hopebuilding
@hopebuilding.bsky.social
570 followers 410 following 8.5K posts
I read a lot and share stories, especially those focused on solutions. I blog at Hopebuilding.blog and on Substack at Seeing Like A Local.
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Fungi play a crucial role in balancing ecosystems, and keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. Innovative researchers are also investigating ways fungi can replace plastic, keep toxins out of our soils, and even make building materials.
Fungi are our climate allies | Against All Odds
In recent years, we’re learning more about how fungi work, what they can do, and how they can help mitigate the climate crisis. They play a crucial role in balancing ecosystems, and keeping carbon out...
news.mongabay.com
"The old model of rich countries writing cheques and calling the shots is dead. The new one is messier, slower, harder to celebrate. But it’s being built by the people who actually have to live with it.
And that might be what finally makes it work."
The End of Aid
The old model is dead. We spent a week watching a new one being born.
fixthenews.com
A toilet-cleaning pod that doubles as a kidney disease screening device has been shortlisted as a global finalist in the James Dyson Award, recognising the best inventions by student and graduate designers.
Urify is a toilet-cleaning tablet that helps diagnose kidney disease
A toilet-cleaning pod that doubles as a kidney disease screening device has been shortlisted as a global finalist in the James Dyson Award.
www.dezeen.com
"Northern Ireland is veined with frustrated hope and unsettled grievance, but it is also vivid proof that a dirty war fought around questions of identity can be channeled into a peaceful, albeit fraught, politics."
Opinion | Northern Ireland, Gaza and the Road to Peace
www.nytimes.com
Globally, investors are pouring more money into renewable energy than ever — even as they pull back on spending in the U.S.
Over the first six months of this year, a total of $386 billion flowed to projects ranging from small rooftop solar installations to massive offshore wind farms....
Chart: Global investment in renewables hits record even as US falters
Over the first six months of this year, a total of $386 billion flowed to renewable-energy projects — 10% more than one year prior.
www.canarymedia.com
Purchased 50 years ago by his father at his request when he was in Grade 8, Dr. William Shotyk has transformed a simple, naked piece of land into a natural oasis that teems with life forms that have been lured to the farm because of its idyllic man-made habitat.
Elmvale farm transformed from naked land into natural oasis brimming with life
By his own calculation, Dr. William Shotyk says that by planting so many trees, he’s offset his own carbon footprint for the next three centuries
www.barrietoday.com
This work, including the Good Water Neighbors program, the Green Blue Deal, Project Prosperity, and their advocacy for improved water and energy security across the region, are complemented by on-the-ground projects that bring these principles into practical local action.
Announcements
www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org
A vending machine in Washington, D.C., is providing nourishment — for the mind. LitBox is filled with books by local authors, just steps from the White House, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
A book vending machine provides an outlet for D.C.-area authors after funding cuts
Washington, D.C.'s vending machine LitBox distributes books, with a serving of hope as local writers struggle with arts funding cuts.
www.npr.org
Incarcerated individuals putting their lives in danger to help battle some of California’s largest wildland fires will be getting a raise.
Assembly Bill 247 clears the way for inmates serving part of their sentence on the front lines to make at least the federal minimum wage.
ktla.com
Several years after launching a trial, Ireland is set to make its basic income for artists program permanent starting in 2026.
Under the program, selected artists receive a weekly payment of approximately $375, or about $1,500 per month.
Three Years After Trial Launch, Ireland Is Making Basic Income for Artists Program Permanent
Several years after launching a trial, Ireland is set to make its basic income for artists program permanent starting in 2026.
www.artnews.com
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines inaugurated what they call a “full free movement” regime. The move “supports jobs, supports public services, and supports our future,” Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a speech last Tuesday.
The Caribbean’s Migration Milestone
Four countries are defying global anti-migrant sentiment to offer free movement to their citizens.
foreignpolicy.com
Every part of the bison will be used, with the meat going to support local families.
For students, the ceremony is a chance to reconnect with their roots, learn from their elders and honor the life of the animal in a way that is respectful and meaningful.
Native American MCPS students take part in traditional bison harvest
A cultural and spiritual event at Missoula County Public Schools on Wednesday helped Native American students connect with their heritage in a hands-on way.This
nbcmontana.com
“California didn’t wait for the pharmaceutical industry to do the right thing — we took matters into our own hands,” Newsom said. “No Californian should ever have to ration insulin or go into debt to stay alive.”
Roughly 3.5 million Californians have diabetes...
Affordable insulin is coming: California to launch $11 state-branded pens as part of CalRx initiative
California's first insulin pens will be for sale two years after the governor’s promised delivery date in 2024.
calmatters.org
he longer the trip, the more healing occurs,’ says the geologist Peter Winn, who has been leading expeditions down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon since the 1960s. ‘Healing happens for people almost without exception.’
Why forests and rivers are the most potent health tonic around | Aeon Essays
The idea that immersing yourself in forests and nature has a healing effect is far more than just folk wisdom
aeon.co
Though still a work in progress, the engineers believe the device could provide a smaller, more practical solution for individual households experiencing water scarcity.
This portable, 3D-printed device can pull drinking water out of thin air
Water from Air could produce enough daily water for a family of four.
www.popsci.com
A low-cost housing complex for formerly homeless residents that comprises stacked shipping containers and sits on a triangular site near a busy highway interchange that was formerly a traffic median, has been completed in Los Angeles by architecture studio LOHA.
Affordable Housing Built On Challenging Site In Los Angeles
A low-cost housing complex for formerly homeless residents that comprises stacked shipping containers and sits on a triangular site near a busy highway interchange that was formerly a traffic median, ...
www.karunanews.org
Work to clean up long-lived radioactive waste at one of the world’s most polluted places took a big step forward this week, when a facility at a former nuclear weapons site in eastern Washington state began to entomb radioactive waste in glass.
Polluted weapons factory begins locking up nuclear waste in glass
After years of delay and political wrangling, DOE’s Hanford site opens vitrification plant
www.science.org
At a press conference launching the report, Verny said it was evidence of the commission’s belief that a culture of prevention in the church requires the active involvement of victims.
Vatican report says clergy sex abuse victims need reparations and tangible sanctions to heal
The Vatican’s child protection board says the Catholic Church has a moral duty to help victims of clergy sexual abuse heal.
apnews.com
....the trail extends 220m, making it one of the longest continuous trackways ever found.
“We're uncovering something that people have never seen before,” says University of Birmingham palaeontologist Kirsty Edgar. “It's so rare to find something this big.”
Huge dinosaur trackway uncovered in the UK - BBC News
One of the longest sets of dinosaur footprints in the world has been discovered in a limestone quarry
www.bbc.co.uk
With growing military, economic and energy ties around the Baltic Sea, Poland’s geopolitical focus is increasingly towards the north, unlike for most of its recent history.
How Poland is becoming a Baltic power
notesfrompoland.com
“In the mountains, a physiological need can catch up with anyone,” wrote Tatra National Park (TPN). “That is why TPN is introducing a simple and globally proven solution: sanitary bags. This is a step towards a cleaner Tatra mountains and greater tourist comfort.”
Polish national park offers free poop bags for hikers to tackle "faecal pollution"
notesfrompoland.com
Fix the News has done a brilliant 3 part series on the impact of the new malaria vaccine that I think should be required listening for all. Here is part one....
A Shot At History, Part 1 - The Stakes
open.spotify.com