New Tools for sensing Microplastic, an Emerging Food Security Issue

Awareness of the global plastic crisis is rising as cities pledge to reduce their waste and major media publications like National Geographic campaign for education and action. Single-use plastic pollution has been shown to harm wildlife time and again. Most recently, a whale was found beached in the Philippines with 88 pounds of plastic in its stomach – its death likely caused by starvation due to complications with the plastic.

Helping cities of all sizes: California Opportunity Zone Partnership aims to guide investment

Last September marked the launch of the California Opportunity Zone Partnership, organized by the national nonprofit organization Accelerator for America and consisting of the State of California, the Energy Foundation, and the Cities of Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. It aims to support government officials of small to medium sized California cities in taking advantage of their opportunity zones in  ways that will be beneficial to their communities.

Jordan: prospects for economic resilience

On the heels of the highest unemployment rates in 25 years, the Jordanian government announced in late February that it would create 3,300 job opportunities for youth across all Jordanian governorates. Encouraging economic development and activity outside of Jordan’s main metropolis, Amman, the Jordanian government seeks to re-enfranchise educated Jordanian youth, who currently face an overwhelming unemployment rate of 24.1%. A response to broad social discontent over slow economic growth and IMF austerity measures,  job creation is crucial to reopening overcrowded career fields and attracting women’s participation in the labor market.

The Venezuela crisis: Foreign aid, social cohesion and economic resilience

The world watches anxiously as one of the worst economic and humanitarian crisis in modern history unfolds in Venezuela. For years, the South American country has experienced a downward spiral of mounting political unrest fueled by skyrocketing hyperinflation, food shortages and economic contraction. Although his predecessor Hugo Chaves initiated the crisis, Nicolás Maduro exacerbated it during his first term in office – sending the Venezuelan economy into freefall in 2013.

Climate gentrification: why we need to consider social justice in climate change planning

As the impacts of climate change become increasingly apparent, it has also become increasingly clear that those who are most disadvantaged will be some of the most affected. One concern is “climate gentrification” -- a growing concept in which some properties become more valuable than others due to their ability to better accommodate settlement and infrastructure in the face of climate change. Climate gentrification has some of the same negative impacts as gentrification, where lower-income people may be pushed out of their neighborhoods by rising rents and pressure from developers who seek to build property on desirable land.