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Unleashing the power of positive deviance

Catherine Cheney

July 20, 2016 |

Devex |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

The growing emphasis on data driven development presents an opportunity for global development professionals to learn from and perhaps even replicate the successes of the best performers within a data set. But that can only happen once they learn how to take a positive deviance approach, identifying the people or policies that defy the norm and achieve better outcomes as result, as a starting point to determine what is working.

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How a new source of water is helping reduce conflict in the Middle East

Rowan Jacobson

July 19, 2016 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Israel, Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israel experienced extreme drought a few years ago and its water supply was very low. National campaigns to install desalination plants have helped Israel turnaround its inadequate water supply into a surplus. The water scientists who have helped make this surplus see an opportunity for water diplomacy and the de-politicization of water in the Middle East so that more of it can be shared with other geographies.

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Beirut Madinati has set its sights on Lebanon national politics

Thanassis Cambanis

July 19, 2016 |

Ya Libnan |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Lebanon, Beirut

Arab governments have expended a lot of energy keeping politics of any stripe out of the public sphere. With a few hundred volunteers and hardly any money, an upstart campaign called Beirut Madinati — “Beirut Is My City” — is challenging the status quo, displaying the kind of savvy civic politics promised by the Arab Spring.

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Germany sets a new solar storage record

Jeffey Michel

July 18, 2016 |

Energy Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Hamburg

Solar power is an important renewable energy in Germany, but when the sun is out, it can overpower the grid. Likewise, when the sun is not out, the reception of solar power decreases. Germany has piloted battery installations that store solar energy for use when the sunlight is not plentiful and has successfully incentivized citizens to use them to lower costs.

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How 3D printing can save lives

Poppy McPherson

July 14, 2016 |

The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Cambodia, Phnom Penh

Due to the inaccessibility of inactive munitions to provide hands-on de-activation experience to security experts, training individuals is difficult. Inactive munitions cannot be shipped to other countries, thus other methods have been explored. A military disposal technician, Allen Tan, created a 3D printing technology that can now create replicas of multiple bomb models. Plans can now be transmitted online and printed in 3D anywhere in the world for study.

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Large-Scale Rainwater Harvesting Eases Scarcity in Kenya

Justus Wanzala

July 12, 2016 |

Inter Press Service News Agency |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Narok

Harvesting rainwater is a necessary practice throughout Kenya, but is especially important in the areas of the country that are arid or semiarid. The African Water Bank has made this process more accessibly to many in these areas by creating a less expensive and more efficient water conservation system.

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Ogaden, Wicihitowin working with other grassroots groups on economic development, public safety

Roberta Bell

July 10, 2016 |

CBC |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Canada, Edmonton, Alberta

Racism, poverty, gang violence and drugs — to tackle these issues among others the Indigenous and Somali communities are teaming up. Their goal? To make downtown Edmonton safer.

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America Can Fix Its Student Loan Crisis. Just Ask Australia.

Susan Dynarski

July 09, 2016 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Australia

Around the world, students borrow money to pay for college, but, in the United States, students are more likely to fall behind on loans. Australia may offer some lessons: borrowers in Australia only start paying back their loans once their earnings reach $40,000, and beyond that they pay four percent of their income until the loans are repaid. The system does not penalize borrowers when they face economic hardship.

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How Vermont changed the national GMO-labeling debate

Lonnie Shekhtman

July 08, 2016 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, Vermont

Vermont's passage of a law requiring food that is genetically modified to be labeled spurred action at the national level to create one standard, rather than a patchwork of state laws, that offers food companies several ways to label foods with GMOs. The national bill did eventually pass, but as this piece illustrates, no one seems very happy about it. Environmentalists feel it leaves large loopholes and while the food industry likes one standard, it does not like the stigma the GMO label confers.

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Giving Girls a Second Chance at Education

Liza Ramrayka

July 07, 2016 |

News Deeply |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: India, Kodanna, Uttar Pradesh

A special accelerated education program named Udaan in India offers a chance for girls aged 11-14 from rural areas to quickly complete their primary schooling. The highly interactive and engaging curriculum teaches girls language, math, environmental science, and gender politics. In 2016 the program joined President Obama's "Let Girls Learn" initiative to expand across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Pakistan and Somalia to reach 3 million girls.

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