Future Perfect

imall, a philanthropic online store for universities, is the first Chinese Online-to-Offline (O2O) community e-commerce business. The imall team uses an online platform to create a philanthropic cycle of goods and capital.

When we speak to the Mohawks of the Kahnawake Indian Reserve in their mother tongue, if only to say thank you or goodbye, we immediately see a smile appear on their face. 

A resourceful skater is on a mission to develop public spaces in Amman. This is the story of Jordan’s first skate park.

“48 millones” is an initiative designed to make visible and connect regional leaders in Colombia, thereby strengthening their efforts to rebuild the country after the long awaited end of the armed conflict.

Ahmad Hassan wants to offer culture for all – that is why he opened a cultural center in a suburb of his hometown of Cairo, inspiring the locals with theater, film and photography.

A German couple with a vacation home in Witless Bay, Newfoundland have called to life an initiative to save puffins, the famous seabirds of Canada’s Atlantic coast, from stranding on the coastal streets due to light pollution. 

“It’s not enough to say how many people saw a film or how many Facebook likes it got,” says impact producer Hattie Archibald. “At Screen Impact, we help documentary films create real social change.”

Computer geeks in Rostock have set up a communication network for citizens that blocks intelligence agencies and businesses that use data for commercial purposes.

Forget about energy-efficient construction – architect Thomas Rau is a step ahead already, getting manufacturers and companies to handle raw materials sustainably and take responsibility even after they sell them.

The scene is almost always the same: a traffic jam at the doors of Spanish primary schools. Hardly any children are seen without their parents. An initiative in the town of Jávea seeks to counter this way of doing things. It has rediscovered the street for schoolchildren.

More and more Greeks move away from the cities and start over as farmers. A beekeeper, an olive farmer and a mushroom grower tell us their stories.

Children at Cedarsong Nature School spend their first school years – rain, shine, and snow – in five acres of Washington State forest.

A hot shower, even where there is no electricity: low-income families in Argentina build their own solar water heaters using recycled materials. A non-profit organization hosts the workshops, gathers helpers and shows participants how to utilize renewable energy.

A Jordanian journalist teaches Hebrew to her compatriots. There is a lot of interest in the neighbor’s language in Amman, yet classes are hard to find.

Dutch “butcher” Jaap Korteweg is on a mission to compete with industrial meat production. No animals are harmed in the process.

The US start-up Bureo fights ocean pollution and supports Chilean fishing communities by upcycling discarded fishing nets into skateboards.

In Chicago, Sweet Beginnings helps people returning from prison learn how to make a living with bees – changing ideas about ecology and imprisonment along the way.

The ancient culinary craft of fermentation is bubbling up once again. In a climate-constrained future, it could preserve both food and cultural diversity.

French sheep breeders and wool crafters join forces to restructure an ancient trade.

Arcadia Mobile Market tackles food insecurity in Washington, D.C., by driving the grocery store around. Is food security just a school bus away?

North Korean defector Lee Ae-ran introduces South Koreans to the food of the North. With her restaurant Neungra Bapsang, she also helps other female defectors make a living.

Bike-riding farmers in Orlando, Florida, are helping communities produce their own food—right on their own front lawns.

Coral reefs are vital for the health of the planet, but they’re dying. In Fiji a coral gardener is trying to save the world, one reef at a time.

Community-supported fisheries bring the benefits of community-supported agriculture to the seas. Customers support their local economies, while receiving the freshest of seafood.

The Allegheny Mountain Institute is finding innovative ways to replant a local agricultural economy in rural Appalachia.

Two California artists are creating public sculptures that heal damaged ecosystems and eventually disappear back into nature.

The project Urban Tomatoes has Swiss urbanites enthusiastically farming tomatoes while producing free seeds for all.

The choir group Meninas de Sinhá, comprised of women from 54 to 97 years old, has presented its members with an alternative to aches and depression for 20 years.

Tiny houses in Eugene, Oregon, provide the formerly homeless with a sense of ownership and community.

In 1975, five penniless friends began restoring an old spinning mill in an attempt to revive the local wool industry. Today, the coop Ardelaine and its partners employ about 50 workers.

An artist uses her creativity to fight the construction of natural gas pipelines.

A collective contributes to the transformation of a neighborhood in Recife through action taken by residents.

The University of the District of Columbia is leading the charge in transforming the food system in a city challenged with high levels of poverty, obesity, and population growth.

A free community book exchange launches the Little Free Library movement—with 40,000 locations in 70 countries worldwide.

Knotting carpets by hand, programming apps, opening up new possibilities: with the Berlin initiative Kommen und Bleiben (Come and Stay) designers and artists harness their resources to support refugees. In so doing, they aren’t only shaping Germany’s immigrant-friendly culture but also rekindling the notion of political art.

An abandoned brewery site near the very heart of Australia’s largest city has been reborn, and it’s becoming the toast of the town.

At CUCULA, a “refugees’ company for crafts and design”, five young asylum seekers are building sustainable livelihoods for themselves by making and selling designer furniture.

Josef Sichler has switched his farm to organic. And become an activist: He convinced his dairy distributor to accept milk only from farmers who rear their livestock GMO-free.