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Many communities are tackling challenging situations with innovative schemes. Illustration: Sébastien Thibault
Many communities are tackling challenging situations with innovative schemes. Illustration: Sébastien Thibault

Turning trash into cash, and other opportunities amid the crises

This article is more than 5 years old

This week’s edition of the Upside celebrates the indomitable spirit of some of the world’s most marginalised people

When we reported on the story of Sutera, the Italian village revived by refugees, the responses touched on two main themes: exhaustion over the relentlessly negative coverage of refugees, particularly in the UK media, and hunger for more stories about problems that have been recast as opportunities.

So this week we offer some examples of communities and countries that are approaching a challenge – or a crisis – as a chance to innovate, invent, and even turn a profit.

Hannah Hillebrand with trainees at the Refugee Canteen project in Hamburg Photograph: Lucas Wahl/Kollektiv25

Across Germany, refugees from Afghanistan and Syria might be the answer to a skills gap that is expected to widen as the German population ages. Thanks to a partnership with Spiegel Online, we were able to report on several schemes that seem promising.

In Amsterdam, Thessa Lageman has reported on an initiative that is helping new arrivals establish careers as they upcycle some of the many thousands of lifejackets left on Greek beaches by refugees arriving by boat.

In Recife, on Brazil’s north-eastern coast, a community drowning in litter has started to fight back – by collecting the plastic bottles, crisp packets and wrappers that have left the Tejipió river stagnant and caused deadly flooding. But the plastic is not just being removed, it is being repurposed – and the results are profitable.

Plastic fashion in Recife, Brazil. Photograph: Tearfund

Sweden (where else?) has unveiled the world’s first electrified road that enables electric vehicles to charge their batteries as they drive along it. The ingenious design will mean the batteries can be smaller and cheaper.

Also this week, an extract from the new book by the late Hans Rosling offered some advice on your media diet and what it means to live “factfully”.

How world's first electrified road charges moving vehicles – video

What we liked:

Also on the theme of factfulness, the discussion between David Bornstein of the Solutions Journalism Network and Steven Pinker in the New York Times was enlightening. We also admired this Pacific Standard piece on the quest to end the practice of keeping young people in solitary confinement.

What we heard:

I am from a developing country, and I believe the world is getting better in general. But my life is getting tougher as an individual. People from Nordic countries will never ever understand what real life is like for people living in developing countries … 95% of the people in my home country do not have any private time to enjoy life, instead they have to work harder and harder to earn money for basic living and medical treatment fees.

A commenter reacting below the line to our extract from Hans Rosling’s book

Where was the upside?

In New Zealand, which has decided it will grant no new offshore oil exploration permits as the country seeks to become carbon neutral.

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If there is a story, innovation or trailblazer you think we should report on, write to us at theupside@theguardian.com

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