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This single shipping container can start powering a small renewable grid in less than a day

Adele Peters

November 18, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Grass Valley, California

Solar microgrids can improve community resilience to natural disasters by quickly restoring power. California-based startup, BoxPower, has developed an easy-to-install solar panels, packaged in a cargo shipping container. Housing the units in a shipping container allows for easy transport to disaster zones, such as the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and to communities in California left without power due to wildfires.

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Creative Freedom

Gwynne Watkins

November 18, 2019 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

New York-based nonprofit, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), runs theater programs for individuals experiencing incarceration as a way of improving mental health and reducing recidivism. While the United States’ criminal justice system has been focused on punitive measures, there’s been a trend toward rehabilitation across the country in recent years. Participants in RTA have shown a rate of recidivism of just 5% – compared to a 60% national average – but funding and sustainability remain a consistent hurdle.

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Holland Aims to Bring Back Its Starry Nights

Sophie Knight

November 18, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, Amsterdam

To address the harm - both to human psychology as well as natural ecosystems - of artificial light, The Netherlands calls on its citizens to turn their lights off and feel the effects of a natural darkness. The awareness of negative consequences of artificial light has helped residents reduce light consumption, though turning the lights off is an uphill battle with international corporate powerhouses.

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Limits could rein in runaway legislative sessions

Laura Leslie

November 18, 2019 |

WRAL-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Raleigh, North Carolina

As North Carolina wrapped up its second-longest legislative session in its history, the government looked to other states for a possible solution. In states like George and Tennessee, which have sessions 40 and 30 days long, respectively, session limits save money, provide efficiency, eliminate meaningless bills that do not produce laws, and allow a more diverse range of people to serve as lawmakers.

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Houston, we have a solution: How the city curbed homelessness

Henry Gass

November 18, 2019 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

Across the country, governments at every level are working to tackle homelessness. In Houston, connecting permanent housing to services has proven an effective strategy but it has required an increase in affordable housing stock and more strategic organization between non-profits and officials.

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Making a More Democratic Economy, One Revolving Loan Fund at a Time

Oscar Perry Abello

November 14, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Berkeley, California

Advancing the model of worker ownership requires expanding access to loans for cooperative businesses. In California, Berkeley City Council recently adopted changes to its Loan Fund for small businesses, allowing businesses without a CEO to apply for a loan. The City Council and Loan Administration board approved an idea put forth by the Sustainable Economics Law Center (SELC), which will permit coops to appoint a panel of owners to serve as guarantors of a loan, in lieu of a single CEO.

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How St. Louis Took a Proactive Approach to E-Scooter Regulation

Cinnamon Janzer

November 14, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

A failed bikeshare program left St. Louis prepared for the onlsaught of e-scooters that has been sweeping the nation and left the city ahead of the curve with scooter regulation. The city installed a permit system that easily transferred from the bikeshare program structure - which never launched due to lack of grant money - to scooter usage. The permit system allows any changes to regulations to go through administration, rather than a lengthy legislative process, and ensures scooters are available all over the city rather than just in the wealthier, more developed pockets.

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Healing a Divided Nation Begins Face to Face

Chris Winters

November 12, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, South Lebanon, Ohio

Personal connections contribute to more productive discourse, reducing polarization and divisiveness. Outreach projects such as those led by the Better Angels nonprofit and KUOW-FM in Seattle encourage conversations between individuals with differing political points of view. KUOW has run several “Ask A…” programs, including “Ask a Muslim” and “Ask a police officer,” which focus on building conservations. The Better Angels program, which includes workshops centered on discourse, has spread nationwide.

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The Latest Innovation in Student Retention at Colleges: ‘Food Scholarships'

Rebecca Koenig

November 12, 2019 |

EdSurge News |

Podcast |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Montana

Policymakers and college students and faculty are testing a range of approaches to address food insecurity on campuses. One nonprofit provides small grants to students and professors to cover the cost of food, transportation, or other expenses.

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Turning Paris's underground car parks into mushrooms farms

Dougal Shaw

November 11, 2019 |

BBC |

Video |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: France, Paris

Mushroom farms are popping up in underground parking lots in Paris. The city, facing a surplus of lots as car ownership declines, has been holding competitions to find creative, new purposes for them. Urban farmers, Cycloponics, won one of these competitions and now operates three of these mushroom farms, selling their crops to local organic grocery stores in the area.

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