Latino advisory group works to bring more Spanish-speaking audiences to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center

By leveraging technology, artists living above the 60th parallel are increasing indigenous representation in filmmaking. In Yellowknife, Canada, aRTLess Collective’s Dead North Film Festival uses live streaming to reach thousands of residents across remote—and otherwise largely inaccessible—northern areas. The film festival connects and empowers indigenous northerners to represent themselves and their culture through film.

Entertainment industry intimacy coordinators facilitate the production of intimate scenes in films, television shows, and live performances and ensure the safety and comfort of the actors participating.

Uganda has some of the highest fertility and HIV prevalence rates in the world. Yet the government has banned comprehensive sexuality education in schools, and parents feel uncomfortable talking about the taboo subject. So Chicken & Chips, a television show about puppets, was created to educate the country’s young people about sexual and reproductive health.

Despite being an island of seamen, Iceland used to experience high numbers of drownings every year, fostering a keen interest in swimming education. The government stepped up and tapped into the underground hot water generated by Iceland’s volcanic activity to create geothermal pools, which quickly became more than a humble municipal investment, but perhaps the very secret to the country’s happiness. Every town now enjoys communal pools, which create a neutral, recreational space that brings all manner of people together.

Seattle's Play Streets program allows residents to temporarily close neighborhood streets to vehicle traffic, giving children a safe space to play outdoors and neighbors a reason to gather. The city streamlined the process by making permits free, easy to obtain online, and valid for recurring use, removing barriers that might otherwise limit participation. Seattle residents closed streets more than 500 times in 2025 alone.

Fab Youth Philly’s Play Captains program hires teens in the summer to lead play groups on multiple streets throughout the city, leading games and activities like science experiments and storytime. Since 2017, the group has supported over 500 teens, providing many of them with their first jobs. Data shows that participating in the program leads to more on-time high school graduations, better work habits, reduced summer slide and improved employability and family finances.

In an effort to foster community amidst divisive gang violence, locals formed the group Unifying Las Cañas to host soccer tournaments with teams from the upper and lower sides of the city. The soccer tournaments connect residents from both sides and build a sense of community over sports.

To revitalize the local tourism industry, Odesa authorities worked with the military and organizations like the Ukrainian Deminers Association to remove floating mines from the area’s beaches to reduce the safety risk for locals and tourists hoping to frequent the beaches in the summer. Trained divers inspect the sea floor to remove hazards and install nets to stop floating sea mines from getting too close to the shore. These efforts have allowed six beaches to reopen with updated safety measures in place, such as lifeguard patrols.

New York City’s Sanitation Commissions is cleaning up city streets with new practices and regulations curbing its trash problem. For example, she has started using data to track trash conditions across the city, she’s enforcing infractions, and she changed put-out and pick-up times.

In Washington, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority distributes vouchers to veterans experiencing homelessness that they can use to pay for housing. The organization also connects veterans with local resources to help them manage the process.