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How the Lebanese Diaspora Is Mobilizing Against Food Insecurity at Home

Marianne Dhenin

September 08, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Lebanon, Beirut

Volunteer-run organizations are helping those facing food insecurity throughout Beirut by preparing and delivery food on a daily basis. Although the food system in the country remains heavily strained, the grassroots network of organizations are relying on one another for support which has resulted in diverting aid and strategically funneling resources where they're most needed.

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Drones Have Earned Their Place in Small-Town Wisconsin

Jed Pressgrove

September 04, 2020 |

Government Technology |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Linn, Wisconsin

A drone program has helped the small town of Linn find missing people, rescue people in medical distress, and find multiple drowning victims in the town's lake. Police now spend less time conducting searches and have saved lives with their eye in the sky. By carefully developing policies and by practicing transparency, making flight logs public, the town has eased privacy concerns and earned enough community support to pay for the latest drones with donations.

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They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won't Anybody Listen?

Elizabeth Weil

August 28, 2020 |

ProPublica |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

California’s wildfires historically were contained through periodic but limited burning. But “misguided fire police” over many decades, focused on overzealous fire suppression, has accumulated more dry fuel, resulting in wildfires that have grown progressively larger and more dangerous. Climate change only increases the likelihood of more fires. And the inventory of unburned acreage that has accumulated is now so great that it makes it increasingly difficult to ever catch up.

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Why California spends billions but can't control its wildfires. ‘No simple or cheap solution'

Dale Kasler Ryan Sabalow

August 27, 2020 |

Sacramento Bee |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

After 2017's devastating wildfires, the state of California and businesses committed billions of dollars to thinning forests and other fire-prone areas to contain the spread and intensity of wildfires. But the state's "fire deficit," a legacy of more than a century of policies to suppress fires rather than let them periodically consume the fuel on the ground, has been too great to solve the problem quickly. Experts say wildfires like the record-setting conflagrations of 2020, worsened by climate change, will continue without even greater efforts by California and the federal government.

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India's first two ‘Tsunami Ready' villages in Odisha

Manish Kumar

August 26, 2020 |

Mongabay |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Ventakraipur, Odisha

Two decades after a massive cyclone killed close to 10,000 people in India's Odisha state, the government's efforts to protect coastal villages vulnerable to cyclones and tsunamis has produced a host of safety measures, from reinforced shelters and early-warning systems to search and evacuation training. Two villages were singled out as the first in the Indian Ocean region to achieve UNESCO's "tsunami ready" certification. A drill in 2019 showed how quickly villagers were trained to respond to an imminent threat.

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In India, an ancient grain is revived for the modern era

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

August 25, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Thottampatti, Tamil Nadu

The Women’s Collective is a nonprofit that works with more than 10,000 subsistence farmers in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to promote food security using millets, a crop resilient to drought and climate change. For Pavitra, one of those farmers, she began cultivating the ancient grains in 2015 and now has more than enough food to feed her family year-round. However, there’s a lack of public investment in millet production and machinery. And there’s no unified effort to create demand for millets: Some state governments lead the charge and in other states, it’s led by grassroots organizations.

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Community gatherings offer healing for emotional wounds after disasters

Megan Cattel

August 25, 2020 |

Center for Public Integrity |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Santa Rosa, California

Wildfires cause anxiety and other mental-health problems, but Sonoma County's Latino people can get help from a convivencia: a community gathering hosted by one of the nonprofit health and community centers in the area. To connect with people who may distrust or be blocked from using government-funded mental health care, or who may distrust mental health care altogether, the support-group therapy comes in the guise of a social gathering. Some sessions may focus as well on domestic violence or other social problems.

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To Manage Wildfire, California Looks To What Tribes Have Known All Along

Lauren Sommer

August 24, 2020 |

NPR |

Multi-Media |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Mariposa, California

To combat wildfires in California, Native American tribal leaders and government officials are coming together to facilitate “cultural burnings” or controlled burns. Regularly burning the landscape prevents thick, dried out vegetation from catching fire and causing massive wildfires. Tribal groups used to perform this ritual in the 1800s, but as settlers moved West, many of them prevented Native Americans from doing these cultural burnings. While controlled burns can be challenging in places where there’s too much underbrush, these partnerships can bring together indigenous knowledge and wildfire management.

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Beirut explosion: Lebanese open their homes to strangers displaced by blast

Olivia Cuthbert

August 05, 2020 |

The National |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Lebanon, Beirut

Within hours of a massive explosion that left 300,000 people homeless, residents in and around Beirut opened their doors to house those impacted by the destruction. Thawramap, which normally identifies locations of peaceful protests, posted a map online showing where housing was available in private homes, hotels, and shelters. Six hours after the explosion 42 locations were available on the map to accommodate thousands, with more offers on social media using the hashtag #ourhomesareopen. Despite intense political polarization that often divides people in Lebanon, residents are displaying great solidarity.

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How Europe's Greenest Capital Is Saving City Trees

Edward Belleville

August 03, 2020 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin

Cities around the world are using apps and interactive platforms to encourage resident volunteers to care for their urban forests. For example, in Berlin, Gieß den Kiez (Water the Neighborhood) is an app that allows users to watch their local trees and water them in times of need. When the app launched, there were 1,000 unique users and over 7,000 individual tree waterings in the first six weeks. However, the cost of planting and maintaining trees can be expensive and where the trees are located in cities and who benefits from them is not always equitable.

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