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Create A New Collection

Collections are versatile, powerful and simple to create. From a customized course reader to an action-guide for an upcoming service-learning trip, collections illuminate themes, guide inquiry, and provide context for how people around the worls are responding to social challenges.

  • Name and describe your collection

  • Add Stories

  • Add external links at any time

  • Add to your collection over time and share!

1. Name your collection

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2. Add Stories

Add stories to your collection from your list of Favorites below, or add stories directly to a collection from Search or Discovery. Anytime you see the collection icon you can add a story. Just click the icon and follow the instructions on your screen.

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Solutions Story Tracker®

Welcome to a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems.

15,700 stories produced by 8,900 journalists and 2,000 news outlets from 89 countries. The stories cover responses in 192 countries, in 17 languages. This resource is made possible because of a growing movement of journalists who use solutions journalism to illuminate both problems and evidence-based responses to them.

Learn more about the Solutions Story Tracker.


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  • Dirt floors can kill you. This graduate might have a solution.

    Marc Gunther
    2019-12-22 23:03:19 UTC
    2

    December 05, 2019 |

    National Geographic |

    Multi-Media |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: Rwanda

    Stanford University graduate Gayatri Datar founded a nonprofit called EarthEnable that aims to rid the world of dirt floors. EarthEnable sells an earthen floor covered with an environmentally friendly varnish at a cost less than a concrete floor. To date the organization has installed more than 4,400 floors, and customers and the Rwandan government love them.

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  • Rwanda invests in model villages to tackle poverty

    Tara Heidger
    2020-03-22 03:28:32 UTC
    0

    November 13, 2019 |

    News Decoder |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Rwanda

    Rwanda is taking a controversial approach to tackling poverty within its borders—literally moving people from rural areas into model villages. On one hand, it alleviates the first markers of poverty: having a roof over one's head, access to infrastructure, running water, etc. But on the other hand, the people moved do not have a choice in the matter and now have to figure out how to build a life in a new community. Some villages have turned out to be more successful than others.

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  • 'One Job Should Be Enough': How Charlotte's Low-Wage Jobs Make Housing Unaffordable

    Pam Kelley
    2020-08-28 17:14:15 UTC
    0

    November 04, 2019 |

    WFAE |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

    Living-wage advocates in North Carolina have turned to the business community to address low minimum wages which prevent employees from escaping poverty. Where local and state governments are unable to pass higher minimum wages, businesses have been encouraged to increase their minimum wages and consider the benefits of lower employee turnover and less money spent on recruitment and training, despite the increased payroll costs. Nonprofits like Just Economics of Western North Carolina calculate the living wage a person should make in a specific area depending on whether they have dependents or not.

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  • A New Housing Program to Fight Poverty has an Unexpected History

    Scott Michels
    2021-01-22 13:07:46 UTC
    0

    October 22, 2019 |

    Retro Report |

    Documentary |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    The long-term results of the Gautreaux program, which was intended to reduce poverty, show upward mobility for children of families that were involved in the initiative. The experiment in desegregating neighborhoods led to the relocation of families from public housing projects to suburban neighborhoods which have vital resources like quality education, proximity to jobs, and public safety. Reducing the concentration of poverty from inner cities led to fewer social problems, with the exception of racism faced by the new Black residents in predominantly white neighborhoods.

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  • The Doomed 1970s Plan to Desegregate New York's Suburbs

    Lizabeth Cohen
    2019-12-18 02:42:50 UTC
    0

    October 21, 2019 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    A plan forged in New York City suburbs in the 1970s addressed urban renewal and income inequality by creating low-income housing dwellings in nine separate towns outside of the city. Though the "Fair Share" program faced long-lasting criticism and ultimately failed, housing experts and developers still learn from the failed plan as they work toward urban renewal in the 21st century.

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    • 8821

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  • Safety net program for Pa. women and children is switching out paper for plastic

    Aaron Moselle
    2019-12-08 01:55:14 UTC
    0

    October 21, 2019 |

    WHYY |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

    Pennsylvania’s WIC program, offering people experiencing economic hardship food stipends, is switching from paper checks to plastic cards. The seemingly small change will have a huge effect on how the benefits are used, allowing participants to be more flexible in where and how they spend the money. Such flexibility means more of an opportunity to buy healthier food and to use the entire stipend across a month, rather than having to spend it all in one place at one time.

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  • New Haven job training program possible model for other cities

    Mary O'Leary
    2019-11-04 03:16:41 UTC
    0

    October 06, 2019 |

    New Haven Register |

    Multi-Media |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New Haven, Connecticut

    New Haven Nonprofit group ConnCAT provides free job training for low-income and disadvantaged individuals to help them find a stable income. The program has created positive partnerships with businesses and entities around New Haven in the medical, coding, and culinary arts fields and offers 6-month classes as well as 40-hour externships in members' field of interest.

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  • Bridges to Wealth tackles Philly's wealth gap through smart investment training

    Alyssa Biederman
    2020-09-04 02:47:14 UTC
    0

    October 01, 2019 |

    The Philadelphia Citizen |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    A University of Pennsylvania professor's observation of the wealth disparity in West Philadelphia led to the creation of Bridges to Wealth: a program that teaches financial literacy to marginalized communities who have historically been shut out of building wealth. College students in the program teach financial literacy to high school students alongside computer technology and technical skills. Bridges to Wealth has grown to offer personal finance and investing advice to adults as well as young students.

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  • Finding Home: When Eviction Looms, Landlords Have Lawyers. Now More Tenants Do, Too.

