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Crazy Mascots Flooded Japan. Can This Grouchy Boar Survive?

Ben Dooley

February 16, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Japan

Kumamon, a black bear with rosy cheeks, is a mascot for a Japanese town who helped sell millions in merchandise, drive up tourism, and increase tax revenue because citizens can direct some of their income taxes to the locality of their choice. As a result, hundreds of towns rushed to create mascots to cash in on the approach to enticing visitors and investment. Towns spent a lot of money on these oftentimes whacky characters, however there has been no evidence that the vast majority of characters deliver any economic benefits, and therefore most are quietly being discontinued.

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Mellionnec, le village breton qui résiste à la désertification

La rédaction

February 12, 2020 |

Le Pélerin |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: France

Grâce à l'installation d'un festival du film documentaire, ce village s'est redynamisé et gagne du terrain face à la désertification.

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Rome's ‘invisible' immigrants offer an alternative view of the Eternal City

Lidija Pisker

February 12, 2020 |

Equal Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Italy, Rome

Guide Invisibili is an audio storytelling initiative by Laboratorio 53 that increases understanding of Rome’s refugee and immigrant communities. 40 young people, who left their home countries due to conflicts and instability, record their perceptions of the city and point out similarities between life in their home cities and Rome. The free audio tours include moderated discussions with the storytellers and are opportunities to break down barriers, especially with anti-immigrant sentiments and racially motivated attacks increasing. Despite not being well known, 2,500 people have participated.

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Conscious catwalks: Brazilian fashion label harnesses the creative energy of the favelas

Pedro Lira

February 07, 2020 |

Pioneers Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Belo Horizonte

Empowering young entrepreneurs fosters new, sustainable, and inclusive approaches to design and fashion. In Brazil, designers from Aglomerado da Serra, a favela in Belo Horizonte, are using up-cycling to make a more sustainable—and inclusive—fashion brand. The brand, Remexe, represents just one of the projects undertaken at Lá da Favelinha, a cultural center and showcase of novel ideas from the favela. With the support of grant funding, designers from Remexe also held a workshop in Bristol, helping their colleagues in the UK create a sister social enterprise group, Re:Wurk.

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An Atlanta Church and a Theater Nonprofit Find Sanctuary Together

Adina Solomon

January 29, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, College Park, Georgia

Collaborations can breathe new life into community churches. In College Park, Georgia, the College Park First United Methodist Church entered into a partnership with PushPush, a theater nonprofit formerly located in the metro Atlanta area. The partnership came about with the help of Good Spaces, a socially-minded real estate development organization.

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Using Trauma-Informed Design, Buildings Become Tools for Recovery

Daliah Singer

January 22, 2020 |

Colorado Trust |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

In Denver, Colorado, one homeless shelter is using trauma-informed design to make residents feel more at home and less likely to sleep outside. Architects building Sanderson Apartments considered past traumas when choosing the layout, colors, furniture, and building materials. As a result, the physical environment is helping with the recovery process.

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How 17 Outsize Portraits Rattled a Small Southern Town

Audra Burch

January 21, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Newnan, Georgia

The small Southern city of Newnan, GA considered themselves to be a fairly open and accepting place. This attitude was shattered when 17 huge portraits of ordinary people who make up Newnan were hung across the city and prompted a racially-tinged backlash. The purpose of the portraits was to open up a dialogue around the diversity in the city, but it also exposed new and hidden racial tensions. The portraits were ultimately allowed to stay up, but the conversations surrounding the issue are ongoing.

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À Mitrovica, le rock pour lutter contre les divisions entre Albanais et Serbes au Kosovo

Louis Seiller

January 20, 2020 |

Equal Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kosovo, Mitrovica

Au Kosovo, cette école de musique contre les conflits entre Serbe et Albanais en formant des groupes de musique mixtes. En onze ans, la Rock school Mitrovica a vu passer plus de 1.100 jeunes dans ses locaux et elle accueille aujourd’hui environ 80 élèves par an.

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The Mitrovica Rock School: bridging the divide between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo

Louis Seiller

January 20, 2020 |

Equal Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kosovo, Mitrovica

Music can bridge cultural divides. The Mitrovica Rock School in Mitroviva, Kosovo, encourages young musicians of Albanian and Serbian backgrounds to create music together. The culturally “mixed” bands play across Kosovo. The rock school was founded through a collaboration between Musicians Without Borders and Community Building Mitrovica after Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia.

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This innovative chorus smashes racial barriers in Columbus. Could it work in Philly?

Jill Harkins

January 20, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Founded in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, the Harmony Project brings together people of various musical experience, races, income levels, and professional backgrounds to sing as one. The project aims to get people out of their comfort zones and silos in a segregated city.

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