After they were socially, economically, and politically forced from their agricultural land, the people who have used regenerative farming principles for millennia are reimplementing the practice in their communities. This allows them to improve soil health and reconnect with the land.

The Dry Stone Walling School of Japan is keeping the tradition of building walls out of stones collected from the neighboring environment alive by connecting students with local craftsmen. Building walls this way is a viable alternative to concrete that supports biodiversity and produces less carbon emissions.

A team of rangers primarily made up of women is protecting 620 acres of forest around their village in Damaran Baru, Indonesia. The rangers' main priority is having conversations with squatters to prevent them from clearing the trees to use the soil, but they also provide important ecological information to researchers and act as environmental stewards.

Researchers in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, are using native plants, rocks, and other natural materials to create living shorelines that combat erosion and tidal surges. Choosing this option instead of relying on manmade structures like concrete allows wildlife like barnacles and fish to return to those areas.

To reduce landfill use and greenhouse gas emissions while feeding those in need, New York’s food donation program requires big businesses to donate edible food to places like food banks instead of throwing it out.

The Alliance Center for Independence (ACI) started working with people who have disabilities to create better disaster preparedness measures that consider disabilities, ensuring support and shelter are accessible to anyone and everyone. ACI held an overnight shelter simulation exercise that allowed them to practice each step of an emergency shelter response with people who have disabilities to identify any areas that could be improved. These simulations have become a model for other counties across the state, inspiring more shelters to make improvements to their accessibility.

Wastewater treatment plants constructed to mimic natural wetlands — complete with varied topographies, native plants, and logs — are becoming a popular way to prevent pollution while creating environments where wildlife can thrive.

An independent group in British Columbia is engaging young people with climate change adaptation and mitigation through its Youth Climate Corps programming. The programs work on projects specific to community needs, like green infrastructure installation, and prepare the participants for related careers.

Gas flaring penalties have done little to prevent the practice in Bayelsa, Nigeria, so locals are calling for changes like diverting it to produce usable energy and creating strong policies to regulate it.

The Diocese of San Joaquin in California worked together with a developer and local utilities to install solar panels at 14 of its locations to make 95% of its energy use renewable.

In an effort to lower electric rates and move toward more renewable energy, Kauai residents raised funds to acquire and turn the area’s for-profit utility company into a locally owned cooperative, the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC). When it was formed in 2008, KIUC pledged to reach 50% renewable electricity by 2023, and last year it was already generating 60% of its energy from renewables like solar power.

Energy Savers Network helps people cut down on their energy waste by making home improvements like tightening air seals, insulating hot water heaters and replacing lightbulbs. The Network has helped more than 1,000 homes since forming in 2017 and, on average, the improvements have helped cut energy use by about 15%.

After experiencing extreme flooding, Hoboken, New Jersey, has reduced its flood risk by rebuilding its sewers to add capacity and designing new infrastructure, like parks, to collect and redirect storm water.

The Colorado-based mycology center Boulder Mushroom is spreading fungi mycelium — the underground, root-looking part of a mushroom — across forest floors that were thinned to mitigate wildfires. The mushrooms quicken the pace at which sawdust and other potential fire fuel decays and improve soil health.

People across Argentina are earning an income during a severe economic crisis by joining recycling cooperatives. Members collect recyclables off the street and are paid by the co-ops by material and weight.

The startup Puna Bio collects microbes that live on the high-altitude La Puna plateau and turns them into a product that farmers can apply to soybeans to increase yields and improve soil health. Since they adapted to survive in such a harsh climate, the microbes can survive depleted soil and extreme weather to pass along key nutrients and antioxidants to crops.

In Spain's Bay of Cádiz, locals have spent years collaborating with universities, scientists, and government entities to restore their bay's traditional salt marshes. The results? A revived economic sector, a community adapted to rising sea levels, and protected migratory birds.

Germany is a world leader in recycling, specifically in the city of Kiel, which was recently declared a “zero waste” city. The city achieved this status through a series of eco-friendly initiatives, aimed at increasing recycling and reducing waste, from bans on single-use items to bottle buyback programs to simply encouraging locals to make more environmentally-friendly behavior changes.

With funding and support from the Heritage Foundation Pakistan, a remote, off-grid village installed a solar energy system that supplies residents with free power and has improved their quality of life.

Two Texas-based companies are 3D printing homes in an effort to combat the housing crisis and produce fewer emissions than a typical home construction. The companies lay the foundation and rebar for support. Then, a machine with a robotic arm builds up the walls by printing layers of a cement-like material.

As the drought in Kenya drags on, people are collecting water from the air by using plastic to funnel fog off of trees into buckets at night or a machine that pulls water from hot, moisture-filled air like a dehumidifier would.

The concept of “sponge cities” is taking off as a way to prevent flooding. This style of urban design focuses on creating environments that absorb more water with plants and open ground as opposed to pipes and concrete.

After years of population decline, leadership in states across the Midwest United States are leveraging their climate change resilience to attract new businesses and residents.

Cities in California are turning to goat herders to manage the dead trees and shrubs that become fuel for wildfires. Goats will eat almost anything and are adept at getting to places humans find difficult to reach.

A hydraulic network of man-made water tanks built 2,000 years ago, called an ellangawa, collects rainwater that locals in Maeliya, Sri Lanka, can release during the dry season to support the rice crop and recharge the groundwater.