Trash to Treasure: A Mongolian Man Turns a Landfill Into a Children's Park

An Albuquerque program pays panhandlers to clean up city trash—and gets them needed help, pairing city services with a jobs program.

Some European schools have long championed free play in the woods as a way to combat the increasingly mainstream idea of "nature-deficit disorder." In Finland, enthusiastic teachers dedicate all of Friday to outdoor "secret" education - students don't even realize they are learning academic lessons. Inspired by these models, scattered American schools are experimenting with the idea, with some finding reductions in bullying and improvements in test scores and focus issues.

In Philadelphia, the City Bright initiative is working to pay individuals experiencing homelessness to help clean up the streets in city neighborhoods. While it might not pay much and is not a silver bullet solution, incentives like recommendations and the small amount of pay can help - and are part of a larger trend around the country.

Public art adds value to communities that have experienced decline in recent decades. In towns like Mansfield and Marietta, Ohio, public art plays a positive role. Murals created by groups like Mansfield Murals Inc., or by other local artists, enhance public buildings and offer a way for residents to connect and express their history. In Marietta, the Marietta Community Foundation funds the city’s Public Arts Committee.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, in which a white mob killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed the thriving neighborhood of Greenwood, the Centennial Commission supported a number of initiatives to learn from the past and build a better future. At the base of an ancient elm tree that witnessed the massacre, Up With Trees distributed 100 elm seedlings to children to plant around Tulsa. The commission convinced state education officials to develop a new curriculum on the massacre for K-12 students.

Toni Griffin has gained recognition for spreading the concept of “just cities,” an approach to urban planning that involves values, justice, and equity as priorities in any project. Now director of the Just City Lab at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Griffin is teaching about the concepts of just cities and implementing them into projects, as well. Most recently, her design won a competition in St. Louis that will use green space to create more racially inclusive spaces in the city.

The nonprofit Coombs Outdoors runs summer and winter camps for youth to experience and learn about the outdoors. The camps are in high demand because of the affordable price made possible by donor subsidies.

A student-developed course at the University of California-Berkeley, Solutions for a Sustainable and Just Future, focuses on both individual and systemic strategies to address the climate crisis. More than 1,800 people have taken the class, and more than 70 percent of them said the course content inspired them to get involved in environmental work.

Led by Native Hawai’ians, Kamehameha Schools owns thousands of acres of land dedicated to stewardship and conservation. The school partners with Native Hawaiian organizations and conducts eco-cultural education programs for students and members of the community to foster connections between them and the environment.

New Jersey schools are working to make climate education widespread by implementing general education standards that include climate change education in every grade and subject. These new education standards have been inspiring students to brainstorm solutions to climate-related issues like reducing food waste and increasing coastal resiliency. The state has also earmarked $5 million to help local teachers attend professional development sessions to teach them how to create new climate change-focused lesson plans.