Policy Making
Strong public policy leads to more cohesive, resilient, and sustainable societies. In this section, find out about the latest legislations from around the world aimed at making our world a better place.
Football Association of Ireland to pay women and men’s teams equally
Ireland is taking a big step in sports equality with the announcement that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) will pay the women's and men's teams' equal match fees. Match payments paid to male athletes will be reduced while match payments paid to female athletes will be increased to reach Read More...
Community-level big data offers a clearer picture of disaster resiliency
Hurricane Ida has demonstrated once again how chaotic the days after a natural disaster can be. Relief organizations are often on the ground right away, but determining the extent of damage and displacement can take time, delaying the delivery of essential supplies. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Read More...
Arizona abolishes peremptory challenges to improve juror diversity
Arizona’s state Supreme Court has announced a policy change to improve juror diversity and reduce racial bias in the legal system. The state will eliminate peremptory challenges, the practice that allows lawyers to remove jurors from a case without justification. In both criminal and civil Read More...
Donate and volunteer: Where to support Hurricane Ida victims
Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday as a powerful Category 4 storm. This is the largest hurricane to hit Louisiana since Katrina and the storm is causing widespread damage across Mississippi as well. Although it has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves northeast, it left one million Read More...
New law makes it easier for veterans to adopt service dogs
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched a new program that aims to make service dogs more available to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The newly-signed Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act is the result of years of work from Read More...
Lost your ball over the fence? Belgian law gives you the right to retrieve it
Have you ever lost a ball because you’ve accidentally kicked it over the fence and into your unfriendly neighbor’s yard? Well, from the first of September, if this happens to anyone in Belgium, they’ll have the legal right to retrieve it (though this probably won’t temper the reaction of Read More...
EPA announces ban on harmful pesticide chlorpyrifos
Even if you’ve never heard of chlorpyrifos, you’ve probably come in contact with it on your food. This common pesticide has been on the market since 1965 and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 5.1 million pounds of the chemical have been used on American crops like Read More...
The Optimist View: Fighting Fire with FireーRethinking wildfires with Indigenous wisdom
“Everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.” - Mourning Dove BY Amelia Buckley As wildfires continue to rage around the Western United States, Greece, Turkey, and more, I reached out to my Read More...
Argentina's new trans employment law further protects LGBTQ rights
Argentina has proven to be a leader when it comes to protecting and expanding the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in their country. It was the first country in Latin America to not only legalize same-sex marriage but to give same-sex couples the right to adopt, as well as the first country in the Read More...
Policy choices tied to lower poverty rates in 2021
We’ve written about the impact of stimulus checks during the pandemic, but the US also responded with additional measures like raising food stamps benefits, barring eviction, and offering financial support to small businesses. It looks like this policy choice paid off; poverty in 2021 is Read More...