Musicians Add 'Counterterrorism Briefing' to Pre-Grammy Schedule

In the wake of the Rana Plaza collapse, Bangladeshi civilians—often first on the scene of disasters in poorer countries–are being trained to support emergency teams.

In war zones, people have a difficult time finding clean water and safe areas to inhabit. Social media, smart phones, and technology applications are aiding in people’s survival. In Aleppo, Syria, the International Committee of the Red Cross posted a map on Facebook to show alternative sources of clean drinking water that reached approximately 140,000 people.

Little Kids Rock has helped to revitalize and broaden music education in more than a thousand schools by encouraging children to learn to play popular music, form bands and compose their own songs. Despite a backlash from traditionalists, teaching children to play music they love doesn’t “dumb down” music education—it enriches it.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, necessity has bred an interesting kind of financial invention for the New York MTA: the world’s first “catastrophe” bond - a reinsurance for the insurer - designed to protect public transportation infrastructure, specifically against storm surge. These bonds privatize risk for public gain, creating a kind of tool that may protect economic development against all kinds of natural and man-made disasters around the world.

A cholera epidemic can kill many people or few people—it all depends on the expertise of the doctors and their access to the right equipment. A program in Dhaka rushes both to countries when an epidemic is just breaking out.

In a country of limited resources — and perhaps for that very reason — preparing for natural disasters is top of the agenda in Bangladesh. Various grassroots, collaborative programs have been put in place over the years to help address many facets of the calamities caused by cyclones, from improved emergency shelters to long-term support for those who lose their livelihoods in the storms.

Summer in the Northwest presents a great risk of wildfires. A pile burning operation, just one facet of the strategy that Oregon has enacted to conserve its forests, clears undergrowth to lessen the risk of mega-fire. The work stimulates the local economy and provides employment, but it's also a very small part of what needs to be done.

Why do schools teach music in a way that turns off so many young people rather than igniting their imagination? A program that taps into students’ passion for pop and rock is revitalizing music education in many schools.

The 2004 tsunami that hit Asia caused significant damage in the islands of the Seychelles, destroying roads, homes, and shoreline. A teacher determined to restore her home through tangible action took a lead role in helping her students take conservation into their own hands by working to restore the mangroves that can protect their island from future storms.

After the drought hit Australia in the early 2000s, city officials had to start thinking seriously about ways to conserve and creatively store their water. External tanks became the solution, storing rain runoff to create an available source of water for Melbourne residents. This solution may not fit every location, but there are other teachable lessons such as taking radically shorter showers.