The Project Management Institute (PMI) and TIME Studios have co-produced a groundbreaking three-part documentary series titled “The Solutionaries.” The series spotlights three innovators—Cyrill Gutsch, Rebecca Hu-Thrams, and Dr. Lisa Dyson—who are using the principles of project management to scale climate innovations and unlock unprecedented environmental impact.
The series is united by a shared mission to drive cultural and social impact through storytelling. The first episode premiered on Wednesday, October 8th on time.com/PMI/thesolutionaries, with further episodes following on October 28th and November 10th.
Project Management as the Engine for Scale
The documentary series aims to show that the crucial step in tackling the urgent climate crisis is not just creating innovative ideas, but effectively scaling them.
Menaka Gopinath, Chief Marketing Officer at PMI, said: “The Solutionaries demonstrate that the answers to our greatest challenges often come from individuals with the courage to build the world they imagine. To deliver real-world impact and address the urgent climate crisis, these innovations need to be unleashed – the world can’t afford to keep them in experimental labs. That’s where the power of project management to scale innovation makes all the difference and The Solutionaries are doing just that.”
Jeff Smith, Head of Formats & Specials at TIME Studios, said: “TIME Studios is proud to partner with Project Management Institute and Good is the New Cool to bring the first season of The Solutionaries to our passionate and engaged audience. TIME Studios is dedicated to producing stories that move the world, and these Solutionaries are not just moving the world, they are leading the way to a brighter and more sustainable future through measurable action and scalable solutions.”
The series is directed by Academy Award nominee Edward Buckles Jr. and is based on an original concept from Good is the New Cool, a creative studio dedicated to telling stories that fill the Hope Gap.
Episode Guide: The Three Solutionaries
The series features three distinct projects that are disrupting major industries:
Episode #1: Parley for the Oceans (October 8)
This episode introduces Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans, a global environmental organization dedicated to ending the destruction of the seas. Through Parley Future Material®, Gutsch is disrupting the fashion and design industries by introducing natural materials, biofabrication, and green chemistry as alternatives to harmful materials. In 2024 alone, Parley intercepted 1,609,979 kg of debris from the environment.
Episode #2: Glacier (October 28)
The second episode spotlights Rebecca Hu-Thrams, co-founder of Glacier, a next-generation robotics company reinventing recycling to reduce landfilling and unlock a circular economy at scale. Glacier’s custom-built robots, powered by proprietary AI, trace and recover more recyclables from the waste stream. Today, Glacier’s robots process recycling streams for 1 in 10 Americans in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. A single Glacier robot can recover over 10 million items per year, preventing 2,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Episode #3: Air Protein (November 10)
The final episode features Dr. Lisa Dyson, a physicist and entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Air Protein. The company pioneered AirFermentation™, a NASA-inspired process that transforms elements of the air (CO2, oxygen, nitrogen, and water) into a complete, highly nutritious protein flour. The technology, which is patent-protected and backed by partners like ADM and DARPA, creates an “Air Chain™”—a new category of resilient and reliable ingredients that offers a stable, future-proof way to secure food supply with significant climate benefits.
Menaka Gopinath added: “More often than not, the barrier to implementing solutions tackling seemingly insurmountable challenges is just figuring out where to start, and having the tools and mindset to move from idea to action. The project profession is a critical element to enabling action. At Project Management Institute, we’re redefining how the world tackles environmental challenges, championing for every project to be designed with sustainability at its core. Our research shows projects with sustainability baked in are nearly twice as likely to deliver successfully. Our mission is to inspire project professionals to use their skills to shape a more sustainable future to drive meaningful change.”
Learn more about the Solutionaries and how their innovative work building a better future for people and the planet is powered by the critical role of project management here.
