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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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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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  • In Germany, Blue-Collar Jobs Provide Bulwark to Populism

    Jack Ewing
    2018-01-25 08:33:39 UTC
    0

    September 21, 2017 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Germany, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia

    With nearly one in five Germans working in manufacturing, the closing of steel mills and coal mines spelled trouble. Instead of despairing, blue-collar cities such as Dortmund leapt into the future. State and local officials in Dortmund expanded the technical university, gave start-up capital to entrepreneurs, and offered newly built office space to young companies. Unemployment is falling fast, and the city seems to have avoided the sense of alienation that has led to a rise in populist sentiment elsewhere.

    Read More

    • 3256

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  • Let down and locked up: Why Oklahoma's female incarceration is so high

    Ziva Branstetter
    2017-12-04 15:39:20 UTC
    2

    September 20, 2017 |

    Reveal |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Tulsa, Oklahoma

    Oklahoma currently locks up more women than any other state in the country, incarcerating females at more than double the national rate, and harshly deals out ever-longer sentences to prisoners, disproportionately targeting poor women and those of color. Tulsa is the one exception, thanks to a charitably-funded, intensive programs like The Education and Employment Ministry and Women in Recovery, which combine shorter prison terms with rehabilitative treatment and supportive probation, including drug addiction recovery, employment assistance, and life skills classes.

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    • 3055

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  • While Pa. debates merits of Pre-K, Ontario goes all-in

    Kevin McCorry
    2017-05-08 22:05:38 UTC
    0

    August 30, 2017 |

    Keystone Crossroads |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Toronto, Ontario

    Part 4 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario is widely lauded for its education system. But, like Pennsylvania, evidence in Toronto suggests that Ontario has struggled to close achievement gaps between historically underserved minorities and their peers. Many believe universal pre-K will prove to be the decisive factor in bridging that gap.

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    • 2329

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  • The rise and fall of Berlin's plan to integrate schools

    Kevin McCorry
    2017-05-10 23:35:36 UTC
    1

    August 29, 2017 |

    Keystone Crossroads |

    Multi-Media |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Germany, Berlin, Berlin

    Part 2 of 3 in Series "The Social Wall: Universal Lessons in Berlin's Attempt to Integrate Schools" - A progressive funding model has been a boon to schools in Berlin’s poorer neighborhoods, which receive a baseline of staff and resources. But schools in poorer neighborhoods face a myriad of struggles that additional resources haven’t been able to quell, due to the deep socioeconomic disparities between the home neighborhoods of wealthy and poor students. This "social wall" lies exactly along the lines of the once physical Berlin wall and now divide the haves and have-nots.

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    • 2337

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  • The Afterlife of Big Ideas in Education Reform

    Michael Hobbes
    2018-02-19 01:55:02 UTC
    0

    August 15, 2017 |

    Pacific Standard |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

    Michael Hobbes details the rise and fall of small learning communities in the early 2000s to tell the story of a larger trend in American education reform. "The decisive factor isn't the Big Idea itself--splitting up dropout factories floor by floor--but the millions of little ideas that hold it together," Hobbes notes. He uses this one trend to discuss common denominators for student success and why schools have repeatedly failed to effectively scale promising solutions: "Every successive Big Idea in education reform has ended up in the same place. It works for one school and doesn't for another."

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    • 3400

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  • New York City Guarantees a Lawyer to Every Resident Facing Eviction

    Kriston Capps
    2018-02-20 23:25:12 UTC
    1

    August 14, 2017 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    New York City passed the first law in the nation guaranteeing legal representation to any low-income resident facing eviction. Pilot programs in California show that the right to counsel levels the playing field between tenants and landlords in the courtroom and can reduce the number of cases that result in homelessness, a huge cost savings for both tenants and governments.

    Read More

    • 3414

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  • This N.H. town couldn't ‘bear' it any longer — so it passed an ordinance

    Matt Rocheleau
    2017-11-27 19:36:41 UTC
    0

    August 07, 2017 |

    The Boston Globe |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Lincoln, New Hampshire

    A number of towns across northern New England struggled with furry invaders ripping into trash bins and dumpsters, which not only scattered litter and left a big mess, but increased the risk of dangerous encounters between humans and bears. When educational initiatives and voluntary compliance proved ineffective, Lincoln passed an ordinance requiring residents and businesses to secure their garbage - or face a fine. The bylaws have proven to be the most effective method for deterring the hungry forest critters.

    Read More

    • 3004

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  • Foodstuffs: Giving Food Stamp Recipients a Place at Farmers Markets

    Ben Henry
    2017-08-01 15:16:17 UTC
    4

    July 27, 2017 |

    New Hampshire Public Radio |

    Radio |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Dover, New Hampshire

    While farmers’ markets popularity has increased in the last decade, the higher prices mitigate equal access to such provisions -- and, by extension, the health benefits. As a result, non-profits and farmers' markets across New Hampshire are collaborating with a state program, Granite State Market Watch, to enable low-income food stamp recipients to use the markets. The state matches every dollar worth of stamps, providing needed purchasing power to enjoy the fresh bounty as well as an increased customer base and revenue stream for the local farmers.

    Read More

    • 2662

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  • In Extreme Community Policing, Cops Become the Neighbor

    John Buntin
    2017-07-24 16:36:02 UTC
    3

    July 22, 2017 |

    Governing |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Rockford, Illinois

    In efforts to diminish violent crime, police agencies are revisiting a model law enforcement strategy of the 1970s, "community policing," as an alternative to the more recent "broken windows" style of the late nineties. Research substantiates its effectiveness, too, in building citizens' trust of law enforcement, helping a community's ability to solve its own problems, and, in turn, decreasing crime rates. Despite redefined priorities in the wake of 9/11 and post-recession budget cuts, community policing is again on the rise and bringing positive results, too.

    Read More

    • 2640

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  • A Cheap Fix for Climate Change? Pay People Not to Chop Down Trees

    Brad Plumer
    2017-07-24 14:34:47 UTC
    0

    July 20, 2017 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Uganda, Hoima, Kibaale, Western Region

    In a randomized experiment in western Uganda, scientists demonstrated the effectiveness of paying rural farmers not to chop down trees since deforestation contributes to CO2 emissions worldwide. They studied for two years the declines in forest cover between a control group (no payment) and the participant group (paid). Building on a United Nations project in which wealthy nations pay poorer ones in an attempt to equalize the costs of responding to climate change, the outcome of the project proves the existence of a low-cost environmental policy solution to stemming rising global temperatures.

    Read More

    • 2639

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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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