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SolutionsU connects you to solutions stories about responses to the world’s challenges.
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Incarcerated Women Help Recover Rare Northwest Butterfly Species
https://www.opb.org/news/article/northwest-butterfly-coffee-creek-incarcerated-women-conservation-lab
Jenn Chavez
OPB
18 August 2019
Multi-Media / 5-15 Minutes
In a collaboration with the Oregon Zoo, the Institute of Applied Ecology, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Oregon’s Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, women experiencing incarceration are helping save the endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly. Participants learn data gathering, environmental skills, and record keeping – all skills that can translate to life after release – so that they may help the species flourish from larvae to butterfly.
'Plastic recycling is a myth': what really happens to your rubbish?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/17/plastic-recycling-myth-what-really-happens-your-rubbish
Oliver Franklin-Wallis
The Guardian
17 August 2019
Text / Over 3000 Words
After decades of recycling plastic, the world is now coming to terms with the waste industry it has created, and seeking more sustainable models. One promising model is material recovery facilities, like England’s Green Recycling, that has invested in an AI sorting machine to help humans more efficiently and accurately find materials that can be recycled. While a costly model of sustainability, new strategy proposals are emerging that can help the world make this change possible.
How teen Greta Thunberg shifted world's gaze to climate change
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/how-teen-greta-thunberg-shifted-world-s-gaze-climate-change-n1043151
Linda Givetash
NBC News
17 August 2019
Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words
All over the world, more than 2 million children and teens are participating in classroom walkouts in an effort to bring attention to the severity of climate change. Called, Fridays for the Future, leaders of the movement are gaining traction, and have developed a declaration that emphasizes their demand that world leaders do something to stop the rising global temperature. This movement was sparked by Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, who, at 16-years old, has started this movement, spoken to global leaders, and continues to do what’s needed to demand action in the face of climate change.
South Mountain HS cross-country team pushing for electric school buses
https://www.azfamily.com/news/arizona_schools/south-mountain-hs-cross-country-team-pushing-for-electric-school/article_cf6ccc1e-bfb5-11e9-8457-b372e6d5447e.html
Kristine Harrington
AZFamily.com
16 August 2019
Multi-Media / 5-15 Minutes
Because of a collaborative effort between a high school cross country team and Chispa, an environmental advocacy group, Arizona’s Phoenix Union High School District has bought its first electric school bus. While nearly three times more expensive than a regular school bus, the school district considered the long-term sustainability, not just in terms of fuel and maintenance costs, but in regards to larger, environmental efforts as well.
The Biggest Police Department In The US Has A Suicide Crisis. Another Department Thinks They Have An Answer.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/nypd-suicide-crisis
Amber Jamieson
Buzzfeed
16 August 2019
Text / 800-1500 Words
California’s Los Angeles Police Department has built mental health into its force. The department has 16 psychologists on staff, offering free counseling and debrief sessions after traumatic incidents. As the New York Police Department faces an increase in officer suicides, it looks to the LAPD as it rolls out its new suicide prevention initiatives, like a mental health app, mental health insurance, and access to counseling.
Watershed moment: How Chesapeake Bay turned its H2O around
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Progress-Watch/2019/0815/Watershed-moment-How-Chesapeake-Bay-turned-its-H2O-around
David Karas
The Christian Science Monitor
15 August 2019
Text / Under 800 Words
After decades of conservation and cleanup, the 42% of the entire Chesapeake Bay meets water quality standards. The Chesapeake Bay Program organized a regional collaboration between nonprofits, the government, and educational institutions, worked together to protect and clean the Bay, which is home to fishing, tourism, and agriculture. While much progress has been made, the group recognizes the amount of work left if they are to ever see a majority clean watershed.
To help first-generation students succeed, colleges enlist their parents
https://hechingerreport.org/to-help-first-generation-students-succeed-colleges-enlist-their-parents
Aaron Cantú
The Hechinger Report
15 August 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Today, one in three college students is the first in their family to attend college; of these first-generation students, about a third drop out. A growing number of higher education institutions are reaching out to parents as one way to improve retention rates -- from offering online courses about life on campus to creating programming for parents during standard orientation schedules, colleges are increasing the chances that students make it through the challenging first year.
What do you do with a derelict Center Parcs? Map out a waste-free world
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/14/center-parcs-waste-free-bluecity-rotterdam-circular-economy
Holly Dicker
The Guardian
14 August 2019
Text / 800-1500 Words
Abandoned buildings can become spaces for economic innovation and experimentation. An abandoned resort spa in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, now houses BlueCity, an ecosystem of sustainable enterprises. The initiative aligns with The Netherland’s 2050 circular strategy, which aims to reduce waste and implement circular design into the economic. At BlueCity, the businesses are leaders in sustainable innovations, from brewers that share byproducts with bakers to companies that recycle plastic.
Gun owners in New Zealand voluntarily surrender more than 10,000 firearms
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/12/asia/new-zealand-firearms-christchurch-intl-hnk/index.html
Julia Hollingsworth
CNN
12 August 2019
Multi-Media / Under 800 Words
Since July 2019, New Zealand has held gun buybacks across the country and collected over 10,000 firearms. After a mass shooting at Christchurch mosque, the government rushed through legislation to ban semi-automatic and automatic firearms, offering owners of such weapons cash and a no-questions-asked policy. Such legislation has been implemented in other countries as well, including Australia, who in 1996 collected over 600,000 weapons.
New Zealand gun buyback: 10,000 firearms returned after Christchurch attack
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/12/new-zealand-gun-buyback-10000-firearms-returned-after-christchurch-attack
Eleanor Ainge Roy
The Guardian
11 August 2019
Text / Under 800 Words
A month after a mass shooting at New Zealand’s Christchurch mosque, New Zealand’s government has bought back over 10,000 firearms. The country passed legislation banning automatic and semi-automatic weapons a month after the event, setting aside $150 million New Zealand dollars for the buyback, and offering a no-questions-asked policy for those that do turn them in.
The world is full of people and institutions working to advance change. Yet, these emerging ideas can be difficult to find...until now.
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Solutions stories illustrate the real struggles in social change, going beyond inspiration to provide evidence and insights about how social change really works.
SolutionsU® is a project of the Solutions Journalism Network: a nonprofit organization that seeks to rebalance the news, providing readers with critical reporting on society's problems and stories that explain how individuals, institutions, and communities are responding.
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