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How water is helping to end 'the first climate change war'

The Guardian

Damian Carrington

18 December 2019

El Fasher, Sudan

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1500-3000 Words

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Cooperation and collective action work not only to mitigate the effects of climate change, they can also build bridges to peace. In El Fasher, Sudan, farmers and pastoralists along the Wadi El Ku River have come toget...

San Francisco's Quest to Make Landfills Obsolete

Politico

Erick Trickey

21 November 2019

San Francisco, California, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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Reducing landfill waste takes a comprehensive approach. By implementing city-wide composting alongside trash collection and utilizing the sorting technology of Recology, the city’s municipal waste recovery company, Sa...

In Peoria, Green Infrastructure As a Path to Social Equity

Next City

Emily Nonko

HUB MEMBER

20 November 2019

Peoria, Illinois, United States

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800-1500 Words

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Green infrastructure provides a return on investment and improves the quality of life in a community. In Peoria, Illinois, the city’s Public Works Department has piloted several green infrastructure initiatives with t...

The least sexy, most important resilience strategy

American City & County

Laurie Mazur

HUB MEMBER

21 October 2019

Norfolk, Virginia, United States

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800-1500 Words

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Unprecedented challenges are frequently popping up with the onset of climate change, so governments too have to adjust their processes and strategies. Some new procurement tools used by several different cities includ...

Fighting Gun Violence in Chicago, With Trees, Rakes, and Cleanup Crews

The Trace

Brian Freskos

18 September 2019

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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Chicago is trying something new when it comes to violence prevention: beautifying public spaces that have been known to be places of violence. The city has launched an official pilot program called Grounds for Peace, ...

Ideas from Oklahoma can help NC plan for future of increased flooding

WRAL

Richard Adkins

17 September 2019

Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

Broadcast TV News

3-5 Minutes

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Eastern North Carolina -- an area increasingly affected by flooding from hurricanes -- looks to Tulsa for long-term, financially sustainable solutions to routine flooding. Tulsa's comprehensive approach includes regul...

Drive-thru brothels: why cities are building 'sexual infrastructure'

The Guardian

Nate Berg

2 September 2019

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Multi-Media

800-1500 Words

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Attitudes towards the legalization of sex work are changing around the world, and now some cities have even started considering public spaces for sex work while developing urban infrastructure plans. From Cologne, Ger...

Can tourists coexist with nature on Lebanon's Rabbit Island?

Deutsche Welle (DW)

Olivia Cuthbert

HUB MEMBER

30 August 2019

Palm Island, Lebanon

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800-1500 Words

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In a stark juxtaposition to Lebanon’s polluted beaches, just 150 off the coast lies Palm Island – more commonly known as Rabbit Island – seeking to remain pristine and pollution-free. Promapir, a EU-funded collaborati...

Solar Panels as Solution for SEPTA's Power Outage Problems

WCAU-TV

Matt Delucia

26 August 2019

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Broadcast TV News

Under 3 Minutes

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Storing solar energy improves the resilience of public transportation systems to disruptions in the energy grid. With the potential of extreme heat or weather conditions to cause issues in the reliability of electrica...

Chicago remade its 127-year-old rapid transit system. Are there lessons for Metro?

Washington Post

Lori Aratani

2 August 2019

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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Officials who want to improve Washington D.C.'s unreliable metro system look to the Chicago Transportation Authority to find examples of success in rebuilding a subway system. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel prioritized up...

How Dutch stormwater management could mitigate damage from hurricanes

CBS News

Nichole Marks

21 July 2019

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Broadcast TV News

5-15 Minutes

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Designing room for rivers and coastlines can mitigate catastrophe. Following a massive flood in 1953, the Dutch government reallocated its resources toward disaster prevention and mitigation. Through measures like bui...

As Floods Keep Coming, Cities Pay Residents to Move

The New York Times

John Schwartz

6 July 2019

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

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800-1500 Words

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The city of Nashville is a model for other U.S. cities focusing on how to deal with homes that are flooding more consistently than before. The National Flood Insurance Program exists to help insure homes that wouldn't...

Eskilstuna: how a Swedish town became the world capital of recycling

The Guardian

Ammar Kalia

18 June 2019

Eskilstuna, Sweden

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1500-3000 Words

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Recycling provides an economic alternative to heavy industry. In the former steel town of Eskilstuna, recovery from economic decline has meant re-platforming into a model of sustainability. From the city’s second-hand...

Paving, rumble strip installation underway at site of fatal May 5 crash

Richland Source

Carl Hunnell

HUB MEMBER

12 June 2019

Shelby, Ohio, United States

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800-1500 Words

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A rural intersection in Shelby, Ohio has received a safety makeover: new paving and rumble strips. The intersection was the site of a fatal car accident in May 2019 and Josh Boggs – a father who lost family members in...

