Riverbottoms and Rainforests: Emissaries making an Impact
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead BY AMELIA BUCKLEY Before the pandemic hit, Karin Muller had planned to roadtrip the United States to feature unsung heroes working in their Read More...
Designers repurpose architectural mockups into useful community structures
Large-scale development projects usually require architectural mockups typically constructed from high-end, resilient materials, designed to simulate various parts of a planned building. Unfortunately, instead of being repurposed or put to good use after review, those architectural mockups are Read More...
Spanish towns are responding to population decline by welcoming migrants
In November 2019, Ángel Márquez and his family abandoned their home in Venezuela’s Barinas province and joined the more than 4 million Venezuelans that have left their homelands due to the economic and humanitarian crises that plague the country. In search of a new home, the Márquez family Read More...
Community fridges are thriving in the age of Covid
In June, we published a story about the emergence of community fridges around New York City. The premise is simple: community members store food in a publicly-accessible fridge, and anyone can come and take what they want and leave what they don’t. The people who came up with this grassroots Read More...
The shame-free guide to encouraging mask wearing
As we shared in an article recently, if just 50 percent of people engaged in handwashing, social distancing, and mask wearing, we would stop the spread of the pandemic. But how do we effectively convince people to do so? Hint: shaming is not the answer. Although it can be tempting to call Read More...
This NFL champion will skip 2020 season to fight Covid-19 in his hometown
In February, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif won America’s biggest sporting event, the Super Bowl, with the Kansas City Chiefs. But rather than spend the offseason getting ready to defend the Super Bowl title, the football player has been on the front lines of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Read More...
Research uncovers the complex world of beluga whale friendships
Most of us are missing our friends a lot these days. New research shows that humans aren’t the only ones that develop these feelings of loving companionship with those we meet. It turns out beluga whales also make the distinction between their immediate kin and more distant non-familial Read More...
The Optimist View: Renting is rewarding with Rhove
“There’s no problem that I think is worth solving more than this one at this moment in our country and the concept is really that every renter should be an owner and it should be as easy as the click of a button.” - Calvin Cooper 20 years ago, buying a first home was a benchmark moment for Read More...
This restaurant owner in Colorado fed her town through the pandemic
Kyleena Falzone's restaurants in Crested Butte, Colorado generated $6 million in revenue last year, but when the pandemic hit and the tourism cash flow dried up, she had no choice but to close her doors. Rather than dwelling on the loss of her business, Falzone rolled up her sleeves and spent the Read More...
Thought Leader Series: Dependence, independence, and interdependence
The Fourth of July revolves around the idea of independence, but what does it mean to be truly independent? In this week's Thought Leader Series, we explore the idea of independence with Dr. Ada Gonzales. On the one hand, dependence involves being reliant on someone or something else. We can be Read More...