Building Community
Our Theme in November 2019
OPTIMIST VIEW: Sustainable Building in a Changing Climate
“Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour.” – Greta Thunberg Our house is on fire, so how do we build in the face of disaster? Climate change is both an immediate and impending crisis: Under current conditions, we’re bound for 1000-year floods and Read More...
Turin transforms abandoned tramway into an attractive community park
Here at The Optimist Daily, we are big fans of sustainable urban development projects that put community front center. The creation of the Precollinear Park in Turin, Italy, is exactly this type of project. The park came about as the result of a placemaking initiative by nonprofit Torino Read More...
Rosario, Argentina: A case study in the benefits of urban farming
In an effort to address the financial collapse of 2001, the municipal government of Rosario, Argentina came up with an ingenious plan to get the city’s residents back to work. Officials partnered with 700 farming families to dedicate unused land in the city for farming. This not only created Read More...
Multi technology energy center provides green energy directly to local community
Wind and solar power have long been the most popular suggested methods to reduce fossil fuel emissions. While in many places their efficacy was still being debated, some entrepreneurs in Wales took it upon themselves to make community-wide renewable energy a reality. The Rassau industrial Read More...
Despite pandemic, Americans donated a record sum to charity in 2020
Despite the immense health and economic challenges the world faced in 2020, the latest annual report from the Giving USA Foundation finds that Americans did not cease supporting their communities and fellow citizens. According to the report, Americans donated a record $471 billion to charity in Read More...
Optimist View: "Pain pushes until ...Vision pulls" a conversation with Rev. D.
June has been a powerful month. Pride Month honors the fight for inclusion and celebration for the LGBTQ+ community. Juneteenth finally became a national holiday the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans. And, the Optimist Daily completes a week focused on ancient wisdom featured at the World Read More...
North Carolina is turning old industrial buildings into new community spaces
As many industries shift to meet modern market demands, regions that used to be bustling centers for coal, oil, steel, and other raw materials are now falling into economic despair. Many experts have cited new renewable energy jobs as a solution to this problem, but in some North Carolina towns, Read More...
Onondaga Nation’s fire station brings sustainability and community together
As you probably have noticed by now, here at The Optimist Daily, we are major advocates of sustainable architecture as well as community-building, and we are elated whenever we come across an initiative that combines both. The most recent example that we’ve uncovered involves eco-friendly Read More...
This startup is transforming front lawns into neighborhood farms
American households use more than 7 billion gallons of water per day just to tend to their lawns. Some experts estimate that up to 50 percent of that water is wasted due to evaporation, wind, or runoff. But what if we could use those lawn spaces for something more meaningful, such as growing local Read More...
Pasturs Voluntaris program uses shepherding to bridge a cultural gap
Back in March, we shared a story about a Spanish village keeping its tradition of shepherding alive with a school for female shepherds. Now, a Swiss program is taking a similar approach to preserve its cultural history and protect its remaining flocks. The newly-established Pasturs Voluntaris, Read More...