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Create A New Collection

Collections are versatile, powerful and simple to create. From a customized course reader to an action-guide for an upcoming service-learning trip, collections illuminate themes, guide inquiry, and provide context for how people around the worls are responding to social challenges.

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  • Add to your collection over time and share!

1. Name your collection

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2. Add Stories

Add stories to your collection from your list of Favorites below, or add stories directly to a collection from Search or Discovery. Anytime you see the collection icon you can add a story. Just click the icon and follow the instructions on your screen.

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Solutions Story Tracker®

Welcome to a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems.

15,700 stories produced by 8,900 journalists and 2,000 news outlets from 89 countries. The stories cover responses in 192 countries, in 17 languages. This resource is made possible because of a growing movement of journalists who use solutions journalism to illuminate both problems and evidence-based responses to them.

Learn more about the Solutions Story Tracker.


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  • How Portland is Leaning on Neighborhood Teams to Improve Heat Wave Response

    Isabella Garcia
    2022-09-18 18:38:49 UTC
    0

    August 02, 2022 |

    Portland Mercury |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    The Ground Support Guest Transportation Unit offers a city-run alternative to relying on rideshare and cabs to transport people to cooling shelters by relying on Portland’s Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NET), a volunteer-run neighborhood group that provides services during times of need. During a July 2022 heatwave, the program received 215 ride requests, 138 of which were completed by NET volunteers.

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  • Could This Ancient Farming Technique Be a Climate Solution?

    Guia Baggi
    2022-07-15 22:39:12 UTC
    0

    July 07, 2022 |

    Yes! Magazine |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Italy, Pantelleria, Sicily

    An ancient farming technique from an Italian island is being rediscovered as an effective way to to deal with extreme weather events and limited water. These stone terraces have been shown to help the spread of fires, create cooler temperatures and grow local crops. Many of these structures have fallen into disrepair, but organizations are working to show others how this can be a solution to adapt to the effects of climate change.

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  • Charlottesville's 10th & Page has fewer trees and higher temperatures than other residential neighborhoods — and it's not by accident

    Charlotte Rene Woods
    2022-07-19 23:23:23 UTC
    0

    March 14, 2022 |

    Charlottesville Tomorrow |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Charlottesville, Virginia

    Residents are working together to plant trees in order to boost the urban tree canopy in Charlottesville. With increasing global temperatures, a city’s tree canopy impacts how high the temperatures can go. An ambassador program sends teens from door to door to educate residents and convince them to allow trees to be planted on their properties.

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  • Heat wave caused bees to ejaculate to death. Could Styrofoam 'protection' help?

    Stefan Labbé
    2022-05-21 14:17:45 UTC
    0

    February 26, 2022 |

    Times Colonist |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Armstrong, British Columbia

    As a warming planet continues to affect bee colonies, a bee farmer in Canada is experimenting with different ways to help the bees survive. By using a polystyrene cover, she was able to drop the average temperature in the hive by 3.8 degrees Celsius. While this type of insulation won’t be able to completely protect the colonies, it’s a simple solution that can help them get through extreme temperatures.

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  • Cooler, Cleaner Megacities, One Rooftop Garden at a Time

    Marianne Dhenin
    2021-08-28 19:14:59 UTC
    1

    July 08, 2021 |

    Yes! Magazine |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Egypt, Cairo

    Organizations in Egypt and Bangladesh are greening their cities by turning rooftops into urban gardens that can grow food, reduce air pollution, and decrease air temperatures. Green Savers in Dhaka has installed more than 5,000 rooftop gardens in the city and Urban Greens in Cairo partners with sponsors to install hydroponic rooftop gardens for families experiencing economic hardship. It’s been a challenge to convince people that the cost to maintain these spaces is worthwhile, but through community outreach efforts, these organizations have seen an increase in interest in installing rooftop gardens.

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  • The magic greenhouse

    Julie Ball
    2021-03-25 00:43:50 UTC
    1

    March 09, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Somalia

    A greenhouse that is cooled by seawater and the wind is allowing farmers in Somaliland to grow crops like tomatoes and vegetables despite extreme heat. By creating an environment that is higher in humidity and cooler in temperature, plants don’t need to drink as much water — almost 10 times less water because of the cooling system. There are challenges to scaling the response, but these greenhouses offer farmers the potential to increase their revenue in Africa.

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  • “Power Companies Get Exactly What They Want”: How Texas Repeatedly Failed to Protect Its Power Grid Against Extreme Weather

    Vianna Davila, Jeremy Schwartz, Kiah Collier
    2021-02-26 00:39:52 UTC
    0

    February 22, 2021 |

    The Texas Tribune |

    Multi-Media |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Texas

    After winter storms and freezing temperatures in 2011 and 2014 caused power plants in Texas to shut down, the state’s energy regulators failed to adapt the state’s electric grid for future extreme weather events. Experts say the state’s deregulated energy market, failure to weatherize facilities, and a lack of action from lawmakers to update the power grid caused millions of customers to lose power during the deadly 2021 winter storm.

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  • The Texas Freeze: Why the Power Grid Failed

    Katherine Blunt, Russell Gold
    2021-02-22 21:41:13 UTC
    0

    February 19, 2021 |

    Wall Street Journal |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Texas

    By relying on the market to give energy suppliers' incentives to keep the power going during extreme weather events, a historic cold snap in Texas revealed cracks in the state’s free-market energy system, which left millions powerless during the storm. Critics of the state’s system say “the alphabet soup of Texas energy oversight bodies” led to inaction and there was a lack of preparation from plant owners to ensure that they could continue to operate in extreme heat and cold temperatures.

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  • Heat Waves Kill More People Than Any Other Weather Disaster. These Cities Have A Plan.

