Sustainable Urban Development
With cities expected to host about 70 percent of the world's population, sustainable urban development is key to making communities worldwide more resilient against the growing threat of climate change. Find out about the latest urban practices from across the world aiming to make our cities more sustainable and inclusive in these good-news stories from The Optimist Daily.
Earth Prize 2026 part I: teenage teams tackling big global problems
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Every year, The Earth Prize asks teenagers across the world the same question: what environmental problem would you solve, and how? Every year, the answers come from young people who live closest to the problem. After five years and more than 21,000 students Read More...
Earth Prize 2026 part II: seaweed fabric, hornbill nests, and a healing bandage
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM This is part two of our Earth Prize 2026 coverage. Part one covered four regional winners from Ireland, Kenya, Gaza, and India, including Tala and Farah Mousa, whose Build Hope Palestine project we first wrote about earlier this month. Here are the remaining Read More...
Is No Mow May helping bees or just overgrown hype? Here’s what the experts say
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Letting your lawn grow wild in May to help bees and other pollinators? That’s the pitch behind No Mow May, a conservation campaign that has bloomed on social media and in neighborhoods across North America. The idea is simple: stop mowing for one month so Read More...
What Hanoi learned by tearing down its park fences and opening up to everyone
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In many cities, entering a park is a deliberate act. You adjust your route, find a gate, and cross from public pavement into a space that operates by its own rules, even if those rules are minimal. Hanoi is dismantling that dynamic. Across four major Read More...
China’s renewable hydrogen capacity crosses one million tonnes
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The numbers from China’s National Energy Administration tell a story that is clearest in two parts. First: over 250,000 metric tonnes per year (approximately 275,000 US short tons) of green hydrogen capacity is now operational in China, more than double Read More...
Finland’s new bridge was built for everyone except drivers
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When Helsinki needed to connect a growing island suburb to the city center, the planners made a decision that would be unusual in most countries: they never considered building a car lane. The Kruunuvuori Bridge, which opened to the public this past Read More...
2025: The year renewables finally outpaced global electricity demand growth
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Something shifted in the world’s energy system in 2025, and the numbers are hard to argue with. For the first time in modern history, clean energy generation grew faster than global electricity demand, meaning every new watt of power the world needed Read More...
Why cities are becoming an unlikely refuge for wildflowers
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Wildflowers are associated with rolling meadows, ancient grasslands, and a pastoral world that is rapidly disappearing. The UK has lost 97 percent of its wildflower meadows over the past century, driven largely by agricultural intensification. As Nadine Read More...
Germany’s coal mines are now Europe’s largest lake district
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When the last miners left the open-cast lignite pits of eastern Germany’s Lusatia region, they left behind craters stretching more than 200 feet (60 meters) deep. What followed was not restoration in any conventional sense. It was construction: the Read More...
4 tips for everyday eco-friendly living
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In the face of climate change, many people question the importance of individual actions in ensuring a sustainable future. While institutional change is necessary, environmentalist and author Heather White emphasizes the importance of individual choices. Read More...