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Could leaving 'room for the river' help protect communities from floods?

Samantha Harrington

July 15, 2020 |

Yale Climate Connections |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Davenport, Iowa

While many communities in the Midwest use dams and levees to control the Mississippi River, some are trying new approaches to flood control as climate change threatens to increase rainfall and the severity of storms in the region. Some cities are turning to the Dutch solution of leaving “room for the river” to allow the body of water to flow naturally and design public spaces to handle inundation. While this technique doesn’t always work during major flooding events, traditional flood control strategies can be more harmful and actually worsen flooding.

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Going ‘Deep Green,' Office Buildings Give Back to the Planet

Jane Margolies

July 14, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

More and more commercial real estate projects are popping up around the United States that are focused on “deep green” building. This movement suggests that it’s not enough to just make a building out of renewable materials, but they can also be self-sustaining. For example, the Watershed, an office building in Seattle, has a slanted roof that collects rainwater that is then used in toilets. These types of projects can be more complicated and expensive to build, but developers can save money in the long run with the improvements.

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Will Your Next Salmon Come from a Massive Land Tank in Florida?

Michael Grunwald

July 14, 2020 |

Politico |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Homestead, Florida

A Norwegian firm has built a land-based fish farm – which is "a supersized aquatic version of greenhouse agriculture that aims to solve a host of environmental problems plaguing conventional salmon farms in coastal waters" – near the tip of the Florida peninsula. Although it's yet to be seen if demand will be to the scale necessary to deem the endeavor financially viable, in Denmark where this concept was initially piloted, more than 25 generations of salmon have already been harvested.

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Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need

Kathrin Glosel

July 13, 2020 |

Pressenza |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Finland

Finland, the only EU country with declining homelessness, uses a “Housing First” program to provide homes for people living on the streets with no preconditions. Nonprofits manage long-term housing and, once in homes, individuals receive a rental agreement and pay rent and expenses. Social workers provide services from offices in residential buildings and the state helps financially. The program provided 4,600 homes in the past decade and costs less than accepting the status quo of homelessness. About 20% drop out and around 1,900 people still live on the streets, but emergency shelters can accommodate them.

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The Perks of Roommates With a 50-Year Age Difference

Daniel J McGraw

July 10, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Intergenerational home sharing is a mutually beneficial option for seniors and young people. There are about 60 programs, run by cities, nonprofits, and platforms in the style of Airbnb, that connect seniors and young people for cohabitation. Seniors benefit by being able to stay in their homes, collect income, and have someone to help with social isolation and household chores. Young people benefit from access to affordable housing options in high-cost areas and engaging in rich relationship building. Home sharing services are facing legal challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic made cohabiting more risky.

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Baltimore Hits Pause on Gun Violence Command Centers

J. Brian Charles

July 06, 2020 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

A strategy to improve the intelligence that steers policing and violence-intervention efforts has worked in Chicago and shown promising early signs in Baltimore. But plans to expand Strategic Decision Support Centers in Baltimore ran into political opposition, based on sentiment in favor of diverting police resources to other strategies. Chicago’s SDSC program is credited with a much greater reduction in shootings than in untargeted areas of the city. Baltimore likewise has seen homicides decline where SDSCs help police and violence interrupters decide where and on whom to focus their interventions.

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This town of 170,000 replaced some cops with medics and mental health workers. It's worked for over 30 years

Scottie Andrew

July 05, 2020 |

CNN |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

The CAHOOTS crisis-response program saves its city money and its people living on the streets a great deal of unwanted police contact – contact that in other places is a common cause of excessive force and arrests that solve nothing. And, while less than 1% of its calls require police backup, the resource-thin agency cautions that it is a partner with police, not an antagonistic replacement, and that its model cannot simply be copied wholesale regardless of where it's used.

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Can direct air capture make a real impact on climate change?

Anna Kusmer

July 03, 2020 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Switzerland, Zurich

Climeworks is focusing on pulling carbon dioxide directly out of the air to store or reuse in some capacity as a way to lower global greenhouse gas emissions. The Swiss company has 16 plants around Europe, with their biggest one in Switzerland that removes 900 tons of carbon dioxide a year that is then sold to Coca-Cola Co. to put in soft drinks or to local industrial greenhouses for plant growth. Scaling the operations to capture more carbon is costly, but the startup recently raised $76 million from investors.

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As covid-19 saps Vietnam's economy, private charity is blossoming

The Economist

July 02, 2020 |

The Economist |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Vietnam

“Rice ATMs” allow people in need to withdraw free rice each week and are popular throughout Vietnam. Created by private companies, the ATMs are now sustained by private donations in a country that hasn’t developed a large-scale philanthropy sector due to its communist political system. However, the solution is government approved and in fact has government support by expediting necessary permits, referring people in need of assistance, and providing security. A handful of companies supply ATMs in cities across the country and most ATMs serve about 2,000 people with enough to feed a small family for 3 days.

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Trenton's Urban Gardens Foster Food Sovereignty and Civic Engagement

Brianna Baker

July 01, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Trenton, New Jersey

Isles, Inc. provides plants, seeds, and support to over 70 community gardens in Trenton, 20 of which belong to schools. In a city where many residents experience food insecurity, Isles also maps food-assets and food deserts, runs a training garden to teach new growers the basics of at-home gardening, and hosts a free summer camp to get young people interested in agriculture and nature. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Isles has distributed over 100 pounds of seeds, 1,000 pounds of fertilizer, and thousands of seedlings to its garden network members and shifted many instructional workshops online.

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