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The Anti-Displacement Repair Team of Portland

Hannah Wallace

November 12, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Taking Ownership PDX helps Black homeowners to age in place by helping with maintenance to keep their homes livable, like making long-needed repairs and renovations. Since launching in 2020, the group has helped over 50 Black homeowners, raised over half a million dollars and maintains a database of 250 local volunteers who are eager to pitch in on the projects whenever they arise.

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Creating a safer 6th Street: How another U.S. city transformed its entertainment district

Kevin Clark

November 11, 2021 |

KXAN-TV |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Arlington, Virginia

Arlington police and its entertainment-district bars and restaurants addressed rising violence and other crime by collaborating to prevent crime rather than banking on police alone to solve it through more arrests. Where bar and restaurant owners in the past feared getting in trouble if they told police about incidents at their venues, the Arlington Restaurant Initiative opened communication and training of employees. Crime in the district declined by two-thirds in the first four years. Austin faces similar challenges and could learn from Arlington's example.

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On the bricks: Efforts to increase commercial affordability in Boulder and beyond take time and planning

Angela K. Evans

November 11, 2021 |

Boulder Weekly |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

A big factor in the high costs of doing business in Boulder is a tight and expensive commercial real estate market. Some of the many initiatives the city is considering are beginning to work already in Portland. There, the city's economic development agency, Prosper Portland, has acted as an intermediary to open more affordable spaces to small, local businesses. With extras like marketing and accounting help, the program managed to retain all of its original tenants, although a big push to enlist private developers in creating new space has hit snags.

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From Heaps of Garbage, Lagos Improves on Waste Disposal, Sanitation

Charles Ajunwa

November 10, 2021 |

This Day Live |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Lagos

The Cleaner Lagos project works to clean up the state, aiming toward maintaining a clean and healthy environment at all times. From waste management services to incentivized waste sorting and stricter regulations, the project has helped to reduce the spread of diseases caused by poor sanitation across the state.

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How the Netherlands' Train System Works for the Visually Impaired

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

November 04, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Netherlands

The railway system in the Netherlands offers a number of features and services that accommodate people with visual impairments. In addition to textured guidelines, an app provides help reading signs and a travel assistant can even be booked ahead of time to meet a commuter and help them board and exit the train.

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Community Rebuilds

Justin Higginbottom

November 01, 2021 |

KZMU Community Radio |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Moab, Utah

Community Rebuilds is a nonprofit that builds affordable and efficient housing – suitable for Moab’s very hot summers and very cold winters - while educating natural builders in the process. Anyone who is interested in construction, regardless of their previous experience, is welcome to intern at their sites to learn about natural building processes. The organization has built 52 strawbale homes since they started, a healthy and natural material that costs about half of what other new construction is per square foot. The program requires homeowners to volunteer about 20 hours a week building homes.

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Preventing road deaths through safe system design

Gary Humphreys

November 01, 2021 |

Bulletin of the World Health Organization |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Bogotá

Safe System design is a public health framework for preventing traffic accidents and death. The system adapts and transforms roads as part of a broader system of reforms. In Bogotá, in addition to a city-wide speed limit, high-risk corridors were identified using geo-referenced collision data and modeling. Multiple locations were transformed into pedestrian friendly streets that encourage lower traffic speeds by using speed bumps, bicycle lanes, wide sidewalks, benches, and planters. Officials note that the change has led to a decline in fatalities.

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Armed with pamphlets: the battle to register women voters in Libya

Hendia Alashepy

October 29, 2021 |

The National |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Libya

Libya’s Electoral Outreach Ambassadors program aims to increase women’s trust in the political process and register new voters. The female ambassadors are experienced in civil society participation but are not affiliated with any political or religious group, which is key to building trust given the country’s recent civil war. Ambassadors are trained in many tactics and left to tailor their own strategy so that it is best suited for their own district. Outreach efforts include a combination of house visits, workshops in private and public institutions, and talks with women in public spaces.

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KVNF Regional Newscast: October 28, 2021

Stephanie Maltarich

October 28, 2021 |

Mountain Grown Community Radio (KVNF) |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Basalt, Colorado

Basalt Vista is the first net-zero affordable housing project in Colorado, based in Basalt. The homes are constructed in partnership with the county, the school district, and Habitat for Humanity. The homes are lined with solar panels and operate using only electricity. They produce, on average, all the energy that they consume and the utility costs to the residents are basically zero once the production begins to generate credits. Rather than prioritizing keeping building costs as cheap as possible, net-zero homes prioritize keeping the costs to maintain the home low.

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Building a just energy business future in Detroit

Nina Ignaczak

October 27, 2021 |

Planet Detroit |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

WeSolar makes solar power accessible to low-income residents by building and investing in community-solar farms and signing residents up for credits from investor-owned utilities. The startup, the first community solar business led by a Black woman, saves customers as much as $250 on their utility bills by signing up for community solar. Convincing residents, many of whom have had bad experiences with predatory utility schemes, requires working with church and community groups to earn trust. Community solar also requires legislation that allows for shared renewable energy projects.

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