A Sewing Army, Making Masks for America

CrowdFlower, a site which pays people to do microtasks, has found that it can be an extremely fast and effective medium between aid workers and locals during disasters.

Americans often want to connect to a cause beyond writing a check. Crowdsourcing is creating new forms of philanthropy globally, giving donors more choice and a stronger connection to the projects they fund.

SERVIR, a joint development initiative of the United States Agency for International Development and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, leverages data from space to improve environmental decision-making in 30 developing countries.

"Ghost gear" are nylon nets and other waste left behind in our oceans by fishing boats - they cause massive environmental damage, releasing toxins in the water, ensnaring wildlife, and clogging up beaches. Now one organisation, the Healthy Seas Initiative, is working with fishermen and a sportswear company called ECONYL to retrieve abandoned nets from out of the ocean and convert the materials into clothing, carpets, and more.

After Nepal's 2015 earthquake, many village women were left in financial devastation and struggled to support their families. The earthquake destroyed up to 90% of small enterprises and markets, so the United Nations Development Programme trained women how to weave. As a mode of recovery, the weaving industry has helped rebuild the economic and social structures through the Panchakanya group.

In Israel, approaches to help traumatized IDF soldiers were emotionally focused and did not succeed in restoring well-being. The Six C’s model presents a cognitive approach by Dr. Farchi, which involves stimulating the individual through mental and physical action—such as giving them tasks to complete or make complex decisions.

An increasing number of Venezuelans are fleeing to other Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Peru, leading to the need for changes in these receiving countries. Peru has created a temporary permit, while Brazil has expanded their legal migration path for refugees.

After serving time in prison, finding a job can be a major challenge. Road 22 aims to help. The luxury clothing brand employs eight formerly-incarcerated women and plans to hire more as business grows.

The expansion of intellectual property laws to cover ancestral knowledge can help protect indigenous people from economic exploitation. Indigenous women in Guatemala are working to pass a law similar to one used in Australia and South Africa to protect the use of textile designs.

A growing body of research suggests knitting and crocheting can be used to teach math. It could also be a way to bridge the gap between men and women in the STEM fields, and make the subject more approachable to young girls, who have higher levels of math anxiety. KnitLab project does that, and teaches middle school students, particularly girls, to knit and crochet in order to understand complicated math subjects. Already, more than 50 students have been taught.