The diverse ways in which we humans have solved or managed the challenges of our lives are a rich storehouse for our future. Three of the challenges are major actions areas for philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: climate change, gender inequality and gender-based violence, and global health.

The term ethnosphere , first coined by Canadian cultural anthropologist Wade Davis, refers to the sum total of all human knowledge across time—the human cultural legacy. As a discipline, anthropology includes academic and applied aspects that focus on, respectively, developing new theories and solving practical problems.

challenges — major actions areas for philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: climate change, gender inequality and gender-based violence, and global. ethnosphere — the sum total of all of human knowledge across time. challenges of our lives — a rich storehouse for our future. values — principles and standards of behavior that are considered important.