    Rachel Ramirez
    2021-03-06 21:12:25 UTC
    1

    December 01, 2020 |

    The Huffington Post |

    Multi-Media |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: India, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

    With rising temperatures occurring all over the world, cities are implementing plans to combat heat waves and protect its residents. The city of Ahmedabad in India has been a model for heat resiliency after it created its first heat action plan that centered around “community-focused social measures.” Because of the plan, a 2015 heat wave resulted in fewer than 20 fatalities compared with thousands of deaths in previous years. Other cities like New York City are also participating in heat resiliency efforts aimed at protecting all of its residents.

    Read More

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  • University of Arizona researchers unveil new model for desert farming in warming world

    Henry Brean
    2020-09-21 23:11:57 UTC
    0

    September 20, 2020 |

    Arizona Daily Star |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

    In an experimental garden in Arizona, scientists are seeing how to produce sustainable and local food in a desert environment. They’re growing plants under a photovoltaic “canopy” of solar panels that provide necessary shade for the crops and, at the same time, generate cheap, renewable energy for irrigation systems and farm equipment. So far, they’ve been able to grow basil, Anasazi red beans, and a special bell pepper. While not all crops will work in this system and scaling the garden has its challenges, learning how to grow food in the desert is necessary to adapt to a future with climate change.

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Please sign in via My Profile before submitting a story. This will allow you to view the status of your submission and get notified if the story is added to the Solutions Story Tracker®.
Filter your search by the language of the story. As the Solutions Story Tracker grows, we are working to include more stories in more languages. Your story submissions can help! Submit stories here.
These factors identify the ways communities overcome the big challenges and help you see the insights. Learn more about the Success Factors here.

Solutions Journalism Around the World

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Solutions In Focus

Discover curated content about themes that matter to you, exclusively from the Solutions Story Tracker. Explore collections, resources and more.

  • Climate Solutions

  • Advancing Democracy

  • Youth Mental Health


Go to All Solutions in Focus

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    Video Tutorials

    Learn how to find what you need in the Solutions Story Tracker in español and in français.

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    Submission Guidelines

    This database is powered by user submissions. Submit a story.

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    Custom Story Alerts

    Get notified when new stories match your interests by setting up custom story alerts in My Profile.

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Solutions Story Tracker® FAQ

  • Solutions journalism…
    • Describes a response to a problem and how it works.
    • Seeks to draw out insights that explain success or failure.
    • Presents the available evidence about the effectiveness of a response.
    • Explains the shortcomings or limitations of the response.
    Learn more.
  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is a curated, searchable database of solutions journalism stories — rigorous reporting about responses to social problems. We vet and tag every story in the Story Tracker, which offers an inspiring and useful collection of the thousands of ways people are working to solve problems around the world.

  • You can learn more about how we source, vet, and tag stories here, as well as how we share them. We also have video tutorials in Spanish and French that show how to use the Solutions Story Tracker to find what you need.

  • Story collections are curated by our staff or other partners to explore a theme, pattern, or trend via selected solutions stories and external resources. Some story collections focus on an in-depth exploration of a topic with solutions journalism; others highlight journalists and how they report on topics. Certain story collections include discussion questions and notes, so that educators and community discussion leaders can lead learners to fully engage with the stories.

  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is powered by user submissions. We encourage submissions from journalists, as well as from anyone who has an eye for solutions journalism. Click here to submit. (Why submit? So many reasons!)

  • You can submit a story directly on the Solutions Story Tracker®. You will be prompted to register or log into the Solutions Journalism Network website, if you are already logged in. (It is free to register!) Logging in allows you to track the status of your submissions under My Profile, as well as save your favorite stories, create story collections and story alerts, and access other helpful features of our website.

  • After you submit a story to us and assign it a topic, it is sent to one of our Solutions Story Tracker team members. Our team member evaluates the story for the four qualities of solutions journalism, and on the basics: The story must come from a news outlet and have a date and a byline. If the story meets our criteria, our team tags it accordingly and adds it to the database. If the story falls short of the mark, our team will include the reason why. We include stories in the Story Tracker that meet our standards of solutions journalism. Inclusion does not mean we support the initiatives, policies, organizations or approaches featured in those stories.

    Discover common reasons why a story may miss the mark for inclusion in the Solutions Story Tracker®.

    Learn more about the history of the database.

  • Solutions Journalism Network features these stories in the searchable database making them publicly accessible to anyone who wants to search for rigorous reporting on solutions to social problems. Any story that is added has the potential to make more impact than its original purpose. Added stories are used in journalism trainings, school curricula, research projects, and independent analysis on issue area trends. This now includes artificial intelligence tools, which are applied for educational value to find stories and support story vetting, as well as to extract insights from the stories. SJN has digital products and newsletters that give new life and exposure to the stories meeting people where they are at. Story data also is used to develop innovative tools to reach the general public with solutions journalism as well as some specific research projects requested by researchers. If you have any questions or concerns about our use of story data or added stories, please contact Lita Tirak.

  • News outlets determine whether all users can access their stories — and some limit the number of stories that anyone can view, or require a subscription. The majority of stories in the database can be accessed for free.

  • We work with journalists, academic researchers and others who feel that our database will support their research. We are especially interested in research that seeks to develop new insights about solutions journalism and its spread and its impact on social problems. Please complete all sections of the Data Request Form, and we will contact you to discuss your request in greater detail.

  • We do not fact-check the stories in the Solutions Story Tracker®. We do ensure that each story comes from a credible news source that has its own editorial infrastructure.

  • We worked with Tara Pixley and Jovelle Tamayo of the Authority Collective, who developed a guide for using equitable visuals. We follow this guide when choosing images for our website.

  • We welcome your feedback and additional questions. Please use this form to get in touch.

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