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Mexico Is Saving Its Coral Reef From Hurricanes With A One-Of-A-Kind Plan

Alexandra Kirkman

August 24, 2020 |

The Huffington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo

To protect the Mesoamerican Reef from the effects of climate change, key stakeholders in Mexico created the world’s first insurance policy to protect a natural asset. The policy provides an immediate infusion of cash in the event of a damaging storm, allowing hotel owners and local governments to quickly repair the reef and prevent further degradation. A volunteer corps of people called the Guardians of the Reef make those repairs. While the insurance policy doesn’t cover pollution or overfishing, this mechanism could work for reefs in other countries to restore and protect threatened ecosystems.

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City grant programs help Mission businesses hold on

Annika Hom

August 12, 2020 |

Mission Local |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

San Francisco entrepreneurs are benefiting from several emergency city relief programs which have proven vital to small businesses. The city is funding both The Resiliency Fund and Neighborhood Mini Grants. The former is for businesses across the city with 5 or fewer employees, while the latter is specifically for businesses within seven underserved neighborhoods in the Mission District. To date, both funds have provided over $3 million for store owners who are struggling to pay rent while dealing with plummeting revenues.

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Bogotá Is Building its Future Around Bikes

Andrea Jaramillo

August 10, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Bogotá

To help essential workers navigate the notorious traffic of Bogota, the city built over 50 miles of an emergency bike network. The plan was in place before the arrival of coronavirus but the execution was sped up to meet the demands of increased bike usage. Other measures were also put into place to make the roads more bike and pedestrian-friendly: Reduced speed limits for cars, a 20 percent increase in private parking for bikes, and a bike registration system to deincentivize bike theft. Efforts to expand bike lanes not only eased traffic, they also helped relieve pressure on the overcrowded bus system.

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Short on Money, Cities Around the World Try Making Their Own

Peter Yeung

August 07, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tenino, Washington

Complementary currencies are local alternatives to national currencies that help local economies when budgets are tight. Tenino prints “wooden dollars” and residents in need get up to $300/month to spend at local businesses from grocery stores to day cares. Cities across the US have reached out for advice on starting their own local currencies, which can take many forms including digital-only. There are 3,500-4,500 local currencies in 50 countries, including Brazil’s Maricá where it helped the under-resourced city build schools and hospitals. These currencies have no value outside of the local economy.

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0%-interest loan program puts economic power in hands of Detroit homeowners

Kate Roff

August 04, 2020 |

Model D |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Homeowners in Detroit can now access home improvement capital to fix up their historic homes, many of which date back to the early 1900s. The aid is in the form of a zero-interest loan which is paid back over 10 years. The program helps homeowners fix their homes, making them safer while removing blight from the community.

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It Takes a Village: How Coalition Work is Transforming Lives in Detroit - NationSwell

Sarah Morgan

August 03, 2020 |

NationSwell |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

A coalition of organizations in the Detroit region had “a goal of re-engaging the region’s 690,000 adults who had completed some college but hadn’t gotten a degree.” One of the programs they created was the Wayne State Warrior Way Back program, which allows students with school debt to re-enroll and “learn” off their debt at a rate of $500 for each semester completed.”

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We Know How to Fix Student Debt

David Byrne

July 31, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

A study found that students without debt ended up with a higher income than students with debt, an overall benefit to the larger economy. In the U.S., "44.7 million American adults are saddled with student debt totaling $1.6 trillion.” This article explores what other countries like Germany, New Zealand, and South Korea, among others have done to lower the cost of university tuition and thus student debt.

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Could carbon-removal tech make travel more sustainable?

Sarah Reid

July 27, 2020 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Iceland

Climeworks, a Swiss start-up, is using technology to suck carbon out of the air and turning it into stone, essentially cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere permanently. Their plant in Iceland is able to turn 50 tonnes of carbon to stone per year. While that amount of carbon won’t solve the climate crisis, they are expanding their work to other countries and are launching a personal carbon removal subscription service as a way for the travel industry to help offset the carbon that they emit each year.

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This is what one of the world's largest experiments in basic income looks like

Márvio dos Anjos Meaghan Tobin

July 23, 2020 |

Rest of World |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Marica

Mumbuca is a digital currency used in Maricà’s basic income program. Residents, with few eligibility requirements, can qualify for a monthly stipend to purchase goods and services using a smart phone or a card. The currency runs on the digital platform E-dinheiro and can only be spent in the city limits. Individuals cannot swap Mumbucas for national currency, but businesses can after a 48-hour waiting period and a 1% fee. Local currencies, which are popular in Brazil, help residents increase personal savings and, with increased stipends during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed informal workers to stay home.

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The hidden hand that uses money to reform troubled police departments

Kit Ramgopal Brenda Breslauer

July 19, 2020 |

NBC News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Smaller cities that cannot afford costly payouts for civil settlements in police misconduct cases rely on liability insurance, which can act as a regulator when insurers demand reforms up to and including disbanding troubled departments. While police killings have decreased in large cities over the past six years, they have increased in the suburban and rural areas served by the vast majority of police departments. “Loss prevention” measures that require policy and personnel changes have been proven to work, but insurance that fails to police the police can also shield cities from accountability.

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