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Cities Want Green Spaces. Here's How to Make Them More Fire-Resistant

Marianne Dhenin

November 06, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ashland, Oregon

A 20-year project by the nonprofit Lomakatsi Restoration Project to restore native plants helped to spare Ashland, Ore., from the worst destruction of a wildfire. Along the Bear Creek greenway in Ashland, the restoration project's work to replace dense thickets of invasive Himalayan blackberries with native shrubs and trees is credited with slowing the speed and severity of the Almeda Fire. Traditional firebreaks and the greenway at other points on the creek failed to slow the fire, and in some ways even sped its destruction.

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It Took a Group of Black Farmers to Start Fixing Land Ownership Problems in Detroit

Rhonda J. Smith

November 06, 2020 |

Planet Detroit |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Two urban farmers launched a GoFundMe and raised $55,000 to help provide land security to Black farmers in Detroit. Through the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, they will select applicants to grow crops for five years and provide technical assistance to growers who want to purchase their own land. The amount raised is not enough to help everyone who needs it, but organizers hope city programs make land more accessible to neighborhood residents.

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For Virginia transit agency, electric buses help to meet climate, equity goals

Elizabeth McGowan

November 05, 2020 |

Energy News Network |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

Electric buses will be hitting Virginia’s busiest transit corridor as a result of the implementation of the Transportation and Climate Initiative. The plan aims to reduce carbon emissions, create a sustainable economy, and invest in underserved communities.

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Indigenous Colombians mount a spiritual defense of the Amazon

Ocean Malandra

November 04, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Mocoa, Putumayo

Five different Indigenous groups formed an alliance known as the Union of Traditional Age Medics of the Colombian Amazon to practice spiritual ceremonies and community healing based on the ingestion of a potent hallucinogenic tea known as yagé. These groups are at risk of physical and cultural extermination due to deforestation. By engaging in traditional yagé ceremonies, they use their traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom to help make decisions and retain their autonomy in the rainforest.

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An Ohio Mill Town Lost Its Identity. Can Youth Sports Restore It?

Kevin Williams

November 03, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hamilton, Ohio

The promise of a youth sports facility in Hamilton, Ohio, is already prompting financial development in the once-bustling city. The indoor sports complex, Spooky Nook, will be the biggest of its kind in North America. Currently, a complex by the same company has provided a significant boost to the economy in Mannheim, Pennsylvania. In Hamilton, vendors who had once given up on the economic revival of the Rust Belt town are now returning with high hopes for the local economy, especially now that 35 weekends in 2022 are already booked for events at the stadium.

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Gamification in Urban Planning: Participation Through Minecraft

Laura von Puttkamer

November 03, 2020 |

Urbanet |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Sweden

Urban planning using gamification is a viable way of engaging diverse parts of the population and placing people and communities at the center of the process. “Block by Block” is a collaboration between UN Habitat and the game company Mojang that holds participatory workshops, where people design public spaces using the game Minecraft. Over 25,000 people from diverse backgrounds and age groups have participated. Professional advisers are present and they adjust the designs for implementation. The method has been used by the City of Stockholm and to create the first skatepark in Kosovo.

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Cities deploy dedicated teams to combat racial disparities exposed by Covid

James Peterson

November 02, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

Several cities across the U.S. have organized Racial Equity Rapid Response (RERR) teams to address and combat "the racial disparities exposed and exacerbated by Covid-19." Although each city's version of this team looks slightly different, some commonalities exist such as enacting the teams at the municipal level and relying on community connectivity to drive impact.

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Chennai Ran Out of Water — But That's Only Half the Story

Erica Gies Dhritiman Mukherjee

October 30, 2020 |

bioGraphic |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: India, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

The city of Chennai in India is engaging in wetlands restoration and stormwater management by using traditional knowledge and community action to reduce flooding and ensure that people have access to drinking water. Through a development program called Water as Leverage, they are implementing “slow water” projects that restore flow paths for water, which could provide greater water resiliency for humans and protect and restore natural ecosystems. While it can be difficult to get government engineers to embrace green solutions, public awareness of the environmental work is helping move the projects forward.

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Slow Streets Were a Success. Should Cities Keep Them?

Skip Descant

October 29, 2020 |

Governing |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

A pilot project in several American cities has provided a large amount of data on how residents use streets where vehicular traffic is restricted. The initiative tested out ways to calm traffic, provide space for families to convene and exercise, and provide safer bike lanes. A transportation analysis firm was able to provide detailed analysis for how each city responded to the changes, opening up ways for governments to "implement the best project for that specific need and measure against those goals."

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How conservation groups confront distrust from communities of color

Eric Siegel

October 29, 2020 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

For environmental groups like Conservation Colorado looking to expand their reach, they’ve learned that they need to rebuild relationships and trust with communities that have historically been excluded from conservation conversations and take the time to understand the issues directly impacting them. Once they’ve taken those steps, Conservation Colorado was able to work with an all-women’s Latina group to prevent a waste treatment plant from expanding into their community.

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