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How A D.C. Artist Is Changing What Patients Hear In Hospitals

Ariel Plotnick

November 15, 2018 |

DCist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

A sound artist in Washington DC is working to improve the hospital experience for patients by changing the soundscape. her company produces a device that lets patients use sensors to make their own soothing noises. She is also working with a company that manufactures medical devices to come up with new tones that aren't scary for patients. Hospitals across the country support her work.

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Bridging the red and blue divide: Despite the rhetoric, it can still be done. Here's how.

David D. Haynes

November 15, 2018 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Several groups across the country are bridging the partisan divide by using civility and conversation to build bipartisanship and trust. The Frank P. Zeidler Center for Public Discussion helps members of the community and police talk. CivilPolitics.org offers evidence-based techniques to improve dialogue. And, the Millennial Action Project works with hundreds of young lawmakers across 27 state legislatures.

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Winter is coming and so is bad air: What psychology can teach us about fixing Utah's air quality problem

Erica Evans

November 14, 2018 |

Deseret News |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Salt Lake City, Utah

In an effort to get people to change habits to decrease pollution in Salt Lake City, the city is trying several approaches using behavioral psychology to encourage residents to change their long-standing habits. For instance, free transit days assist new riders in learning how to use the public transit system. Mostly, the city is looking to the successes of places like California and Norway where the incentives are stronger, all in hopes of making the air quality safer.

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Ramsey Walk tackles fly-tipping with guerrilla gardening

Dina Aboughazala

November 08, 2018 |

Islington Now |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Islington

In a neighborhood in the United Kingdom called Ramsey Walk, one resident was tired of illegal dumping, also called fly-tipping, in her community. On a hunch, she formed a guerilla gardening group to plant flowers where the dumping was occurring to deter would-be fly-tippers. Their success rate has been 100 percent, and their new motto is "from fly-tipping to floewr picking."

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Make Voting Easy

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

November 07, 2018 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oregon

Voter turnout is higher where voting is made easy. Consider one innovation: vote-by mail. States that allowed mail-in ballots had an average of 10 percent more voting in the 2016 election than other states. More innovations include pre-registering young voters, automatically updating a voter’s address when they move, automatically registering citizens unless they opt out, and same-day voter registration.

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Programmed for Success

Paulette Perhach

November 02, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Community colleges are increasingly leveraging technology to engage students and keep them on track to graduation. Personalized messages about deadlines, information about class performance from professors, and texts about homework resources all contribute to a "fuller picture" of students and empower administrators with the information to intervene when necessary.

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How Durham Is Using Nudge Theory to Drive People Out of Their Cars

Laura Bliss

October 30, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

The city of Durham implemented a series of behavioral and economic nudges to encourage drivers to use alternative modes of transportation to get downtown besides cars. For instance, drivers could opt in to receive emails about bike and bus routes or be entered to win a cash prize if they took the bus. Together, the initiatives helped decrease single-driver trips downtown by over five percent.

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Pakistan Tries a New Way to Pay for a Dam: Crowdsourcing

Meher Ahmad

October 25, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Pakistan

Under financial strain, Pakistan is asking its citizens and Pakistanis abroad to donate money to build two dams. Only $48 million of the estimated cost of $14 billion has been raised so far, yet the country’s new prime minister Imran Khan is optimistic. “We can build dams in five years if the donations continue,” he said.

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The city that gives you free beer for cycling

Amelia Martyn-Hemphill Nicola Kelly

October 23, 2018 |

BBC |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: Italy, Bologna

A fun app called “Bella Mossa” has incentivized people to ditch their cars in Bologna. The anti-pollution effort gives users credits for biking, walking, and using public transport. Users can then swap their credits for rewards from local shopkeepers, such as free beer and ice cream.

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Australia Tells America: Here's How to Fix Your Voting System

Tacey Rychter

October 22, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Australia

Australia maintains a high voter turnout by making voting both easy and mandatory. Election day is always on a Saturday, and community groups host barbeques to mark the occasion. If an eligible voter still doesn’t cast a ballot, they can face a fine of up to nearly 80 Australian dollars.

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