Date Time Innovative Restoration Plans for Aral Sea Region Announced at Global Disruptive Tech Challenge 2021 From flowering tree plantations that will grow a beekeeping industry to women-centered training in natural resource management to the restoration of salt-dried landscapes – these are some of the disruptive innovations that won the grand prize in the Global Disruptive Tech Challenge 2021: Restoring Landscapes in the Aral Sea Region. The four grand prize winners were announced today during a virtual ceremony hosted by the World Bank, in partnership with the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), the Kazakh-German University (DKU), and Plug and Play (P&P). A total of 159 proposals were submitted to the competition from 28 countries across five continents, with more than half of the proposals from Central Asian countries. A distinguished panel of 42 experts from the World Bank and partner organizations from across the globe evaluated the submissions and nominated 24 leading projects.