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How Europe's Greenest Capital Is Saving City Trees

Edward Belleville

August 03, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin

Cities around the world are using apps and interactive platforms to encourage resident volunteers to care for their urban forests. For example, in Berlin, Gieß den Kiez (Water the Neighborhood) is an app that allows users to watch their local trees and water them in times of need. When the app launched, there were 1,000 unique users and over 7,000 individual tree waterings in the first six weeks. However, the cost of planting and maintaining trees can be expensive and where the trees are located in cities and who benefits from them is not always equitable.

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How Philadelphia Has Tried to Address Water Debt

Emily Nonko

September 01, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

An income-based payment structure has alleviated water debt in Philadelphia. Decreasing federal aid to municipal water utilities in conjunction with rising costs associated with climate change has increased the cost of water, making it unaffordable for many. Philadelphia created an income-based program, which caps water bills at three percent of income. The Tiered Assistance Program, or TAP, also provides debt elimination for those who make their minimum payments. Advocates have successfully pushed for similar reforms in Baltimore.

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Atlanta's Trying to Support, Not Punish, Its Teenage Water Vendors

Adina Solomon

September 15, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Atlanta, Georgia

Teens selling water on the sweltering streets of Atlanta are typically dealt with by police officers who often crack down on "unpermitted sales of water by youth." In a new approach, city officials convened a council to offer alternatives to police action and suggested ways to promote and develop the entrepreneurial spirit in teens through a variety of programs. The council looked to a similar program in Baltimore that re-engaged windshield-washing teens in school and re-directed others to full-time jobs.

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How to enforce gender equality? Iceland tests the waters

Sara Miller Llana

January 10, 2018 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Iceland, Reykjavík

Although Iceland has ranked the most gender equal nation in the world by The Word Economic Forum, there is still a gender pay gap. A new law might change that. Iceland has become the first, and only country to punish companies that pay women less than men.

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Iceland's Water Cure

Dan Kois

April 19, 2016 |

The New York Times Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Iceland, Reykjavík, Capital Region

Despite being an island of seamen, Iceland used to experience high numbers of drownings every year, fostering a keen interest in swimming education. The government stepped up and tapped into the underground hot water generated by Iceland’s volcanic activity to create geothermal pools, which quickly became more than a humble municipal investment, but perhaps the very secret to the country’s happiness. Every town now enjoys communal pools, which create a neutral, recreational space that brings all manner of people together.

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How Newark Water Coalition Is Bringing the City Clean Water Without Plastic Waste

Emily Nonko

February 18, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

Since it was reported that Newark’s lead levels in the city’s drinking water were higher than federal standards, the Newark Water Coalition installed a Water Box. This is a portable filtration system that removes contaminants to provide 10 gallons of clean water each minute. The organization worked with another nonprofit that implemented a Water Box in Flint, Michigan, to secure funding to install three others in the city.

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How Jersey City Middle Schoolers Stopped a Flood

Phil Roberts

March 12, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Jersey City, New Jersey

In a science class in a local New Jersey school, students came up with a green solution to a storm water management and flooding problem in their parking lot when it rained. With help from the Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program out of Rutgers University and funding from city agencies, they were able to build planters and install concrete to absorb the runoff. The project galvanized the community, encouraging the school to expand their STEM curriculum.

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Desertification Is Devouring India. But There's Hope in the Dunes

Rishika Pardikar

November 13, 2019 |

OZY |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: India, Laporiya, Rajasthan

The people of a small village on the edge of the Thar Desert have managed for decades to resist "desertification" -- degradation of arid land to the point that it is uninhabitable -- by storing monsoon waters for use later. The storage device, rectangular plots of land called chaukas, have worked well enough to be copied by dozens of other villages in the area. It is uncertain if this approach can reverse the loss of land, but it is at least holding off the rapid pace of desertification, which risks mass displacements of people as hundreds of millions of acreage is lost.

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I-WASH: Improving Access to Water Sanitation and Hygiene Services in Kebbi State

Misbahu el-Hamza Dabri Ohanu Olohije

May 22, 2023 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Kebbi

The I-WASH program aims to combat waterborne diseases and address challenges facing communities without access to clean water. The program has built toilets in schools, provided handwashing facilities, as well as a solar-powered borehole and educational services on sanitation practices and how to maintain the water points. Through the help of the I-WASH program, as of May 2022, 300 functional toilets had been built in households across more than 30 communities.

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Inside a 50-year journey to reopen the 'lungs' of the Squamish River

Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood

September 17, 2022 |

The Narwhal |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Squamish Nation, Canada, British Columbia

The Squamish Nation, the Squamish River Watershed Society, and the Canadian federal government are working together to restore the Squamish estuary and save the local salmon population. The coalition removed part of a spit that was placed in the river by a rail company in the 1970s without consulting the Squamish Nation.

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