Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 2387 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Plotting the future: the ‘seed guardians' bringing variety to UK gardens

Alexander Turner

January 19, 2021 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Hundreds of seed-saving initiatives across the UK support the cultivation of “open pollinated seeds” in small plots and gardens to preserve future seed diversity. In contrast to static seeds in a bank, these seed-saving efforts focus on actually growing and sustaining seeds to provide security and more resilient crops. Open pollinated seeds reliably produce viable, true-to-type plants year after year so new seeds do not have to be purchased every season. Many “seed-savers” participate in seed circles where they exchange surplus seeds among small groups, enhancing the security and diversity of seeds.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Californians are resorting to crowdsourcing to get their Covid-19 vaccine

Kelsey Piper

January 15, 2021 |

Vox |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Residents of California are working together to crowdsource where COVID-19 vaccinations are being offered, and who they're being offered to. While the state has failed to implement a transparent dissemination strategy, 70 volunteers joined forces to create a spreadsheet that keeps track of what clinics are offering the shot and what parameters must be met to receive it. Users have reported that they were able to schedule an appointment because of this effort.

Read More
Go to Original Story
One, two, tree: how AI helped find millions of trees in the Sahara

Amy Fleming

January 15, 2021 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Algeria

Tree mapping helps researchers understand deforestation and climate change, however the technologies used often miss trees that aren’t clustered. Researchers, in collaboration with NASA, used high-resolution satellite images, previously only available to commercial entities, to find a surprisingly large number of trees in the Sahara Desert. Using AI deep learning and one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers at the University of Illinois, they identified more than 1.8 billion trees, manually marking nearly 90,000 so the computer could “learn” which shapes and shadows indicated the presence of trees.

Read More
Go to Original Story
At 80, She Is the Defiant Editor of ‘The Buzz'

John Leland

January 14, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

To address the need and want for increased access to information, an 80-year-old woman living in a retirement home in New York City rallied her fellow residents and launched a newsletter to provide relevant news during the coronavirus pandemic. It has not only helped to hold management accountable, but has also provided a reprieve from the isolation that many in the institution were feeling.

Read More
Go to Original Story
‘An Epiphany Moment' for Corporate Political Donors May Have Arrived

Andrew Ross Sorkin

January 12, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

IBM is one of only a handful of companies that doesn’t give money to political candidates. IBM does spend millions on lobbying and runs an in-house government relations team, but the company doesn't have a political action committee and restricts money from going to political candidates when it does donate to trade groups. IBM’s founder set the policy to avoid operating as a political organization and to disinvest from a corrupt system where money buys favorable legislation. IBM’s policies could serve as a model as companies pause their political donations due to acts of violence at the Capitol.

Read More
Go to Original Story
This Thai village created a tiny fish reserve years ago. Today, it's thriving.

Rachel Nuwer

January 12, 2021 |

National Geographic |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Thailand, Na Doi

By setting aside an area of the Ngao River to be off limits for fishing, several villages in Thailand have seen a revitalization of large barb and carp in their waters. Compared to non-protected stretches of the river, reserves saw more than twice the total number of fish, and catches outside of that protected area have also significantly increased. “These small, community-based reserves can be a really effective management strategy for sustaining their own resources and conserving fish,” says a researcher at the Global Water Center.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

Tom Moran

January 10, 2021 |

NJ Advance Media |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

In 2020, six years after the Justice Department imposed a series of reforms on the Newark Police Department, Newark police officers have reduced their use of force so much that they didn't fire their guns at all in 2020, nor did the city pay any brutality-lawsuit settlements. Reforms in training, including de-escalation tactics, all backed by supportive leadership and extensive community outreach, turned a "rogue department" of brutality and racism into a more trusted, effective force.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Singapore Has Kept the Coronavirus Off Campus

Sui-Lee Wee

January 09, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Singapore

Singapore's aggressive pandemic response in conjunction with strict university rules has helped keep campuses free of COVID-19 cases so far. As a country, free testing and medical care has ensured that positive cases can be isolated quickly, while at the university level, the use of technology, zoning rules, and penalties for those who do not comply have worked to safeguard public health.

Read More
Go to Original Story
In Ghana, a New App is Striving to Save Fishermen's Livelihoods

Ciannait Khan

January 07, 2021 |

Reset |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Ghana

With more than 200 communities along the Ghana coast relying on small-scale fishing, a new app called DASE seeks to hold industrial trawlers accountable for illegally fishing in their seas. The app allows people to take a picture or video of the activity and upload it to a database where it can be used by law enforcement to act. The app is already being adapted for use in other African coastal countries.

Read More
Go to Original Story
It Spied on Soviet Atomic Bombs. Now It's Solving Ecological Mysteries.

Marion Renault

January 05, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Environmental scientists are using modern computing software to correct, orient, and analyze satellite images from the Corona spy project, launched in the 1960s and ’70s to monitor the Soviet military. The images have revealed human environmental impacts, challenged long-held assumptions, and helped predict future challenges. Within the last two years alone, the images have contributed to new information about climate change including rock glacier movements in Central Asia, shoreline changes in Saudi Arabia, and ice loss in Peru, helping scientists fill in knowledge gaps.

Read More
Go to Original Story