People Are Helping Animals Cross Highways — That's Great for Humans, Too

NationSwell

Monica Humphries

HUB MEMBER

10 June 2019

Gainesville, Florida, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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Across the United States, cities are designing ways for wildlife to cross major roadways. Whether they’re overpasses crossing highways or tunnels under freeways, these helpful pathways are strategically placed to help...

‘People aren't disabled, their city is': inside Europe's most accessible city

The Guardian

Emily Yates

28 May 2019

Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands

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800-1500 Words

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The Dutch city of Breda is making great strides in making their city accessible for all with more than 800 shops and bars physically accessible and more than 26 city resident and tourist-focused websites now accessibl...

Oakland's 'Pothole Vigilantes' Take Street Repairs Into Their Own Hands

KQED

Sonja Hutson

20 May 2019

Oakland, California, United States

Radio

Under 3 Minutes

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In Oakland, CA, two men deemed the Pothole Vigilantes have paired up to fix every pothole in the city. Made possible by crowdfunding the venture, the two have now developed public meetups to teach others how to fix po...

New Orleans Uses Tech to Consolidate 911 and 311 Systems

Government Technology (GovTech)

Zack Quaintance

17 May 2019

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

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Under 800 Words

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Low-code applications assist in modernizing governmental software systems. A development platform that allows people who have little coding experience to easily digitize processes has allowed New Orleans and the Orlea...

Tiny Branson has plenty of water. But like other small rural delivery systems in Colorado, it must find a way to meet new state standards.

The Colorado Sun

Kevin Simpson

6 May 2019

Branson, Colorado, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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Innovation is the key to resilience. In Branson, Colorado, the community of only 55 residents and with volunteer town council has taken on the massive task of bringing its water system up to compliance with the Colora...

The traffic solution most cities haven't tried

Vox

Diana Budds

3 May 2019

New York City, New York, United States

Video

5-15 Minutes

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Cities across the world have implemented “congestion pricing” – meaning that cars in high-traffic areas will have to pay a fee to drive within those limits. New York City is one of the most recent cities to potentiall...

The Town That Extended ‘Smart Growth' to Its Water

CityLab

Jason Plautz

30 April 2019

Westminster, Colorado, United States

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800-1500 Words

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Haunted by a 1962 drought in the town of Westminster, Colorado, the city's planners now incorporate water data in their planning processes to ensure that they never face the same sourcing issues again. By breaking dow...

Inside the Battle to Close Rikers

The Marshall Project

Maurice Chammah

22 March 2019

New York City, New York, United States

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New York City plans to close the eight jail complex located on Rikers Island and replace it with a series of four smaller, community-integrated facilities in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. While the admin...

Rebuilding Cities, With Culture at the Core

CityLab

Tanvi Misra

12 March 2019

Medellín, Colombia

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Under 800 Words

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City planners and governments often overlook culture when trying to rebuild cities blighted by war, disasters, or other types of urban distress. But not Medellín, Colombia. After the drug trade made Medellín a violent...

Working Solutions: Recruiting Veterans to Healthcare

WGME

David Singer

21 February 2019

South Paris, Maine, United States

Broadcast TV News

Under 3 Minutes

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The Maine Department of Labor and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services have joined forces in Oxford County with the hopes of recruiting veterans with medical skills training to the healthcare field. Known...

Conversations about Confederate Monuments in the Former Confederate Capital

Next City

Emily Nonko

HUB MEMBER

12 February 2019

Richmond, Virginia, United States

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800-1500 Words

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In the midst of heated debates surrounding the removal of Confederate monuments in Richmond, Virginia, a partnership between a university design collective and a community nonprofit welcomed student suggestions to kee...

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Our issue area taxonomy was adapted from the PCS Taxonomy with definitions by the Foundation Center, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License.

Photos Credits

Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:

Fondriest Environmental, David De Wit / Community Eye Health, Linda Steil / Herald Post, John Amis / UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences – OCCS, Andy B, Peter Garnhum, Thomas Hawk, 7ty9, Isriya Paireepairit, David Berger, UnLtd The Foundation For Social Entrepreneurs, Michael Dunne, Burak Kebapci, and Forrest Berkshire / U.S. Army Cadet Command public affairs

Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license, and are credited to the following photographers:

Ra'ed Qutena, 段 文慶, Fabio Campo, City Clock Magazine, Justin Norman, scarlatti2004, Gary Simmons, Kathryn McCallum, and Nearsoft Inc

Photos are licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:

Burak Kebapci and SCY.

Photos are licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) and are credited to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Conference attendee listening to speaker, Jenifer Daniels / Colorstock getcolorstock.com.

Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian via Getty Images

Photo Credit: Sonia Narang