage/microgrids.
• NGOs: equity outreach, micro-grant administration, grievance redress.
• Telecoms/Fintech: SMS/USSD messaging, wallet rails, uptime.
• Community Leaders/Diaspora Orgs: trust-building, diaspora bonds.

4) Activities & Timeline

Phase 0 (0–2 months): Finalize trigger thresholds (tide/surge + location); sign MOUs; onboard credit unions and insurers; stand up enrollment portal; draft plain-language FAQs in English + local languages.
Phase 1 (3–6 months): Launch pilots on 3 islands; conduct table-top simulations; test wallet rails and payout workflows; stand up micro-grant queue; train vendors on continuity kits, safe storage, and simple e-commerce options.
Phase 2 (7–12 months): Expand to 10 islands/regions; connect early-warning alerts directly to wallet/app; publish a public dashboard (payout time, households covered, days open avoided); install 2 raised shared-storage hubs and 5 solar-battery microgrids at higher-ground markets.
Phase 3 (Years 2–3): Scale enrollment; add cold-chain hubs where needed; integrate premium-credit incentives for consistent participation; commission independent evaluation of impacts and equity.

5) Resources & Budget (Year-1 estimate)

• Premium subsidy pool: $900k
• Micro-grant pool: $1.2M
• Technology & data (triggers, wallet integrations, dashboard): $400k
• Outreach & training: $250k
• Administration & M&E: $250k
• Contingency: $200k
• Total: $3.0M

Funding mix: government resilience funds (40%), insurer CSR/innovation (10%), development partners/philanthropy (25%), diaspora bonds (15%), local private sector (10%). In-kind: government data services, chamber venues, NGO outreach.

6) Impact Metrics

Economic: median payout time; total $ paid out; $ losses avoided (from inventory and wage proxies); days closed avoided.
Equity: % low-income enrollees; % women-owned and indigenous businesses covered; grievance resolution time.
Program: enrollment & active coverage; trigger accuracy and claim ratio; fraud rate; customer satisfaction (CSAT).
Systems: # storage hubs & microgrids operational; # vendors using e-commerce/payments; % premium-credit uptake.

7) Humaneness & Ethics

We commit to opt-in consent, plain-language policies, fee waivers for low-income households, no predatory lending, and a clear grievance redress path. Nature and culture are respected: habitat-safe work windows for wetlands/dunes; fish passage maintained at water-control structures; cultural consultation for any heritage-adjacent work; respectful imagery and accessible captions in outreach.

8) Risks & Mitigations

• Basis risk (trigger but limited local damage): use blended triggers (tide/surge + high-water marks); add appeals micro-grants; periodic calibration.
• Low enrollment/trust: partner with community leaders, chambers, faith groups; fee waivers; in-market sign-ups and demos; publish payout stories.
• Slow payouts/tech outages: SLAs with backup wallet rails; offline USSD codes; hotlines; pre-approved beneficiary lists.
• Funding gaps: phased scale; time-boxed pilots; diversify to diaspora bonds and development partners.
• Data/privacy: minimal data collection; vetted providers; clear retention limits.

9) Creativity & Innovation

We combine parametric insurance (objective triggers) with micro-grants and early-warning-to-wallet so relief arrives fast and is usable. Finance is paired with continuity infrastructure (raised storage, microgrids, nature-based buffers, solar lighting), turning cash into operational days. This integrated approach is both novel and replicable.

10) Scale & Transfer

We will standardize trigger templates, wallet integrations, and training materials; publish an open toolkit (contracts, SLAs, comms scripts); and support replication across islands with local thresholds and languages. Unit costs drop as coverage scales; peer islands can adopt modules (finance only, or finance + hubs).

11) Communication

Leverage 3-minute podcast summarizing model, roles, timeline/budget, equity, and KPIs.
Community plan: enrollment booths at markets; SMS/USSD how-to messages; radio spots; briefings with chambers/credit unions/community leaders; public dashboard with live enrollment and payout speed. Links are included in the Action Plan; all materials have captions and plain-language summaries.

Supplemental Item – Podcast