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Create A New Collection

Collections are versatile, powerful and simple to create. From a customized course reader to an action-guide for an upcoming service-learning trip, collections illuminate themes, guide inquiry, and provide context for how people around the worls are responding to social challenges.

  • Name and describe your collection

  • Add Stories

  • Add external links at any time

  • Add to your collection over time and share!

1. Name your collection

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2. Add Stories

Add stories to your collection from your list of Favorites below, or add stories directly to a collection from Search or Discovery. Anytime you see the collection icon you can add a story. Just click the icon and follow the instructions on your screen.

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Solutions Story Tracker®

Welcome to a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems.

15,700 stories produced by 8,900 journalists and 2,000 news outlets from 89 countries. The stories cover responses in 192 countries, in 17 languages. This resource is made possible because of a growing movement of journalists who use solutions journalism to illuminate both problems and evidence-based responses to them.

Learn more about the Solutions Story Tracker.


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  • A Second Life for Flowers

    Miriam Zoila Perez
    2020-10-07 14:30:56 UTC
    1

    March 10, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    Horticultural therapy – a mix of art therapy, wellness activity, and a way to reuse viable flowers – is gaining popularity amongst hospitals and nursing homes due to its nature-centric therapeutic benefits. Although medical research is limited, some studies have shown that it can have a positive impact on one's mood and participants have expressed sentiments such as, "It relaxes me. Just holding the flowers takes me away from my situation."

    Read More

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  • Healing arts: Recovering from sexual assault through creativity

    Emily Dean
    2020-02-29 17:16:14 UTC
    1

    February 18, 2020 |

    Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

    For those who have experienced sexual assault, art therapy is being used for recovery, empowerment, and self-expression. Two organizations, Art Against Assault and CounterAct, are striving to use an arts-based approach to survivors who want to express what happened and their feelings, but may feel like they can’t. While gaining traction, expert practitioners warn that not anyone can do this, that this approach must be facilitated by experts in art therapy to prevent further harm.

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  • Veterans with PTSD have found physical activity is an effective treatment

    Rachel Phillips, Jonathan Messiha, Sara Abbott
    2020-03-25 10:55:14 UTC
    0

    February 12, 2020 |

    Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

    To help veterans struggling to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder, the Phoenix VA Health Care System has started using sports and outdoor recreation as a means of therapy. Although it does not replace medications or act as a cure-all, this practice has been shown to reduce symptoms and can lead to a reduction in medications.

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  • The Mitrovica Rock School: bridging the divide between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo

    Louis Seiller
    2020-01-29 22:23:57 UTC
    0

    January 20, 2020 |

    Equal Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Kosovo, Mitrovica

    Music can bridge cultural divides. The Mitrovica Rock School in Mitroviva, Kosovo, encourages young musicians of Albanian and Serbian backgrounds to create music together. The culturally “mixed” bands play across Kosovo. The rock school was founded through a collaboration between Musicians Without Borders and Community Building Mitrovica after Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia.

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  • Art, theatre and clowns: creative cures for dementia

    Priti Salian
    2020-01-10 21:51:56 UTC
    0

    January 07, 2020 |

    The National |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Germany, Duisburg

    Connecting with art enriches the lives of patients struggling with dementia and Alzheimers. Across Germany, several programs are using art to stimulate the minds of an aging population. At the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, seniors meet to discuss art pieces that affect them. Elsewhere, in Bonn, the Demezionen theater ensemble performs for retirement homes. And even clowns can bring a positive atmosphere to seniors struggling with dementia!

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  • In Appalachia, Crafting a Road to Recovery With Dulcimer Strings

    Patricia Leigh Brown
    2020-01-14 21:09:39 UTC
    1

    January 03, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Multi-Media |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Hindman, Kentucky

    To help those struggling with opioid addictions, an apprentice program in Kentucky uses art and music taught by local artisans to provide participants with a path forward. After learning various skills as part of the program, a local instrument company also considers the new apprentices for hire as part of a “recovery-friendly” employment movement.

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  • Art Helps Returning Citizens ‘Cross the Threshold'

    Emily Nonko
    2019-12-11 21:28:46 UTC
    0

    December 11, 2019 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Performance art provides a healing outlet for formerly incarcerated individuals. In New York City, the Ritual4Return program encourages participants to express the transition in their lives through art. Using an artistic expression helps individuals cope with the experience of incarceration and encourages them to reflect on crossing the threshold into the next stage of life. The program operates with the support of grants from universities, foundations, and private donations through a Kickstarter campaign.

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    • 8773

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  • Ruff justice: Meet the dogs helping put child rapists behind bars

    Dhashen Moodley, Danny Booysen
    2019-11-25 12:18:55 UTC
    3

    November 19, 2019 |

    Bhekisisa |

    Podcast |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: South Africa, Johannesburg

    A practice in Johannesburg is making the courtroom and trial process less scary for sexually abused children by letting them play the role of court officials alongside therapy dogs in a pretend court. The Teddy Bear Foundation, responsible for this role play activity, wants children to be less scared but also prepared for their day in court when it comes.

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  • Rock-a-Bye Mama

    Gwynne Watkins
    2019-11-24 18:57:05 UTC
    2

    November 07, 2019 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Multi-Media |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Past and present traumas can make it difficult for new mothers to bond with their babies. A program at Carnegie Hall uses songwriting and music to support mothers in this process in prisons, intensive care units, high schools, and other places.

