WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – NASA announced on Monday its founding partnership of Launch, an initiative to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to sustainability challenges through a series of forums.

The first forum will be centered on water sustainability: “Launch: Water,” which will be taking place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida from March 16-18.

U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. State Department and Nike are additional founding partners that will bring together 10 entrepreneurs from around the world. They will be presenting water scarcity solution plans as 40 council members, representing business, policy, engineering, science, communications and sustainability sectors will be present during the two-and-a-half day forum.

“NASA is perfectly positioned to host a conversation with experts about potential solutions to the world’s most perplexing sustainability problems,” said NASA’s Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, the host of the forum. “NASA offers a culture of problem-solving, deep technical expertise on sustainable systems such as the International Space Station, and a unique capacity to capture and analyze data about our home planet.”

The global initiative Launch plans to organize further events that will discuss issues such as water, air, food, energy, mobility and sustainable cities.