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 563 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Meet the Detectives Solving Crimes Against Trees

Klaus Sieg

February 28, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Hamburg

The Center of Competence on the Origin of Timber in Germany is using innovative methods to help determine timber products’ origins in order to stop illegal wood trading. Scientists can identify wood’s anatomical features and compare them with microscopic samples in the center’s digital database to determine where a piece of wood originally grew. While the process can sometimes take a while, the center has had some successes in detecting illegal logging from some manufacturers.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Illegal Fishing You Can See from Space

Will Doig

February 21, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Indonesia

A space-based initiative called Global Fishing Watch is using satellite imagery and data to hold companies accountable to their promise of providing sustainable sourced seafood. While the volume of data and cost of obtaining it can be a challenge, the organization has partnered with key collaborators to help with the effort. Countries like Indonesia and Panama are working with them to stop illegal fishing.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Can rationing carbon help fight climate change?

Frank Swain

February 17, 2020 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Australia, Norfolk Island

As countries wrestle with how to reduce their carbon emissions, grassroots carbon rationing experiments are taking shape around the word. On an Australian Island of 800 people, a quarter of them participated in a test that calculated their carbon footprints with a goal of reducing their fossil fuel use by 10 percent. The average household reduced their usage by 18 percent and almost two-thirds of participants wanted to continue. Other experiments in Finland and the United Kingdom have taken place, yet some question if carbon rationing is equitable.

Read More
Go to Original Story
App connects users with native-owned businesses

Laurel Morales

February 17, 2020 |

Marketplace |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Tuba City, Arizona

In the Navajo Nation, more than 70 percent of local income leaves the tribal area, but one effort is helping native-owned businesses expand their reach. Change Labs, a business incubator, helped birth Rez Rising, an app that helps people find and shop with native-owned businesses, which often find obstacles to entrepreneurship like listing a physical address or operating a website.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Gotta catch 'em all: Pokemon-style app aims to save Indonesia's forests

Michael Taylor

February 10, 2020 |

The Jakarta Post |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Indonesia

A Pokemon Go-style app encourages residents in Indonesia to help map land to fight deforestation. The technology offers visitors of umapped areas surveys that they complete, which fills in the data, and motivates users with gamified statuses from “volunteer” to “warrior.” Now over 600 students across the country have participated in this application, and several international environmental organizations have supported its use.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Iowa Election Snafu: What Happens When IT And Cybersecurity Best Practices Are Ignored

Jody Westby

February 06, 2020 |

Forbes |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Iowa

The wireless application that malfunctioned during the Iowa caucuses highlighted lessons that election officials must apply in future caucuses. The app skipped or was deficient in most of the established best practices for developing software systems. Software should meet minimum privacy and security standards and it should be tested for functionality and security, with access to regular maintenance as needed. Officials should understand the importance of the best practices and standards when making IT decisions and regular testing to identify vulnerabilities, which are promptly addressed, should take place.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Cybersecurity 2020: What Estonia knows about thwarting Russians

Christa Case Bryant

February 04, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Estonia, Tallinn

Estonia is bolstering its cybersecurity against Russian would-be hackers on a shoestring budget and a brigade of volunteers, called the "nerd reserves." Hailing from Estonia's rich IT community, as well as other industries like education and law, the volunteers engage in a range of defensive activities like planning elaborate simulated cyberexercises and giving talks at elementary schools.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Lebanon's refugees use technology to fight food insecurity

Christopher Livesay Melanie Saltzman

February 02, 2020 |

PBS NewsHour |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Lebanon, Beirut

Training refugees in digital skills provides them with a path toward self sufficiency. A pilot program developed with the UN World Food Program and the American University in Beirut offers computer literacy and English courses to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. The approach aims to reduce reliance on food relief and empower individuals to find employment with new skills.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Youth Teaching Tech To Seniors Fosters Generational Connections

Megan Kamerick

January 20, 2020 |

NPR |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, New Mexico

How does one Albuquerque organization address social isolation among senior citizens? It recruits teens to teach technologies 101. Teeniors creates intergenerational relationships by encouraging teens to spend time with seniors and teach them how to adequately use technology like smart phones or computer applications.

Read More
Go to Original Story
From surgery simulators to medical mishaps in space, video game tech is helping doctors at work

Elise Favis

January 09, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

An orthopedic surgeon, software developers, and medical experts have teamed up to create a virtual reality headset that helps eliminate unpredictability during surgical procedures. Although this is one of many technological advancements that's being used to bridge a gap in health care, both virtual reality and video games have helped to assist not just during procedures but also in "highly irregular situations or those that would be impossible to replicate.

Read More
Go to Original Story