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  • The radical solution to homelessness: no-strings homes

    September 12, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Finland

    Housing First is a programme aimed at reducing homeless. It is rooted in the premise that “the main thing a homeless person needs is a home. The program has been adopted in Finland, Denmark, Spain, France, and parts of the U.S. and Canada. In Finland, there is proof of results. “ Finland is the only European Union country where homelessness is not rising but falling – by an average of 35% between 2008 and 2015. “

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  • Forget profit. It's love and fun that drive innovation like Parkrun

    August 29, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Teddington

    Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder of the charity Parkrun, never set out to create a revolution. All he wanted was a low-pressure space to run. Now, his organization supports over 1,600 community running events around the globe, with an expected one million participants by 2023. This is part of a trend of “people’s innovation,” or the idea that innovation can come from users rather than just executives. Parkrun exemplifies the inclusive spirit of people’s innovation and the positive impacts it can spread all around the world.

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  • The man who is fervent about feeding hungry kids, but hates food banks

    August 15, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: England, Liverpool, Merseyside

    A social enterprise in England is tackling the issue of so-called holiday hunger for children who go days without full meals during breaks from school. Named Can Cook, this organization makes over 37,000 meals around the county of Merseyside alone for the 13 weeks a year that school is out. Can Cook is also part of a broader movement to make food banks— a once ad-hoc solution that is now industrialized — obsolete.

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  • The estate where local people refused to call last orders

    August 01, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Brighton

    The Bevy, a community-owned pub in Brighton, “is about creating an institution to bring together a fragmented community.” One of over 100 pub co-operatives throughout Britain, the Bevy is unique in that is is on a suburban housing estate. As such, it had huge power to add value to a struggling area, and it has done just that. Several years in, the Bevy acts as a community space, pays a living wage to employees, and welcomes all for good conversation and good beer.

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  • The cleaners who won fair wages and a way to belong

    July 18, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, London

    Professors, workers’ rights advocates, and workers themselves united to change the standard for the compensation of cleaning staff at local universities. Low paid service jobs, including cleaning, tend to be outsourced. This leads to lower pay and a lack of job security. Now there is a trend for universities to bring cleaning services in-house, increasing wages for workers and creating a better work culture for all.

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  • What happens when ordinary people learn economics?

    June 20, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Manchester

    A free economics course is empowering everyday citizens to learn more about economics from an academic perspective, then helping them apply the concepts to their understanding of their own financial situations. In five classes over a two month period, people who might be traditionally left out of the system get a chance to learn alongside others. The result is an enthusiastic group who wants to do more to help society better understand finances, too.

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  • The town that refused to let austerity kill its buses

    June 06, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Oxfordshire

    When subsidies for local buses were cut, bus services stopped in West Oxfordshire. Rather than give in and allow retirees and children to be stuck in their homes, forward-thinking citizens stepped up and created a co-operative to run their own bus system, West Oxfordshire Community Transport. Through volunteer efforts and dedicated workers, the system is thriving and the model has spread across the UK.

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  • The shopping centre where the currency is hope

    May 09, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Newcastle-under-Lyme

    York Place is one of a growing number of shopping centers that are closing down as trends like online retail and changing consumer habits mean fewer people going to shopping malls. But York Place is doing things differently: the shopping center’s main tenant is the YMCA, which sells crafts by local artists. The local cafe is a social enterprise, and residents can earn “CounterCoins,” essentially rewards points, for volunteering. A UK-based professor said, “It’s no ordinary shopping center. It’s a laboratory.”

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  • Want to save your job and make more money? Buy out your boss

    March 14, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Glasgow

    The owners of Novograf, a UK-based marketing company, faced a challenge when they were ready to retire. They did not want to sell their company and risk a relocation of the factory, which would take away jobs from the local economy. Instead, they sold their company to their employees. Data shows that employee-ownership leads to higher wages and higher job satisfaction. One year after the transition to employee-ownership, Novograf sales grew by 20%.

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  • Worker-owned businesses

    March 14, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Scotland, Glasgow

    Rather than selling his business in the traditional way, a business owner in Glasgow decided to transfer ownership to his employees through an employee ownership trust after researching the best ways to plan for succession in a way that will benefit current employees. The trust granted shares to employees based on their length of time at the company, and this unusual succession plan saves companies from being shut down in the hands of new owners.

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