The Solutions Story Tracker™ is a curated, database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. We collect and tag every story, providing you with the ability to find coverage of effective or promising ideas and approaches—by issue, location, journalist, and success factor (strategic insights that emerge as patterns).
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/ecuador-indigenous-waorani-launch-petition-save-amazon-180523102935421.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Kimberley Brown
Aljazeera
24 May 2018
Mixed Media / 800-1500 Words
In order to fight oil extraction in their land, which the Ecuadorian government opened up for bidding, the Waorani community launched a petition. They also used GPS technology to create a an interactive map of the region they live in, so it can give a bigger picture of their home. "The only maps that exist of our territory only show communities, rivers and a school, nothing else," Oswando Nenquimo, another resident of Nemopare, told Al Jazeera. "They never really show the territory, what it really contains. So, from the outside it only looks empty," he said, adding that previous maps have been made by people
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/5/23/17383400/vote-by-mail-home-california-alaska-nebraska?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
David Roberts
Vox
23 May 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Voting is easy when a ballot arrives in your mailbox. Vote-at-home increases turnout in all precincts and elections in which it’s available. It significantly outperforms all combinations of other innovations such as absentee ballots, early in-person voting, same-day registration and election-day registration.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/opinion/honors-college-rutgers.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
David L. Kirp
The New York Times
22 May 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Unlike the honors colleges at most universities, the Honors Living-Learning Community at Rutgers University-Newark recruits students based on "grit" and commitment to social justice. The Community creates a supportive experience within the larger campus and focuses students' studies on issues ranging from civil rights to environmental justice. “For the first time these students are learning about themselves and about that corner where they come from,” an assistant dean commented. Honors students' freshman GPAs are on average half a grade higher than the grades of non-honors students.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/05/the-amazing-psychology-of-japanese-train-stations/560822?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Allan Richarz
CityLab
22 May 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Rail transport is a necessity for many commuters around the world. Japan's transportation industry has found a way to improve this means of transport by implementing subtle behavioral psychology mechanisms. From blue lighting to decrease suicides to departure jingles to reduce passenger anxiety and haste, the nation is succeeding in having a near-perfect methodology for travel despite overcrowded stations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/05/18/feature/the-elephants-rhinos-and-lions-had-been-killed-then-came-a-21st-century-noahs-ark/?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Kevin Sieff
Washington Post
18 May 2018
Mixed Media / 800-1500 Words
Africa's wildlife have made headlines time and time again, as species find their way closer to extinction. There are some pockets of the continent, however that have provide refuge for species and allowed them to not just populate, but thrive. Recognizing this, a group known as African Parks found a way to use these growing populations to repopulate other areas of the continent by transporting animals to newly protected areas.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/displaced-sri-lankans-defy-military-reclaim-homeland-180517123419643.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Lisa Fuller
Aljazeera
18 May 2018
Mixed Media / 800-1500 Words
26 years after being displaced from their land, hundreds of Tamil civilians orchestrated a plan that defied the Sri Lankan navy to return to their homeland. “Over 100 community members are now living on the island. Other plans to arrive in the coming months.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/18/radical-kindness-belgian-town-fostering-vulnerable-people-tradition?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Jennifer Rankin
The Guardian
18 May 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
Residents of a small town in Belgium take in "boarders", people who have disabilities that render them unable to live alone. Many of these boarders stay with their host families for several decades, and they all participate in household duties so that both family and boarder benefits. This solution allows people who might otherwise have to live in a facility to integrate into society and live as normally as possible.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/05/the-young-map-nerds-building-a-better-bus-app/559910?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Laura Bliss
CityLab
17 May 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
In order for alternatives to driving to be widely adopted, accurate information about service and arrival times needs to be accesible. To fill this need, applications providing bus routes and arrival times are being developed, in some cases aided by crowdsourced information.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/kids-say-metoo-after-each-performance-of-this-play-20180516?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Meera Vijayann
Yes! Magazine
16 May 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
Since the mid-1980s, Prevent Child Abuse Virginia (PCAV) has used theater to teach elementary and middle school students about sexual abuse and in the process empower them to report it. Over the course of 34 years, 13,000 students have disclosed their abuse experiences following a viewing of the play. “Many parents are very uncomfortable talking to their children about personal body safety because it gets all mixed up with the sex conversation,” executive director of PCAV explains. "The messages in the play fill the gap left behind by ineffective policy and cultural roadblocks," the author says.
https://popupcity.net/estonia-to-become-the-worlds-first-free-public-transport-nation?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Regina Schröter
Pop-Up City
16 May 2018
Text / Under 800 Words
Free public transport is so popular and cost-effective in Estonia’s capital of Tallinn that the country wants to scale the idea nationwide. Public official Allan Alaküla shares insights for cities looking to experiment with similar programs.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/us/georgia-state-african-americans.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Richard Fausset
The New York Times
15 May 2018
800-1500 Words
Since 2013, Georgia State University has graduated more African-American students than any other nonprofit college or university in the country. Georgia State takes a data-driven approach to retaining its 40,000 person population, intervening at early signs of academic trouble. The comprehensive services are "meant to provide the kind of safety net for poor students that wealthier students usually get from their families."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/opinion/want-to-quit-the-gang-life-try-this-job-on.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
15 May 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Being in a gang or selling drugs is risky and often poorly paid, but many people caught up in it see too many obstacles in alternate paths to change. Readi Chicago addresses these barriers with cognitive behavioral therapy and subsidized jobs that allow participants to gradually build up skills and move into better positions. But the most important people are the outreach workers, many of whom came out of incarceration or gang life, and can build relationships to convince people to sign up.
https://apolitical.co/solution_article/games-in-government-how-to-get-public-servants-excited-about-work?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Jennifer Guay
Apolitical
15 May 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
Games can help government employees feel more engaged in their work. The United Kingdom’s Department of Work and Pensions uses a game called Idea Street to encourage innovation, and the City of Louisville, Kentucky, awards digital badges for creativity and collaborations. Sustaining staff interest in games can be a challenge. It helps to have clear rules and to align games with the top motivations of employees.
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/50960/how-being-part-of-a-house-within-a-school-helps-students-gain-a-sense-of-belonging?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Gail Cornwall
KQED
14 May 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Assigning students to Harry-Potter-style "houses" in primary and secondary schools dissolves differences and decreases disciplinary rates, according to a school in California that successfully launched the system. Administrators say "residential colleges" breed built in mentorships between grades, promote inclusion and a sense of belonging, and decrease suspensions.
https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/solutions-journalism/2018/05/10/change-tap-one-brewerys-impact-birmingham-neighborhood-avondale-birmingham-microbrew/566499002?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Brad Harper
The Montgomery Advertiser
11 May 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
A surprising anchor business in Birmingham helped bring growth to the city: Avondale Brewing Co. Since the brewery opened seven years ago, restaurants and bands have flocked to the city, and the population as well as home prices have increased. Montgomery just attracted its first brewery, and the city is looking to Birmingham as a model for the type of growth it hopes to see.
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