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Civic engagement academies helping Kansans train for local government's learning curve

Stan Finger

July 27, 2021 |

The Kansas Leadership Center Journal (KLC Journal) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas

Civic engagement academies throughout Kansas provide participants with behind-the-scenes views of how their local government operates. Participants meet with emergency responders, learn how city officials put together a budget and hear from those who maintain municipal utilities. Understanding the inner workings of city operations helps citizens become more engaged in bettering those operations and find ways to be involved outside of running for office. Participation often brings to light city resources they didn’t know existed, which they are quick to share with their fellow residents on social media.

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From killer crocodiles to clean water in rural villages

André Gakwaya

July 27, 2021 |

Rwanda News Agency |

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Response Location: Rwanda, Nyarufuzu

The Water Access Rwanda project created a source of clean drinking water by establishing a network of pipelines and solar-powered pumps that help deliver purified drinking water to homes. Not only has the project provided a way for people to access clean water, but it has also provided jobs for over 60 people.

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Fighting plastic waste: a double-edged sword

Justice Nwafor

July 26, 2021 |

SciDev.Net |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Lagos

Teams of recyclers in Nigeria gather plastic bottles from the streets and landfills and brings them to recycling plants where they can exchange the waste for money. HISL Recyclers collects this waste — which usually contains polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, a dangerous chemical — as a way to remove the waste from the environment. However, more work needs to be done to get more people to participate in the program and to scale the operations. So far, they’ve been able to recycle up to 20 tonnes of plastic waste a month.

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On the Mesoamerican Reef, a model for insuring nature's future

Oliver Gordon

July 21, 2021 |

Struggles from Below Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo

In Puerto Morelos, the 100-mile stretch of the Mesoamerican Reef is insured. The model was born out of a collaboration between the local government, hotel owners, an international NGO, and an insurance behemoth, who got together to create a trust. The trust was funded by the local government which used hotel taxes to pay for the reef's maintenance. 80 percent of the coral in the reef has been lost or degraded since the 1980s, but insuring a natural asset might provide a conservation model for other cities.

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Mental health support in preschool may help lower sky-high expulsion rates

Chabeli Carrazana

July 20, 2021 |

The 19th |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Arkansas

Project PLAY, the third of Arkansas’ three-tiered mental health consultation system, has reduced high expulsion and suspension rates for children in child care settings. The program provides consultants who go into classrooms for several months of weekly visits to observe children and then work with staff and parents to address behavioral and mental health issues. The consultations can lead to earlier diagnoses of sensory disorders and increase the confidence and empowerment of child care providers. Lower expulsion rates have a long-term impact on children’s social, emotional, and educational development.

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A 'Zoom boom' boosted civic engagement across Kansas. But will it continue?

Stan Finger

July 20, 2021 |

The Kansas Leadership Center Journal (KLC Journal) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas

When courthouses and in-person government meetings shut down because of COVID-19, officials satisfied Kansas’ open meeting mandate by using pandemic relief aid to equip buildings with the technology needed to live stream proceedings and allow constituents to comment remotely. Crowds watching on platforms like Facebook Live were substantially higher than in-person attendance had ever been. Several cities linked agendas online and found creative ways to include public comments in meetings. Advocates are looking to maintain the public’s increased civic engagement as courts and government offices are reopening.

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In Assam, ATMs purify arsenic-laced water

Aatreyee Dhar

July 19, 2021 |

The Third Pole |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Barigaon, Assam

A water management committee manages Barigaon’s water ATM, which uses a nanotechnology-based ion exchange resin to remove iron and arsenic from groundwater. Residents, who swipe a pre-paid card to collect water in their own containers, pay 40 cents per 20 liters or a flat monthly fee of less than $3. Water is free for families who can’t afford the fee and delivery is arranged for those who are unable to transport water. Around 250 villagers use the ATM each day and its success inspired five additional ATMs, with plans to install 172 statewide. Fees cover maintenance and the landowner’s electricity costs.

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Tribes Are Leading the Way to Remove Dams and Restore Ecosystems

Lindsay VanSomeren

July 14, 2021 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Port Angeles, Washington

After decades of collaboration between the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in Washington state, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other organizations, the Elwha River dams were taken down to restore fish populations and return the ecosystem to its natural state. Grant funding has helped tribal biologists partner with organizations and universities to implement their fish restoration plan. While the work is expected to take years and funding isn’t always guaranteed, the restoration work so far has seen native plants and fish return.

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Reimagining Public Spaces: The Share-It-Square in Portland, Oregon

Laura Puttkamer

July 13, 2021 |

Culture Days |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

The Share-It-Square is a public space intended to foster a sense of community. Neighbors started the idea as a way to get to know each other. The intersection in Portland has grown from a simple meeting place to one that now boasts a library, a playhouse, a message board and a kiosk that’s always full of tea.

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Could A Ward Map Drawn By Citizens, Instead Of Aldermen, Become A Reality In Chicago?

Elly Fishman

July 12, 2021 |

WBEZ |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

California residents passed Proposition 11, a redistricting reform ballot initiative, in 2008 and in 2010, voters strengthened that reform by passing a bill to allow an independent commission to redraw state and congressional lines. Fourteen people, who were selected from 30,000 applicants, spent a year holding public hearings across the state to make informed decisions on how to fairly redraw district maps. As a result, more than a dozen Congressional incumbents lost their seats, which was not an intentional outcome but rather what resulted from decisions made based on the public testimony they heard.

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