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A record number of cities used ranked-choice voting this week. Will it make elections more inclusive?

Sravya Tadepalli

November 04, 2021 |

Prism |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Ranked-choice voting has been adopted by a record number of municipalities. The system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, and votes for the bottom candidates are reallocated to the voters second choice until one candidate wins a majority. The system has expanded opportunities for independent and third-party candidates to win elections and, in some jurisdictions, has led to greater numbers of people of color and women winning elected office.

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Killing gas guzzlers: what can Lithuania learn from Denmark?

Rūta Nikitinaitė

September 29, 2021 |

Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Denmark

Transportation accounts for some of the most emissions in the EU, one-third, out of those 72 percent are from road transportation. In Denmark, the government places high tax-rates on vehicles and tax reductions on electric cars. The tax cuts are leading some to switch over to electric cars, and the method might be replicated in other EU countries like Lithaunia.

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How Zurich Blazed a Trail for Recycled Concrete

Corinne Gretler

September 26, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Switzerland, Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, is paving the way for sustainable building. Concrete is a major contributor of climate change due to the process it requires to make it. Zurich is making steps to reduce its use. A school building was constructed in 2002 with 80 percent recycled concrete. Three years later city officials passed a requirement that required all publicly-owned buildings to be made with recycled concrete and in 2013 ordered the use of CO2 reduced cement. According to a study the effort has saved 17,000 cubic meters of virgin materials.

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‘Better' podcast shines light on solutions

Allison Frost

July 29, 2021 |

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Taiwan

Taiwan responded to COVID-19 quickly, which helped keep cases low and avoid widespread shutdowns. The country had closely tracked its PPE stockpiles since the 2003 SARS outbreak, has a national health command center to coordinate responses, and uses a well-defined set of procedures to track and manage people under infectious risk or quarantine. Masks are required and provided to every citizen, inbound travelers were quickly regulated, and contact tracing and testing is widely used to prevent outbreaks. Citizens generally listen to authorities, though fines and other sanctions also encourage compliance.

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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 |

Text |

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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Can we keep lumber out of the landfill?

Anna Lamb-Yorski

July 08, 2021 |

Living Here |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada

Pollution caused by demolition is expected to be 2.2 billion tons by 2021. However, up to 75 percent of materials in a demolition can be recycled. An alternative method to demolition is deconstruction or unbuilding. The method always for lumber and other materials that are recyclable to be salvaged. Cities like Vancouver that have passed ordinances encouraging recycling saw results. One company, "Unbuilders," that specializes in deconstruction shows that using methods like tax receipts and appraisals can lead to both profit and better results for the environment.

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How Bogotá's Waste Pickers Reinvented Their Jobs for a Modern City

Peter Yeung

July 05, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia

In Colombia, there are about 50,000 waste pickers, they collect and sort through trash to findrecyclabless to make a living. Their livelihood was threatened in the 1990s after Colombia adopted neoliberal policies that privatized trash collection. However, in 2016 the government officially recognized wastepickers as recycling service providers under a decree. That same year, the government introduced a "second payment," that supplement the income of waste pickers. Coupled, these two policies have improved the livelihood of wastepickers.

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How a Kansas City neighborhood is transforming its dangerous and abandoned buildings

Celisa Calacal

June 28, 2021 |

The Kansas City Beacon |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

A neighborhood association is renovating dilapidated and neglected houses into livable homes that have transformed the look and feel of neighborhoods in Kansas City. The Lykins Neighborhood Association is able to assume ownership over houses slated for demolition by using Missouri’s Abandoned Housing act. “The result: A neglected house becomes a livable home.”

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Oregon Bottle Bill at 50

Geoff Norcross

June 23, 2021 |

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

Radio |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Oregon

In 1971, Oregon became the first state to adopt a law that established refundable deposits on beer and soft drink containers. So, if a consumer returned their plastic bottle, they would get their deposit back and that bottle then gets recycled. The Bottle Bill turned 50 this year and has proved to be a huge success. In 2019, it had a 90 percent return, meaning nine out of ten containers were being recycled. Other states are looking towards Oregon to replicate the model.

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Virginia law cleared a path for condo owners to install charging stations

Elizabeth McGowan

April 27, 2021 |

Energy News Network |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

In Virginia, as more and more people turn towards electric cars like Tesla, homeowner associations will have to accommodate resident's request for electric charging stations. Because of that very reason, one legislator created Senate Bill 630, which prohibits homeowner and condominium associations from prohibiting installation in a resident's parking space. This story goes into detail about how one man used SB 630 to get three charging stations installed in his condominium.

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