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Tulsa Officials Used Data to Help Solve the City's Problems 

Kristi Eaton

December 02, 2019 |

AARP Magazine |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Tulsa, Oklahoma

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a group of city employees use data to drive decisions in city government ranging from the use of tennis courts to which job applicants will be awarded positions. In one project, the group analyzed 911 call center volume data and optimized the number of employees needed for different times of the day. Their adjustments helped the 911 call center to answer 90 percent of calls in less than 10 seconds.

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What happens when people win this basic income raffle? They have time to find meaning in their lives

Julia Hotz

December 02, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin

A nonprofit in Berlin tests the success of the Universal Basic Income structure, which is founded on the idea that a monthly stipend awarded to all individuals can create an invigorated labor force and allow people to do what they love. The organization called Mein Grundeinkommen (My Basic Income), has found that recipients of the monthly cash stipend have become less anxious and more curious and willing to reimagine their dream job.

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Public Defender Turns to Texting System to Notify Clients of Santa Barbara County Court Appointments

Giana Magnoli

November 29, 2019 |

Noozhawk |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Santa Barbara, California

California’s Santa Barbara Public Defender’s office is working with the company, Upstart, to use a texting notification system to remind people about their court dates. Upstart costs $20K to set up and then $2 per client, but has worked with counties across the country and seen a 75% drop in failure-to-appear violations. For California, the Heising-Simons Foundations is funding its implementation in seven different counties.

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Collective Reincorporation: The FARC's fading dream

Oliver Gordon

November 27, 2019 |

Struggles from Below Magazine |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Dabeiba

In an effort to reincorporate former guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the Colombian government created Territorial Training and Reincorporation Spaces (ETCRs) to allow partial autonomy for the guerrilla groups. Many of the ETCRs have created successful product businesses - from chicken farms to community gardens - but community members continue to leave, leaving the ETCRs looking to the government for continued support and land rights.

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How one country with close parallels to the United States has made college free

Jon Marcus

November 25, 2019 |

The Hechinger Report |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Chile, Santiago

Chile now offers college tuition-free and may have important insights and lessons for free college proposals in the United States. Part of the country's national program includes "gratuidad," which covers economically challenged university students' full tuition, but only for a limited amount of time. "The government has found that Chileans who get free tuition are also slightly less likely to drop out than their classmates who don’t."

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San Francisco's Quest to Make Landfills Obsolete

Erick Trickey

November 21, 2019 |

Politico |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Reducing landfill waste takes a comprehensive approach. By implementing city-wide composting alongside trash collection and utilizing the sorting technology of Recology, the city’s municipal waste recovery company, San Francisco has significantly reduced the amount of waste residents send to landfills. Although it missed the ambitious target of achieving zero waste by 2020, the city aims to cut what it sends to landfills in half by 2030.

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What Happens When a City Tries to End Traffic Deaths

Laura Bliss

November 21, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

An extensive investigation that, despite implementing an initiative called "Vision Zero" that aims to eliminate traffic and pedestrian fatalities, many cities still struggle to reduce the number of fatalities, year-over-year. Now, cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. are analyzing their failures - from lack of budget planning to missing coordination between government departments - in order to get on track to eliminating traffic deaths within a decade.

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How Behavioral Science Solved Chicago's Plastic Bag Problem

Leigh Giangreco

November 21, 2019 |

Politico |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

In 2016, the city of Chicago “became a municipal laboratory” to test the different ways to disincentivize the use of plastic bags. The city initially attempted eliminating plastic bags, which led to more paper waste. Then it levied a plastic bag tax of 7 cents, an effective behavioral nudge that decreased plastic bag use and increased city revenue. The effort is now spreading across Illinois, as part of a growing trend of decreasing plastic usage across the country.

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A new 'Sesame Street' show in Arabic aims to help refugee children

Alaa Elassar

November 20, 2019 |

CNN |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Syria

Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee created a special show for displaced Syrian children conducted entirely in Arabic. The show teaches children lessons like counting and the alphabet, but it also teaches them emotional coping skills, which is very important for refugee children. The show is accompanied by trained early childhood development facilitators who visit homes and interact with the children playing games or reading books.

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In Peoria, Green Infrastructure As a Path to Social Equity

Emily Nonko

November 20, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Peoria, Illinois

Green infrastructure provides a return on investment and improves the quality of life in a community. In Peoria, Illinois, the city’s Public Works Department has piloted several green infrastructure initiatives with the help of funding of a Bloomberg Philanthropies grant. Projects like the Well Farm at Voris Field, zero runoff streets are proving successful at capturing sewer runoff and creating economic value, while the youth volunteer PeoriaCorps are helping make the projects community-based.

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