February 2012
12 posts
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Decentralized, Distributed and Disruptive: The New... →
Some inspiration for the weekend! Great short article about where the economy is going.
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The Future of Food (by the Guardian
The Guardian shines its light on the future of food: with algae, insects, artificial meat and others!
Insects
Locusts, grasshoppers, spiders, wasps, worms, ants and beetles are not on most European or US menus but at least 1,400 species are eaten across Africa, Latin America and Asia. Now, with rising food prices and worldwide land shortages, it could be just a matter of time before insect...
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WatchWhen setting up a micro credit bank the last thing you want to think about is technology. You want to focus on your clients and help their business’ grow.
Ben Lyon founded FrontlineSMS:Credit to allow microfinance institutions to send and receive secure loan payments, track loans and develop a micro-insurance model using the ubiquitous mobile phone.
Sounds like a great invention creating...
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A Boost for the World’s Poorest Schools
The New York Times Fixes blog is always a great inspiration for me! A few weeks ago they wrote a column about boosting the world’s poorest schools. Because it’s very useful to put all children in school but if they don’t learn anything it’s still pretty useless.
The organisation Save the Children is trying to change that.
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January 2012
13 posts
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Indian villagers' lives transformed by new energy...
I’ve shared some other initiatives to develop small scale grids in developing countries. I’m especially fascinated by the business models, because the high price of kerosene and the normal costs of recharging mobile phones (travelling to the nearby city and back) should make it possible for (social) entrepreneurs to step into this market. According to the World Bank in Africa alone...
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“I kept thinking, ‘This cannot be my life. I know I have the potential to do so...”
– (Candace Keshwar, member of the Family Independence Initiative)
With a new poverty fighting approach she was able to get her life back on it’s feet and look forward to the future again.
They started with 25 families in three cohorts — eight African American families, six Salvadoran refugee...
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WatchThe outsourcing industry doesn’t have a great name, people fear that it’s destroying jobs in Europe and America. The jobs are not destroyed because of cheap labour in India but because western companies failed to become more efficient and effective. And the outsourcing industry probably did more for the emancipation of women in India than all demonstrations for equal rights combined....
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WatchBuilding buildings that heal, it does make a lot of sense! It’s quite shocking that a lot of buildings intended to make you better actually could make you sicker.
A new wave of architects sees the connection between the design of the hospital and the health of the patients. Also hospitals start to see this connection and see the effects. If their hospital is designed better, patients get...
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Financing college in a more sustainable way
I always wondered if it’s possible to finance education of a group of students by making people pay back, ones they get a job. Could you create a system where the ones which earn a lot of money pay more (and thus subsidize the ones which earn less) and would the ones earning a lot of money agree on paying more?
Last week I found this column and the answer is yes, it’s possible! Not...
December 2011
8 posts
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“This level of failure represents a waste of between $1.2 billion and $1.5...”
– From perhaps the biggest study ever carried out in 21 African countries to investigate water pumps in Africa. It found that 36 percent of pumps were not working. Tina Rossenberg (writer at the New York Times Fixes blog) investigates an approach to make sure the water pumps keep working and the model...
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“First rule of sustainability: waste should not be wasted – it can be sold”
– And Envirosolutions (part of DHL) is taking this seriously and making money with it as well. The motto of reduce, reuse and recycle is more important than ever and the Guardian shows that with a number of stories featuring British Airways and a chain of pubs.
The whole article can be found here
...
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Bringing back the glaciers of Peru? →
This article and video show a possible method to bring back the glaciers of Peru. Because of global warming these glaciers started to disappear threatening a lot of cities and communities depending on the glaciers as a water source.
Now Eduardo Gold is running an experiment to bring back the glaciers by painting the mountains white and thus lowering the temperatures and making it possible for...
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WatchIt’s funny how some people always say that their biggest wish is world peace. Now that’s difficult for one person to accomplish and is always met with a lot of scepticism. For these sceptics and for the people trying to convince them peace is worth fighting for. It’s great to know that also the economy likes peace:
Our research found that in 2010, approximately 9% of global GDP...
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November 2011
15 posts
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“Shine On, Sister: Solar Entrepreneurs Make a Big Impact”
– Solar Sisters is supporting women social entrepreneurs to set up their solar businesses. Instead of giving away the solar lanterns for free, they train women in setting up their own solar business and sell solar products in their community. The fact that women get their hands on solar technologies...
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“Victoria’s Not so Secret Seeds”
– Sir Gordon Conway in an article in the Huffington post about a successful seed company in Uganda. Companies like these are transforming agriculture in Africa, by providing better seeds to mostly female farmers. Thus making sure the yields and profits will go up.
Read the whole article here
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WatchLet’s do this and see what happens! Raise taxes on resources and lower them on labour. We will start using resources more sustainable and companies will be able to hire more people.
Find out more on:
www.ex-tax.com
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WatchIf you’re ever looking to settle the argument about if income gaps (economic inequality) within countries (US for example) are a problem. You should watch this video for answers. A fascinating insight into why income gaps within countries are so important and essential to the well being of it’s citizens.
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Small seed packets could prevent the next drought...
Everyone saw the photographs of the droughts in North East Africa.
The fundamental question is: how can we prevent the droughts in North East Africa to have such a devastating impact on the lives of people? (Rachel Zedeck is doing her part with the BackPack Farm.) One of the main problems is that most local farmers grow maize which is water intensive and fails in a period of drought. If they...
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“Even veterans from the US army are getting into local food!”
– Check their story on FastCoexist.com
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Anthropological Journeys →
A friend of mine recently started her own blog and she is very productive! Check it out and see her articles!
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WatchJust an amazing video about an amazing organisation from India: Barefoot college. The story itself is really cool but Bunker Roy makes it even better.
Their solution to changing the energy system in developing countries: train grand- mothers and they will become solar engineers!
It’s really a grassroot movement starting to appear in more and more countries in Africa and Asia.
I don´t...
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October 2011
15 posts
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WatchFrom one extraordinary man (Pieter Hoff) to the next: Willie Smits. Many have seen his amazing TED talk in 2009 but I still think it’s a truly remarkable story. He has found a way to regrow the rainforest, let local communities make money and save the orangutang. It sounds impossible but he is really doing it.
I’m always wondering: how do you scale something like this? How to you...