What has been able to save many lives by detecting land mines and explosives quickly and safely? The explosives-sniffing African giant pouched rat. One in particular, named Magawa, was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal in September 2020 for bravery, an honor that acknowledges animals’ devotion to duty. Magawa was born in 2013 and died of […]

“Well-being can be defined, measured, and taught. Well-being includes positive emotions, intense engagement, good relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.” That is the thought behind Positive Psychology and the more constructive aspects of human nature. Although people such as psychologists Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Erich Fromm invented and used the term “positive psychology,” and celebrated mentally […]

“Listen to the mustn’ts child, listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me: Anything can happen, child, anything can be.”

SHEL SILVERSTEIN

It is possible, today, to have a world entirely free of fossil fuels. What was once an abstract concept is possible because, technically speaking, electricity can power everything we do every day – heat homes, drive a car, watch TV or charge a computer. And this electricity can come simply from wind turbines, solar panels […]

More than 2 billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water. And even in developed countries, many people do not think water from the tap is safe. Over half of households in the United States are concerned about the quality of their water supply and only 55% of Europeans drink […]

Sustainable food for all Source: Oxfam East Africa, licensed with CC BY 2.0

Each of the richest people on earth has a carbon footprint some 175 times greater than that of someone in the poorest 10% on the planet, according to estimates by Oxfam, thereby driving climate change and its devastating effects worldwide. Yet it is not the rich who are suffering the most from the effects, or […]

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, USA ©dcarsprungli

Protecting 30% of the Earth by 2030 is the goal of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. This intergovernmental group of more than 50 countries co-chaired by Costa Rica and France, with the United Kingdom as Ocean co-chair, aims to secure a global deal for nature and people that can halt the accelerating […]

The frontline of climate change and its devastating impact is now centered in Africa, in particular the Sahel region, located on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. Ongoing conflicts due to the lack of resources, droughts and food shortages have made the region one of the poorest places on Earth and induced mass migrations […]

According to English landowner and conservation pioneer Charlie Burrell, “Everyone wants to feel that it’s possible to do something and if you’ve got a real hope story — that you can transform an agricultural desert into something which is very rich and biodiverse — it becomes all possible and something that you can do.” At […]

In the 1950s, when New York City was rapidly expanding, people soon realized that they couldn’t live in just a “concrete jungle”. As a result, Central Park was born. In London, once known for its foggy weather, the city has worked hard to become a “city of gardens”. And in Singapore, the famous City Garden […]