by Marsha Rakestraw
It’s true that the world is facing numerous grave challenges.
And we’re exposed to many of them during our 24/7 omnipresent news cycles.
Occasionally we’ll also find some positive stories about people doing good. But usually these stories are focused on small acts of kindness or Band-Aid solutions.
And while every compassionate and just act matters, most of these efforts aren’t addressing the underlying causes of our many challenges.
As solutionary educators, it’s vital that we help students encounter solutions that meaningfully address our global challenges at their roots, and in ways that seek to do the most good and least harm for all.
Here are 6 resources for finding inspiring solutions and solutionaries. (Note that suggested solutions don’t necessarily fit IHE’s definition of solutionary solutions.)
1. Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming
Drawdown is based on meticulous research that maps, measures, models, and describes the most substantive solutions to global warming that already exist. It is the most important goal for humanity to undertake.
2. Global Opportunity Explorer
Global Opportunity Explorer is “the world’s largest platform of sustainable solutions” and “guides you through hundreds of sustainable solutions and market opportunities which address the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).” The site is designed to help investors, social entrepreneurs, and changemakers connect with projects and people working on positive solutions to help people and the planet.
3. New York Times Fixes
Columns from the New York Times highlighting “solutions to social problems and why they work.”
4. The Next Systems Project
Dedicated to addressing systemic challenges in the US, The Next Systems Project works to “promote visions, models and pathways that point to a ‘next system’ radically different in fundamental ways from the failed systems of the past and present and capable of delivering superior social, economic and ecological outcomes.
5. The Solutions Journal
An academic journal “devoted to showcasing bold and innovative ideas for solving the world’s integrated ecological, social, and economic problems.”
6. Stories of Solutionaries and Changemakers
IHE’s collated Pinterest board of stories of adult and youth changemakers and solutionaries who are working for a better world.
What resources have you used to share meaningful, solutionary solutions with your students?
Be sure to forward this to at least ONE person who would benefit from these resources.
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