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    • 8650

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  • To Confront Effects of Trauma, Start with Self Care

    Jay Walljasper
    2019-11-06 13:58:45 UTC
    1

    November 05, 2019 |

    Yes! Magazine |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Building resilience and self-care into daily life promotes long-term wellbeing. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Catalyst Initiative works to support the emotional and mental wellbeing of underserved groups by promoting culturally relevant approaches to self-care. Catalyst funds organizations that serve Indigenous communities, communities of color, as well as other programs that encourage people to practice mindfulness and self-care as a way to heal from trauma and stress associated with economic, personal, or social issues.

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    • 8479

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Please sign in via My Profile before submitting a story. This will allow you to view the status of your submission and get notified if the story is added to the Solutions Story Tracker®.
Filter your search by the language of the story. As the Solutions Story Tracker grows, we are working to include more stories in more languages. Your story submissions can help! Submit stories here.
These factors identify the ways communities overcome the big challenges and help you see the insights. Learn more about the Success Factors here.

Solutions Journalism Around the World

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Solutions In Focus

Discover curated content about themes that matter to you, exclusively from the Solutions Story Tracker. Explore collections, resources and more.

  • Climate Solutions

  • Advancing Democracy

  • Youth Mental Health


Go to All Solutions in Focus

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    Video Tutorials

    Learn how to find what you need in the Solutions Story Tracker in español and in français.

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    Submission Guidelines

    This database is powered by user submissions. Submit a story.

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    Custom Story Alerts

    Get notified when new stories match your interests by setting up custom story alerts in My Profile.

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Solutions Story Tracker® FAQ

  • Solutions journalism…
    • Describes a response to a problem and how it works.
    • Seeks to draw out insights that explain success or failure.
    • Presents the available evidence about the effectiveness of a response.
    • Explains the shortcomings or limitations of the response.
    Learn more.
  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is a curated, searchable database of solutions journalism stories — rigorous reporting about responses to social problems. We vet and tag every story in the Story Tracker, which offers an inspiring and useful collection of the thousands of ways people are working to solve problems around the world.

  • You can learn more about how we source, vet, and tag stories here, as well as how we share them. We also have video tutorials in Spanish and French that show how to use the Solutions Story Tracker to find what you need.

  • Story collections are curated by our staff or other partners to explore a theme, pattern, or trend via selected solutions stories and external resources. Some story collections focus on an in-depth exploration of a topic with solutions journalism; others highlight journalists and how they report on topics. Certain story collections include discussion questions and notes, so that educators and community discussion leaders can lead learners to fully engage with the stories.

  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is powered by user submissions. We encourage submissions from journalists, as well as from anyone who has an eye for solutions journalism. Click here to submit. (Why submit? So many reasons!)

  • You can submit a story directly on the Solutions Story Tracker®. You will be prompted to register or log into the Solutions Journalism Network website, if you are already logged in. (It is free to register!) Logging in allows you to track the status of your submissions under My Profile, as well as save your favorite stories, create story collections and story alerts, and access other helpful features of our website.

  • After you submit a story to us and assign it a topic, it is sent to one of our Solutions Story Tracker team members. Our team member evaluates the story for the four qualities of solutions journalism, and on the basics: The story must come from a news outlet and have a date and a byline. If the story meets our criteria, our team tags it accordingly and adds it to the database. If the story falls short of the mark, our team will include the reason why. We include stories in the Story Tracker that meet our standards of solutions journalism. Inclusion does not mean we support the initiatives, policies, organizations or approaches featured in those stories.

    Discover common reasons why a story may miss the mark for inclusion in the Solutions Story Tracker®.

    Learn more about the history of the database.

  • Solutions Journalism Network features these stories in the searchable database making them publicly accessible to anyone who wants to search for rigorous reporting on solutions to social problems. Any story that is added has the potential to make more impact than its original purpose. Added stories are used in journalism trainings, school curricula, research projects, and independent analysis on issue area trends. This now includes artificial intelligence tools, which are applied for educational value to find stories and support story vetting, as well as to extract insights from the stories. SJN has digital products and newsletters that give new life and exposure to the stories meeting people where they are at. Story data also is used to develop innovative tools to reach the general public with solutions journalism as well as some specific research projects requested by researchers. If you have any questions or concerns about our use of story data or added stories, please contact Lita Tirak.

  • News outlets determine whether all users can access their stories — and some limit the number of stories that anyone can view, or require a subscription. The majority of stories in the database can be accessed for free.

  • We work with journalists, academic researchers and others who feel that our database will support their research. We are especially interested in research that seeks to develop new insights about solutions journalism and its spread and its impact on social problems. Please complete all sections of the Data Request Form, and we will contact you to discuss your request in greater detail.

  • We do not fact-check the stories in the Solutions Story Tracker®. We do ensure that each story comes from a credible news source that has its own editorial infrastructure.

  • We worked with Tara Pixley and Jovelle Tamayo of the Authority Collective, who developed a guide for using equitable visuals. We follow this guide when choosing images for our website.

  • We welcome your feedback and additional questions. Please use this form to get in touch.

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