    Mary Newsom
    2020-01-28 20:50:12 UTC
    1

    September 30, 2019 |

    WFAE |

    Radio |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

    In North Carolina’s Mecklenburg County, they’ve allocated funding for tenants to have access to free legal aid, provided by Legal Aid of North Carolina, in their eviction cases. With eviction often being the start of a downward spiral, having legal representation can help people prevent or delay their evictions. Beyond funding some legal aid, the courthouse also provides residents with information about evictions and their specialty eviction court.

    Read More

    • 9020

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  • Farmers Markets Bring Together Communities in Mississippi Delta

    Alexandra Watts
    2020-02-04 02:59:11 UTC
    0

    September 17, 2019 |

    Mississippi Public Broadcasting |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Mound Bayou, Mississippi

    Mound Bayou, Mississippi has been in the middle of a food desert for well over 50 years, as fresh produce is hard to come by for this small Mississippi Delta town. However, a local farmers' market has begun to change that; run by youth volunteers, the market brings fresh fruit and vegetables to residents through the Delta Fresh Foods Initiative.

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    • 9098

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Please sign in via My Profile before submitting a story. This will allow you to view the status of your submission and get notified if the story is added to the Solutions Story Tracker®.
Filter your search by the language of the story. As the Solutions Story Tracker grows, we are working to include more stories in more languages. Your story submissions can help! Submit stories here.
These factors identify the ways communities overcome the big challenges and help you see the insights. Learn more about the Success Factors here.

Solutions Journalism Around the World

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Solutions In Focus

Discover curated content about themes that matter to you, exclusively from the Solutions Story Tracker. Explore collections, resources and more.

  • Climate Solutions

  • Advancing Democracy

  • Youth Mental Health


Go to All Solutions in Focus

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    Video Tutorials

    Learn how to find what you need in the Solutions Story Tracker in español and in français.

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    Submission Guidelines

    This database is powered by user submissions. Submit a story.

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    Custom Story Alerts

    Get notified when new stories match your interests by setting up custom story alerts in My Profile.

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Solutions Story Tracker® FAQ

  • Solutions journalism…
    • Describes a response to a problem and how it works.
    • Seeks to draw out insights that explain success or failure.
    • Presents the available evidence about the effectiveness of a response.
    • Explains the shortcomings or limitations of the response.
    Learn more.
  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is a curated, searchable database of solutions journalism stories — rigorous reporting about responses to social problems. We vet and tag every story in the Story Tracker, which offers an inspiring and useful collection of the thousands of ways people are working to solve problems around the world.

  • You can learn more about how we source, vet, and tag stories here, as well as how we share them. We also have video tutorials in Spanish and French that show how to use the Solutions Story Tracker to find what you need.

  • Story collections are curated by our staff or other partners to explore a theme, pattern, or trend via selected solutions stories and external resources. Some story collections focus on an in-depth exploration of a topic with solutions journalism; others highlight journalists and how they report on topics. Certain story collections include discussion questions and notes, so that educators and community discussion leaders can lead learners to fully engage with the stories.

  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is powered by user submissions. We encourage submissions from journalists, as well as from anyone who has an eye for solutions journalism. Click here to submit. (Why submit? So many reasons!)

  • You can submit a story directly on the Solutions Story Tracker®. You will be prompted to register or log into the Solutions Journalism Network website, if you are already logged in. (It is free to register!) Logging in allows you to track the status of your submissions under My Profile, as well as save your favorite stories, create story collections and story alerts, and access other helpful features of our website.

  • After you submit a story to us and assign it a topic, it is sent to one of our Solutions Story Tracker team members. Our team member evaluates the story for the four qualities of solutions journalism, and on the basics: The story must come from a news outlet and have a date and a byline. If the story meets our criteria, our team tags it accordingly and adds it to the database. If the story falls short of the mark, our team will include the reason why. We include stories in the Story Tracker that meet our standards of solutions journalism. Inclusion does not mean we support the initiatives, policies, organizations or approaches featured in those stories.

    Discover common reasons why a story may miss the mark for inclusion in the Solutions Story Tracker®.

    Learn more about the history of the database.

  • Solutions Journalism Network features these stories in the searchable database making them publicly accessible to anyone who wants to search for rigorous reporting on solutions to social problems. Any story that is added has the potential to make more impact than its original purpose. Added stories are used in journalism trainings, school curricula, research projects, and independent analysis on issue area trends. This now includes artificial intelligence tools, which are applied for educational value to find stories and support story vetting, as well as to extract insights from the stories. SJN has digital products and newsletters that give new life and exposure to the stories meeting people where they are at. Story data also is used to develop innovative tools to reach the general public with solutions journalism as well as some specific research projects requested by researchers. If you have any questions or concerns about our use of story data or added stories, please contact Lita Tirak.

  • News outlets determine whether all users can access their stories — and some limit the number of stories that anyone can view, or require a subscription. The majority of stories in the database can be accessed for free.

  • We work with journalists, academic researchers and others who feel that our database will support their research. We are especially interested in research that seeks to develop new insights about solutions journalism and its spread and its impact on social problems. Please complete all sections of the Data Request Form, and we will contact you to discuss your request in greater detail.

  • We do not fact-check the stories in the Solutions Story Tracker®. We do ensure that each story comes from a credible news source that has its own editorial infrastructure.

  • We worked with Tara Pixley and Jovelle Tamayo of the Authority Collective, who developed a guide for using equitable visuals. We follow this guide when choosing images for our website.

  • We welcome your feedback and additional questions. Please use this form to get in touch.

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