How can reconfiguring small-scale industrial production enable a community to tap local ecosystems services sustainably to address social challenges? In Uganda, and in much of the developing world, when school-aged girls hit puberty, they are often forced to miss school during menstruation due to the inaccessibility of affordable sanitation products. Fifteen years ago Moses Musaazi, an engineering lecturer from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, was asked by social [...]
Can changing what schools serve for lunch help to address deep challenges in the food and education systems, while inspiring ecological awareness in children? A child in the state of California's public education system will consume around 4,000 school meals between the time of entering kindergarten and leaving high school. With more than 6 million children attending California state schools, the simple question of what gets served for lunch, and [...]
How can people to do respond to crisis, when they don't trust official responses? Japan towns, villages, and cities around the Daiichi nuclear plant. The 20km and 30km areas had evacuation and sheltering orders, and additional administrative districts that had an evacuation order are highlighted. From wikipedia. In 2011, the Great East Japan earthquake triggered a large tsunami that killed over 15,000 people and triggered meltdowns in the Fukushima Daiichi [...]
Can aid that focuses on decreasing reliance on traditional energy sources be a sustainable solution? GIVEWATTS is a non-profit organisation / Social Enterprise bringing clean and safe energy to people in developing countries, starting with East Africa. GIVEWATTS distributes solar lamps and efficient stoves in places that would otherwise rely on daylight, firewood and kerosene. The GIVEWATTS vision is to make renewable energy available to all households across the off-grid [...]
Can a thriving community be created in a harsh, socially hostile environment, and can it last? What lessons can be learned from Gaviotas, Colombia? Gaviotas is an intentional community in eastern Columbia established by Paulo Lugari in the mid 60’s. The ecosystem consisted of “llanos”, savannas that seasonally flood. The intent of the community was to find ways to make the region more habitable. Through Colombian and UNDP grants in the 70’s [...]
Can new communities founded on novel personal beliefs lead to lasting change? The Farm is an experimental community founded in 1971 when several hundred 'hippies' moved from San Francisco to Tennessee to develop a new way of living. The Farm is a long-lasting example of an intentional community that has evolved and produced a number of world influencing innovations. Ina May Gaskin, a founding resident, became a world famous innovator in midwifery. And both she and the NGO Plenty International, [...]
Is addressing basic human needs the key to successful biodiversity conservation? Health in Harmony, a Portland-based nonprofit founded in 2005, works in Indonesia to address human health and deforestation. Health in Harmony partners with Alam Sehat Lestari in Indonesian Borneo to provide low-cost health care to marginalized communities in exchange for a commitment to protect natural resources and reduce deforestation. In the past five years, their collaborative effort led to a 68 percent [...]