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Title
& Description
News Outlet
& Journalist
Date
& Location
MEDIA TYPE
& LENGTH
22 February 2021
Texas, United States
Multi-Media
Over 3000 Words
After winter storms and freezing temperatures in 2011 and 2014 caused power plants in Texas to shut down, the state’s energy regulators failed to adapt the state’s electric grid for future extreme weather events. Expe...
19 February 2021
Texas, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
A historic cold snap in Texas revealed cracks in the state’s free-market energy system, which left millions powerless during the storm. Critics of the state’s system say “the alphabet soup of Texas energy oversight bo...
12 February 2021
Pembrokshire, Wales
Text
1500-3000 Words
Wales’ One Planet Development Policy allows people to live a more sustainable lifestyle by using only the resources on the land they reside. For one family, they get their electricity from their own solar array, heat ...
Energy News Network
Tom Perkins
29 January 2021
Michigan, United States
Text
Under 800 Words
The Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice was created to advise Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on environmental justice issues related to pollution and energy access. In its first year, the 21-member council was i...
30 December 2020
United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Various government policies and programs have been implemented in Black communities facing urban decline but not all of them have been completely successful. Initiatives included: Expanding public transportation, ref...
3 December 2020
Bavaria, Germany
Text
1500-3000 Words
Environmental advocates got 1.75 million signatures to change Bavarian farming laws to protect biodiversity. The Save the Bees Campaign calls for using subsidies to nearly triple the amount of organic farming, creatin...
20 November 2020
Paris, France
Text
1500-3000 Words
Cities across France are using citizens’ assemblies, where a diverse group of citizens study important issues and make policy recommendations. In Paris, 150 citizens spent nine months working on the climate convention...
12 November 2020
Brazil
Text
1500-3000 Words
Collective, or shared, candidacies, where groups of candidates to run for a single elected position in Brazil, has helped elevate women and other marginalized groups with progressive platforms to rise to power. From 2...
The Daily Tar Heel
Kathryn Goodwin
8 November 2020
United States
Text
Under 800 Words
MyVote organized over 300 student volunteers, mostly in high school, to research candidates and their policies so that voters could have a “one-stop-shop” platform to learn about policy platforms of candidates running...
29 October 2020
Seattle, Washington, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
A pilot project in several American cities has provided a large amount of data on how residents use streets where vehicular traffic is restricted. The initiative tested out ways to calm traffic, provide space for fami...
24 October 2020
Hawaii, United States
Text
Over 3000 Words
A 100-year-old program provides virtually free land for Native Hawaiians to build their own home or buy one from a developer. Despite a $1/year land lease and low taxes, the program has failed to promptly provide affo...
The Philadelphia Citizen
Jessica Blatt Press
19 October 2020
United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Citizens' assemblies, where a randomly selected representative sample of people work together to make decisions and find policy solutions to social issues, is an effective approach to decision-making that bridges pola...
9 October 2020
Fresno, California, United States
Multi-Media
Over 15 Minutes
Latinx politicians hold 48% of all elected positions in Fresno County, gains made possible by the California Voting Rights Act. The law calls for local governments to use district elections instead of citywide races i...
6 October 2020
Oregon, United States
Text
Over 3000 Words
Over a dozen states have adopted some variation of automatic voter registration, which is common in many European democracies. Voters in Oregon are mailed a notification when they are enrolled, which they can send bac...
5 October 2020
California, United States
Multi-Media
1500-3000 Words
In California, two laws have helped to open opportunities for less experienced candidates to win state and local offices, which has increased representation among people of color. A 1990 law set term limits for the st...
27 September 2020
Taiwan
Text
800-1500 Words
vTaiwan is a mixed-reality, scaled listening exercise used by the government as a new way to make decisions. The platform provides an online space for citizens to debate and for politicians to listen to. The governmen...
23 September 2020
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
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, s...
18 September 2020
United Kingdom
Text
1500-3000 Words
Citizen assemblies bring together residents for in-depth discussions about solutions to social issues. This alternative form of democracy led to policy changes in many countries, including legalizing abortion in Irela...
1 September 2020
Ireland
Text
1500-3000 Words
A political experiment to increase trust and build relationships effectively brought together 66 diverse citizens, 33 politicians, and one expert to discuss proposed constitutional amendments and make recommendations ...
27 August 2020
United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) protects states from having to fund federal laws. Prior to its passage, Congress passed bills without worrying about how to fund them, leaving states, cities, and counties to pa...
20 August 2020
Massachusetts, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Almost half of U.S. states guarantee citizens’ rights to petition for ballot measures, but the coronavirus made gathering signatures in person infeasible. Massachusetts courts allowed electronic signatures, but other ...
6 August 2020
California, United States
Text
Under 800 Words
The Industrial Areas Foundation, the country’s oldest community organizing group, adapted to coronavirus restrictions by using technology to win relief for immigrants without legal documentation in California. Organiz...
3 August 2020
Tennessee, United States
Text
Over 3000 Words
Three generations of activists marched, protested, lobbied, and campaigned for more than seven decades to win the right to vote for American women. In 1920, national and local activists worked to convince Tennessee le...
31 July 2020
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Urban planning policies can lead to greater racial segregation, sometimes intentionally. While older policies could be explicitly racist, today policies such as zoning, which designates land for residential or industr...
23 July 2020
United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Universities are a source of innovative economic activity for neighboring towns and cities. The entrepreneurial activity spurred by academic programs and the effect a large student body has on a college town's main st...
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Conference attendee listening to speaker, Jenifer Daniels / Colorstock getcolorstock.com.
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