Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 268 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

How Stockholm Is Sprouting Healthy Trees From Concrete

Peter Yeung

March 04, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Stockholm

The "Stockholm tree pit” model involves digging a pit and constructing a frame underground around an urban tree’s roots, then filling this pit with a mixture of soil and stone to both aerate and fertilize the soil while also allowing rain water to be collected. The circumference of select planted trees increased from 30 to 35 centimeters to 100 and 136 centimeters between 2004 and 2024, even surpassing that of trees without the tree pits that have been there for more than 80 years.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Abandoned Coal Mines Are Becoming the Batteries of the Future

Natasha Khullar Relph

February 27, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Gravity batteries can store excess renewable energy in abandoned mine shafts, offering coal-dependent communities economic and environmental benefits. This energy storage tactic is being used in various iterations around the globe.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The Pioneering Paralegals Helping Women Take Back Their Land

Geetanjali Krishna

February 14, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Gujarat

The Working Group of Women for Land Ownership (WGWLO) is a group of 48 grassroots NGOs and individuals who help local women secure land ownership through raising awareness about women’s land rights and providing access to legal aid when needed. Since forming in 2002, the group estimates that it has helped as many as 20,000 women.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Ethiopia's Utopian Experiment in Gender Equality

Peter Yeung

February 07, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ethiopia, Awra Amba

The Awra Amba community is founded on broad values such as gender equality of labor, women’s rights, children’s rights, and caring for the elderly and vulnerable, and residents work together on 15 democratically elected committees to make key decisions. Research shows that the community has achieved higher life expectancy, literacy rates, and measures of gender equality than the country’s national averages.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Blind Bungee Jumpers Welcome

MaryLou Costa

January 30, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Durham

Traveleyes offers tours catered to blind and visually impaired travelers by pairing them with sighted guests to accompany them on their travels, who describe the details of what they’re seeing and experiencing. Traveleyes has hosted over 1,000 tours, taking over 20,000 guests to locations around the world.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Inside Africa's Trailblazing Solar Repair Movement

Peter Yeung

January 27, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Zambia

Nonprofit SolarAid trains repair technicians who can fix solar energy kits. In the 2023-24 financial year, SolarAid’s teams across Zambia and Malawi repaired 2,422 solar products, reducing electronic waste, increasing the lifespan of products, and improving access to solar lights, as well as creating job opportunities

Read More
Go to Original Story
A Free-Transit Prescription for Healthier Communities

Elizabeth Hewitt

January 24, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City is the largest U.S. city to adopt a zero-fare policy since its public bus system stopped charging riders in 2020. This policy change gives riders more financial flexibility and improves social and physical health outcomes as residents are walking more to get to bus stops and are also more connected to the community through increased access to transportation.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Green Microgrids Are Powering a More Resilient Future

Eric Krebs

January 17, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Blue Lake Rancheria, United States, California

Microgrids, small-scale energy systems that can operate either independently or as part of the larger electric grid, are growing in popularity and effectiveness. In one example on tribal land in California, a microgrid saves 25 percent of electricity costs and reduces Blue Lake Rancheria's carbon footprint by hundreds of tons of carbon annually.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How 'Superblocks' Can Create People-Centered Cities

Kaja Šeruga

January 16, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Spain, Barcelona

Superblocks are areas in congested cities where traffic has been rerouted to prioritize people. Outfitted with green spaces and communal areas to connect, superblocks help reduce air and noise pollution. Residents living in the area report a higher quality of life and increased social interaction with their neighbors. The idea of superblocks has traveled around the world to cities like Vienna, Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Los Angeles.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The Welcoming Climate Shelters of Barcelona

Kaja Šeruga

January 03, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Spain, Barcelona

The Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona is a key part of the city’s growing climate shelter network, which has expanded from 70 locations in 2020 to 368 last summer. The climate centers are integrated into the city’s public infrastructure — libraries, parks, museums, etc. — and have expanded to the point where 98% of the population is within a 10-minute walk from a shelter.

Read More
Go to Original Story