New Ideas

Jungle plants root sustainable harvest at Kalu Yala
Zoe St. John farm tour

Kalu Yala agriculture director Zoe St. John discusses the food they are growing to feed the community. (Colin Boyle/Medill)

Medill News Service
Northwestern University
Kalu Yala is host to small scale agroforestry in the Panamanian jungle — rows of alternating crops integrated with the natural environment, an image of the symbiosis that can exist between humans and the environment. Grace Wade reports for Medill.
Storyfest winners take in astonishing Alaska
Frank Sesno
Founder and Chief Executive, Planet Forward
We just concluded our 2018 Planet Forward storytelling expedition to Alaska with Lindblad Expeditions aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion. Our Storyfest winners were dazzled by the ecosystems and the wildlife.
Pelican Island: A story of sand and water
Medill News Service
Northwestern University
Abelardo “Tito” Nuñez Davies first came to Pelican Island 15 years ago. It was much larger then. The small hut he and his mother share started out in the middle of this tiny oasis of sand. Now, the ocean laps at their doorstep. 
A tale of two sustainabilities: Tradition and tourism
Medill News Service
Northwestern University
The indigenous Guna people of Panama prepare to leave the islands they call home due to rising sea levels, while entrepreneur Jimmy Stice builds a sustainable town in the jungle of Panama. Elizabeth Guthrie of Medill reports.
Is the business of sustainability for everyone?
Cartí Sugtupu island

The bustling island of Cartí Sugtupu serves as a hub for the Gunas living in the Comarca. Cartí Sugtupu includes a solar-powered school, as well as a hostel and supermarket, among its amenities. (Abigail Foerstner/Medill)

Medill News Service
Northwestern University
As Panama's indigenous Guna islands begin sinking into the surrounding waters, local entrepreneurs with successful eco-friendly businesses could prove the revolutionary power of small-scale innovation, Medill's Molly Glick reports.
Two very different communities in Panama face the same major challenge: Climate change
local transportation is via boat

Traveling on boats is the main mode of transportation between islands of Guna Yala, and most are operated by local Guna people. (Luodan Rojas/Medill)

Medill News Service
Northwestern University
Separated by miles of ocean and a 2-hour drive, or a 50-mile hike, through the jungle, Guna Yala and Kalu Yala are two of Panama’s most sustainable communities, but they also are starkly different. Medill's Luodan Rojas reports.
What's a vernal pool? Hint: We aren't swimming in it
Sydney Smyk
University of Delaware
A vernal pool is a pond — but, more specifically, a seasonal one since it typically dries out at some point during the course of the year.
Saving the planet, one web search at a time with Ecosia
Ecosia

The Ecosia search engine. (Photo courtesy Ecosia.)

Emily Arnold
Planet Forward Correspondent | Georgetown University
The search engine Ecosia plants trees with partners from around the world with their ad revenue.
A Kalu Yala hike turned into high adventure

The starting point of the hiking trip was at Kalu Yala - a sustainable community in the
Panamanian jungle. (Grace Wade/Medill)

Medill News Service
Northwestern University
Fifty miles over four days. Seven hikers left Kalu Yala, a sustainable eco-town in the Panamanian jungle, to trek to the Caribbean Sea and quickly discovered an untested trail and faced other challenges head-on. Medill's Nadine Daher ​reports.
Hiking app puts the mountains at your fingertips
Zoe St. John farm tour

Zoe St. John gives Northwestern University students a farm tour. (Colin Boyle/Medill)

Medill News Service
Northwestern University
Medill's Nadine Daher reports that residents and interns at Kalu Yala are working on adding hiking trails around the community to the AllTrails app, which allows you to use your phone as an offline GPS tracker. 

Pages

Subscribe to Recent Ideas