Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • A How-to Book for Wielding Civic Power

    Recognizing a pervasive sense of powerlessness in the US, Eric Liu authored "You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen.” By connecting stories of various groups across the political spectrum exercising their civic muscles, he lays out concrete ways that power can be reclaimed by the seemingly powerless citizen.

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  • The Parent Hack For Cheaper Childcare

    Costs of childcare can be debilitating, especially for single mothers and low-income families. In London, some parents are banding together to take on shifts at their nursery, dramatically lowering staffing fees to keep childcare obtainable - with the added bonus of extra time spent with their young kids.

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  • Is Vancouver lonelier than most cities or just better about addressing it?

    Vancouver has gained a reputation as one of the loneliest cities in the world. In a survey of residents conducted by the Vancouver Foundation, 1 in 3 respondents said that "they found it hard to make friends in the city." To foster community, the city created a task force to tackle this feeling of isolation, aided by the efforts of community-owned projects.

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  • These cities have great, but sometimes strange, ideas on transit. Which ones can Toronto steal?

    Toronto wants to improve its transit system, perhaps there are solutions that can be applied from other cities. Changing the way parking is priced, improving bus shelters, implementing more highway tolls, and having automated subways are all possible options.

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  • In Myanmar's slums, women pool savings to get relief from crushing loans

    Years of misrule and a subsequent dearth of hard currency, along with crippling bank-fostered debt cycles and exorbitant home mortgage interest rates, have created immense suffering for Myanmar's poor. But with the guidance of a local NGO, Women for the World, a pilot project helped women in some of Yangon's poorest neighborhoods capitalize on their cultural "head-of-household" status. It helped them form and manage community savings cooperatives, secure land, build homes, buy food, and even generate profit through loans to families' business enterprises.

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  • Indigenous peoples in Colombia play crucial role in the fight against climate change

    Protecting forests against deforestation is key to reducing CO2 emissions, which is what the UN mechanism- REDD+ aims to do by creating contracts with rural areas for them to protect their area's forest for 30 years in exchange for compensation. So far several problems have arisen that question the effectiveness of this mechanism which need attention going forward.

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  • How Utah Keeps the American Dream Alive

    In many parts of the United States, people struggle with economic mobility and achieving the American Dream. Salt Lake City’s rate of economic mobility is at the highest in the country. An investigative journalist explores the Mormon-influenced structure of charitable giving and various social factors that have created this socio-economic anomaly, and discovers that compassionate conservatism and some government welfare programs have contributed to the state being a unique case.

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  • A passive house takes an active stand for the environment

    The heating and cooling of homes accounts for some of the greatest energy consumption in the United States, and contributes significantly to the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. A movement of "passive housing" is cropping up in response - the building of small, low-impact houses that are energy efficient and eco-conscious. One in Boulder, CO - built by an amateur architect - has received international certification and may serve as a model for future housing construction.

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  • Renewables roadshow: how the 'nonna effect' got Darebin's pensioners signing up to solar

    Although solar installations have been on the rise, it's often those that could most benefit from this renewable energy source that can't access it. The Darebin City Council in Australia recognized this challenge faced by very low-income households, and began what is now known as the Solar Saver program. Although it initially began as a way to help these families cut electricity costs, it is now focused on making solar more accessible by providing no cost installations and a 10-year payment plan that ultimately helps the families cut costs.

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  • In Beijing, Two Wheels Are Only a Smartphone Away

    As Beijing grapples with pollution caused in large part by the increase in cars on the roads, a tech-based solution has appeared in the form of forward-thinking bicycles. The Chinese bike-sharing system, spearheaded by several startups, allows commuters to find a bike using GPS, pay for it using an app, and drop it off upon arriving to their destination, wherever that may be. A mix of private investment and government support has allowed this market to thrive.

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