Following a mass shooting in Aurora, IL, lawmakers are introducing legislation that could make it harder for guns to be obtained by those who shouldn’t have them. The legislation proposes requiring fingerprints prior ...

Around the country, states like California, New Jersey, and Maryland are implementing legislation that eliminates the cash bail system. While this is one way of addressing that system’s growing unpopularity, New York ...

New York City's child welfare agency is trying once again to combat its "reputation for unjustly targeting low-income families of color" by piloting child care centers that are set up to help families feel respected a...

When designing policies, user engagement is an essential part of obtaining feedback and raising awareness among the very people that the policies are intended to impact. One small government team in Canada, the Next G...

Indiana's Second Chance law was passed in 2013 and allows people to petition to remove their misdemeanor convictions and arrests from public view. In Marion County alone, more than 11,500 people have visited the full-...

As gentrification drives involuntary displacement in Denver, Colorado, the city planners elsewhere in Colorado aim to avoid the same fate by instituting policy safeguards. Fort Collins has put in extra protection for ...

In 2016, the state of Utah took control over the funding model for individual county's legal defenders in order to better use resources. Thanks to the restructuring, in just a year, counties have seen noticeable incre...

Native American tribes in Oregon have garnered attention for their sustainable forest preservation, especially since recent national legislation passed that gave thousands of acres of land land back to several Native ...

Through its Transformation Office and Innovation Lab, Singapore encourages a culture of innovation and smart design when it comes to making policy among its 145,000 strong civil service. Borrowing aspects of its frame...

In Quebec, a subsidized affordable child care program has proven itself over two decades, contributing to a spike in the employment of mothers with young children. Research also shows that program is financially susta...

An initiative in St. Petersburg has reduced the number of vacant houses while increasing access to affordable housing. The city takes ownership of vacant lots and abandoned homes, then sells the properties to affordab...

In Los Angeles, The Bin gives homeless people a chance to store their valuables. “If I didn’t have this bin, I’d have to get rid of most of my stuff. These bins are really great to have.” Across the nation, other citi...

Eindhoven, a city in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands is piloting a handful of experiments that aim to reduce alcohol-induced violence. This includes sound cameras that trigger when someone is yelling ...

Cheetah cubs are routinely smuggled through Somaliland on their way to being illegally trafficked in United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. Although small and resource-deprived, Somaliland is taking a stand against thi...

Iranian families are sidestepping the U.S. Muslim ban inside a library. The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is located in both Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec. Dozens of Iranian families have briefly r...

In France, a digital transformation is taking place. To lay the groundwork, the country passed the Digital Republic Act in 2016, which mandated local and central government to publish documents and public data, a sign...

Colorado has recently adopted a new .25 percent sales tax to create a pool of funding for mental health and addiction services. The initial funds are earmarked to create a new mental health center, while the overall v...

In Denmark, drugs users can safely get high inside “drug consumption rooms.” One of those is Skyken, users have access to clean needles, are allowed 24 hour access, and nurses can treat overdoses with antidotes. Evide...

When local policy initiatives fail, it is often because they are not meeting local needs in a way that residents want. The Boston Housing Innovation Lab, know as the iLab, seeks to combat this challenge. So far, it ha...

Voter turnout is higher where voting is made easy. Consider one innovation: vote-by mail. States that allowed mail-in ballots had an average of 10 percent more voting in the 2016 election than other states. More innov...

Countries across the world are aiming to reduce their plastic waste. African countries, however, are leading the way with a variety of techniques. Kenya in particular has taken one of the most drastic approaches by ha...

A collaboration between pro-choice activists and tech workers is—in the face of increasing restrictive policy—creating access to services and information. Events like the Abortion Access Hackathon provide a means for ...

Singapore maintains its state of cleanliness through fines, public education, and an army of low-paid cleaners. Fifty years ago, the Keep Singapore Clean campaign was the first time the government used fines as a meth...

In New Zealand politics, families, children, and the environment come first. Amidst the rise of right-wing populist governments, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stands out for her energy fighting for progres...

In 2017, Illinois passed a bill to re-establish the Women’s Correctional Services Division in response to the disproportionate level of discipline handed out to female inmates and in an effort to create more trauma-in...