California's Yurok Tribe grows solutions in soil of crises

After incarceration, Black men and women have a difficult time re-integrating into society without financial and educational resources. A former Black Panther activist has created the non-profit Oakland &the World Enterprises to offer an urban farm as a prisoner re-entry program and community center. The Oakland project supports self-sufficiency, self-determination, and empowerment for Black people.

Although residents turn up their air conditioners, Louisville heat is increasing the city’s death rate by 39 people every year. The city mayor launched a tree commission for planting more trees and since 2011 has planted over 12,000 trees. The canopies from the tree offer cooling shade and bring down the temperature of the city as a whole. The response also includes the installation of green roofs and in-depth research on urban heat islands.

The Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas suffered from recession-closed businesses and crime. Then community members used placemaking, in which people shaped their own environment to improve the quality of life, and the concept of Build a Better Block, which was a pop-up event showcasing art, food, music, and local faire. The idea gives citizens a fresh look at the possibilities through which to transform the space in which they live, and it has attracted attention across the country and around the world.

Twenty-first century cities face the factors of climate change with intensity as urban heating threatens human and the earth’s health. The University of Notre Dame has conducted research on green and cool roofing projects in the city of Chicago. They have found that green and cool roofs help mitigate the heat in cities; however, these roofs should be installed with other strategies like ponds and trees.

Community leaders are working together to address the issue of food insecurity in Mansfield, caused not just by lack of access to grocery stores and fresh food sources, but also often by unemployment, high housing costs, low wages, poverty, and health care costs. The North End Local Foods Initiative is installing food gardens in these communities, creating access to fresh produce, to educational opportunities, recreational activity and more.

CityTree doesn't resemble the typical tree, but it provides the environmental benefit of 275: this structure, designed for urban landscaping by "Green City Solutions," filters air, cools the surrounding environment and removes CO2 and harmful air pollutants. As climate change worsens our air quality, these structures have proven to monitor and combat the air pollutants in cities all over the world.

The Prospect Community Garden has proven to be a valuable resource for students attending the elementary school in learning how to eat healthier. Local residents help out and receive produce from the garden, which in turn, strengthens their community pride.

In response to the demographic movement to urban environments, Oslo is redesigning its public spaces in a more organic way. Its focus is to think over the long term at a slow pace and help people become part of the environment as they interact with the space around them.

'Tha Flower Factory' is setting out to help provide employment, mentor kids, and restore hopefulness and beauty to the city of Baltimore. This project employs individuals to plant flowers and seeds, helping bring down criminal records and change the landscape at the same time.

Prattville, Alabama's city-run Historic Redevelopment Authority has emulated the downtown revitalization project successfully implemented by Columbus, Georgia in an effort to reverse the community's issues of vacant industrial sites and a visually blighted downtown region. Through a collaboration with area entrepreneurs, a private real estate company, the Chamber of Commerce, and other departments and members of the local government, the HPRA is transforming the small city. Several local business prepare to open, the old cotton gin mill will open new apartments, and recent community events demonstrate an increasing public interest in a revitalized downtown Prattville.