Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Kenyan engineers recycling plastics for bricks

    September 28, 2020 |

    Citizen TV Kenya |

    Video |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: Kenya

    Gjenge Makers Ltd is an alternative building product manufacturing company that creates products – such as pavers and blocks – out of recycled plastics. Founded by four Kenyan engineers, the team began by studying the manufacturing process and researching what products would do well on the market. They then built all of the machinery themselves, which break down the plastics, and then mix them with other building material products to ultimately create customizable plastic bricks that can withstand larger weight and are less expensive than concrete. They are popular in rural and lower-income areas.

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  • The Sudbury model: How one of the world's major polluters went green

    September 24, 2020 |

    The Christian Science Monitor |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Sudbury, Ontario

    After being known as a polluted mining town, politicians, scientists, industry officials, and residents of Sudbury, Ontario, were able to come together to restore its land. After 40 years and $33.5 million, they are about halfway through recovering about 200,000 acres of land. So far, they’ve been successful at restoring air quality, neutralizing soil to allow for replanting, and restocking lakes with fish. While some locals think the mining companies should have done more, the collaborative spirit could be a model for other communities looking to improve the environment.

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  • Chicago Teens Unveil Vision for Change and Public Safety in Their Neighborhood

    September 23, 2020 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    Twenty high school students enrolled in Territory, an urban design nonprofit, produced a zine and their own quality of life report for West Austin, where many of the students live. The students conducted interviews, surveys, and gathered community input to create the report. It includes sections on public safety, youth empowerment, and mental health.

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  • As Concerns Over Climate Change Rise, More Developers Turn to Wood

    September 22, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Spokane, Washington

    Eastern Washington University recently built the first tall wood office building in the state joining hundreds of other large “mass-timber” projects in the United States. This growing industry constructs panels, beams, and columns from trees that need to be thinned to curb wildfires in forests. While wood buildings can be more expensive to build than ones constructed from concrete and steel, environmentalists are on board because wood can store carbon, which can help offset greenhouse gas emissions.

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  • The Shared Spaces program: a crisis-driven experiment that could permanently change San Francisco's urban landscape

    September 22, 2020 |

    Mission Local |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

    The Shared Spaces program is a pandemic-driven initiative that increases outdoor dining space in commercial areas. The initiative made the permit process more user friendly and less expensive. Over 1,200 outdoor dining applications were approved in three months, which is more than the city approved in 2018 and 2019 combined. The increased capacity of outdoor dining seating takes away other public spaces, usually parking and driving space, but the program’s success has helped businesses survive pandemic-related restrictions and officials are assessing the program to maintain it moving forward.

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  • How social-distancing symbols are changing our cities

    September 16, 2020 |

    BBC |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: France, Paris

    Across the world, local governments and communities are looking for ways to draw boundaries that guide people's behavior towards social distancing. Although the perfect sign has yet to be determined, urban psychologists and researchers have found that community created signs as well as France's "wave-shaped sign" have inspired loyalty and a shared goal.

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  • This revolutionary housing reform bill out of Portland would bring relief to tons of Philadelphians

    September 16, 2020 |

    The Philadelphia Citizen |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    Portland's new policy allowing for multi-family homes resulted from a long campaign of coalition building to address a need for middle-income housing that often gets overlooked in many cities. Although the Residential Infill Project will not take effect until August 2021, its enactment offers cities like Philadelphia lessons in strategic policymaking that overcomes entrenched views at opposite ends of the income and class spectrum, from property owners concerned about declining home values and advocates for low-income housing concerned about gentrification.

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  • The David And Goliath Story Playing Out In Alaska's Fisheries

    September 14, 2020 |

    The Huffington Post |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Alaska

    A small, southeast-Alaskan fishing community banded together to protect the source of its livelihood from industrial fishing. Legislation officially protected 70,000 square miles of pristine waters in 1998. The ban on industrial fishing has resulted in much smaller, sustainable fisheries that have kept the ocean habitat flourishing and business booming for local fisheries. A cooperative model prevents overfishing and maintains a healthy ocean habitat.

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  • The buildings heated by human warmth

    September 08, 2020 |

    BBC |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Sweden, Stockholm

    Harnessing body heat provides energy-saving heating to commercial and residential buildings. The Stockholm Central station in Sweden and the Mall of America in Minnesota both capture body warmth to provide some of the buildings' heat. Each has over 100,000 daily visitors during non-coronavirus times, generating substantial heat that can be captured by energy-efficient construction. Body heat is also utilized in residential spaces, where thermal insulation helps keep the warmth inside. Using body heat requires energy-efficient building materials and generally cannot provide all of a building's heating needs.

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  • How Efforts To Save Hawaii's Forests Are Preventing A 'Freshwater Crisis'

    September 06, 2020 |

    Honolulu Civil Beat |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Hawaii

    Landowners, state employees, environmental groups, and local hunters are working together to protect Hawaii’s forests and drinking water by eradicating invasive plants from the state’s protected forests. By allowing native plants to flourish, these forests could help combat climate change by sequestering carbon and allowing freshwater quivers to recharge with rainfall. Since 2013, the state has built 132 miles of fence to keep grazers away from forests to prevent the spread of seeds of invasive plants. However, this method can be expensive; a 1,400-acre fence cost over a million dollars.

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