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

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  • Standing Rock's Surprising Legacy: A Push for Public Banks

    In a post-Standing Rock economic era, cities like Seattle and Philadelphia look to the Bank of North Dakota as an example of a successful public banking structure. While public banking is a large undertaking for many cities, governments around the country search for options to divest from Wall Street.

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  • Singapore made innovation go viral in its public service

    Through its Transformation Office and Innovation Lab, Singapore encourages a culture of innovation and smart design when it comes to making policy among its 145,000 strong civil service. Borrowing aspects of its framework from diverse fields like design thinking and psychology, as well as the tech industry, Singapore's government holds training sessions and policy-focused hackathons. The result is innovative pilot programs like facial recognition ID and free skills training for public servants.

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  • Frozen Assets

    In Alaska, the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program, which is meant to provide $1600 to every resident who has lived in Alaska for at least a year, has been proven to reduce poverty and increase quality of life; the program has even been credited for Alaska's status as the state with the second highest income equality in the country. The Fund is meant to disperse wealth from the state's natural resources - but despite it's overall success, decreasing profits from the oil and gas industries has put the Fund in peril as lawmakers cut payments instead of implementing income taxes to generate revenue.

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  • What Happened After Two Decades of Affordable Child Care in Quebec

    In Quebec, a subsidized affordable child care program has proven itself over two decades, contributing to a spike in the employment of mothers with young children. Research also shows that program is financially sustainable, but there is a disparity in quality between child care centers - an issue that is also prevalent in other places that have adopted the model.

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  • How Bangladesh Made Abortion Safer

    In the aftermath of the Bangladesh war for independence of 1971, the newly formed country was reeling from the result of system sexual violence perpetuated by the Pakistani military forces as well as locals; in response, the government effectively set in motion the necessary public infrastructure for safe abortion services in the country. Now, Bangladesh is applying those same lessons to serve Rohingya refugees.

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  • How a Tech Geek Is Using Machine Learning to Hold Human Rights Abusers Accountable

    Patrick Ball, cofounder of the nonprofit Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), has helped use quantitative data to put numbers behind things that were before unprovable — i.e. the difference between genocide and random violence. Ball and HRDAG have analyzed existing data to come up with the "invisible" data, overlaying several sets of statistics with machine learning to come up with stats like the fact that you were eight times more likely to be killed by the army in the Ixil region in the early 1980s if you were indigenous. Ball also advises nine truth commissions, four UN commissions, and more.

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  • Norway's EV Incentives Have Worked. Now What?

    Norway's incentives for buyers of electric vehicles have been incredibly successful: half of all cars sold in the country are now either hybrid or completely electric. However, there is concern that success won't last as those incentives are pulled back and Norway tries to move towards a car-free society.

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  • To Fight Blight, One City Turned to Courts

    An initiative in St. Petersburg has reduced the number of vacant houses while increasing access to affordable housing. The city takes ownership of vacant lots and abandoned homes, then sells the properties to affordable housing developers or auctions them off. The initiative helps make land cheap enough to build affordable housing.

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  • For Those Experiencing Homelessness, ‘The Bin' Honors Their Belongings

    In Los Angeles, The Bin gives homeless people a chance to store their valuables. “If I didn’t have this bin, I’d have to get rid of most of my stuff. These bins are really great to have.” Across the nation, other cities are unfolding efforts to help the homeless population.

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  • Can This Smart Street Stop Drinkers Getting Violent?

    The city of Eindhoven is piloting a handful of experiments to reduce alcohol-induced violence. They include "sound cameras" that trigger when someone is yelling, to cameras that measure crowd density, both of which prompt police to go to the affected area to investigate. Although the algorithms aren't perfect and sometimes there are false alarms, the city is still pushing forward with the goal of making the streets safer for all.

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