100 Projects in 100 Countries Challenge

100 Projects,
100 Countries,
1 Earth.

Unite for Good —
Partnerships That Change the World

Join us for Call to Earth Day on November 6, 2025, and Guard Your Green Space

This coming Earth Day, Rotary will partner with CNN’s 5th Annual Call to Earth Day to launch the 100 Projects in 100 Countries Challenge.

Our Core Focus

Projects may include restoring ecosystems, protecting wildlife, installing clean energy, implementing innovative recycling efforts, or other initiatives that lighten humanity’s footprint and uplift communities.

Through this challenge, we will:

① Inspire hope through real-world success stories

② Share innovative solutions for environmental sustainability

③ Connect projects with funding and partnerships, including Rotary Global Grants and collaborations with organizations like CNN, EarthX, and iHeartMedia

Global Service 4-7-8-17 Program.

Beginning in 2012, we set out to develop a way to evaluate and strengthen Rotary Club projects. After several iterations—including updates to pledges and awards—we introduced, in 2018, a framework requiring all club projects to align with Rotary’s Four-Way Test, the Six Areas of Focus, and the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Integrating The Rotary Club of Newport Beach’s 4-7-8-17 Framework and AI Navigator

In 2025, our Rotaract President created the 4-7-8-17 AI Navigator (https://chatgpt.com/g/g-TBogolILy-4-7-8-17-ai-navigator), an AI-powered tool that helps users assess and align their projects with multiple frameworks for ethics, peace-building, and sustainable development.

Here’s how the 4-7-8-17 Framework works

Since then, Rotary has added the environment as the seventh Area of Focus, and we incorporated the Eight Pillars of Positive Peace. Together, these elements evolved into what is now known as the 47817 Program.

4-Way Test

Rotary’s timeless guide to ethical decision-making:

1. Is it the truth?

2. Is it fair to all concerned?

3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

7 Areas of Rotary Focus

Ensure your project aligns with one or more of Rotary’s seven focus areas such as water & sanitation, disease prevention, peacebuilding, and environmental sustainability.

8 Pillars of Positive Peace

Draw from the Institute for Economics & Peace framework to create long-term impact by addressing systemic factors that sustain peace, such as equitable resource distribution, well-functioning governance, and access to information.

17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Connect your project to the global sustainability agenda, ensuring alignment with goals like Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Quality Education, and more.

The Navigator not only evaluates projects—it also helps users strengthen and refine them. Improved projects can then be selected for our 100 Projects in 100 Countries initiative, which we are delivering in partnership with CNN, showcasing impactful, high-quality service work from around the world.

By connecting Rotary’s 1.2 million members with evidence-based sustainability solutions—such as those highlighted by Project Drawdown—the 4-7-8-17 AI Navigator makes global impact achievable at the local level, empowering Rotarians and community leaders to advance effective climate action, peace-building, and sustainable development.

Why Together, Creating Lasting Change Environmental Xperience Matters

Whether it’s turning minefields into farmland, installing solar power in rural schools, or restoring coral reefs, these projects demonstrate the powerful ripple effect of collective action.

With the 100 Projects in 100 Countries Challenge and the 4-7-8-17 Framework, we will unite, amplify, and accelerate environmental transformation across the globe.

Timeline

Thu, Nov 06

Launch on CNN Call to Earth Day

Fri, Jan 30

Top 10 Projects Revealed

Sun-Wed, Apr 19–22

The Environmental Xperience, Dallas

How to Register

① Submit Your Application

② Generate an AI Rotary Recommendation

How to strengthen your submission:
Run your project through The 4-7-8-17 Global Success Platform
Use the AI’s recommendations to refine your project description and expand its alignment with the framework
In your application, describe how using the tool helped you identify new connections or strengthen existing ones within the 4-7-8-17 framework

③ Upload Your Project Content

Youtube Intro Video
Project Image
Video Upload

Tips for Storytelling

① Action & People

Show your team in action.

② Before & After

Highlight the transformation your project delivers

③ Impact

Capture lives and ecosystems changed by your efforts.

④ Details Matter

Even small actions can tell a powerful story.

Get Started with Partners

Capturing Change with Bcaster

Learn more

Linking Ideas to Action

Learn more

Joining this challenge gives you:

International visibility for your project
Access to potential funders and Rotary Global Grants
Connections with global changemakers and advocates
A chance to be celebrated on a worldwide stage, including CNN and EarthX coverage

By leveraging this tool, your project will become clearer, stronger, and more compelling to partners, funders, and media outlets.