by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 22 Apr 2024 | Asia, History, Politics
There are tales in history of common folk becoming supreme rulers. How difficult is that to do? This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global news service. It is through articles like this that News Decoder strives to provide context to complex...
by Preety Sharma | 18 Apr 2024 | Asia, Economy, Educators' Catalog, Environment, Politics, Technology, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows
Meeting a growing energy demand can go hand-in-hand with the green transition. This is what India could show the world. Workers carry a solar panel for installation at the under-construction Adani Green Energy Limited’s Renewable Energy Park in Gujarat, India,...
India’s position as a growing global economic leader, a leading producer of renewable energy and as a large consumer of energy puts it at the center of the debate on climate-friendly energy transition. Preety Sharma looks at how if India successfully manages the move towards greener energies, it will serve as a model for low and middle-income countries as they develop economically while striving to meet climate goals.
Exercise: Individually, or in groups, students put their research skills to the test. Use the following questions as a guide to finding out more about this topic.
What is energy transition? How does it relate to the UN SDGs? What energies should we transition to and what are the issues surrounding using each of these? What would a ‘model for low and middle-income countries’ look like?
Find examples of countries that have grown and managed energy transition well.
by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 17 Apr 2024 | Decoder Replay, Environment, Europe, Human Rights
Threats to nature persist despite global efforts to save our planet. But do we have an inalienable right to a habitable planet? People demonstrate outside the European Court of Human Rights, 9 April 2024 in Strasbourg, France. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)...
by Marcy Burstiner | 9 Apr 2024 | Journalism, Politics, United States
If the 2020 election in the United States was any indication, there will be a lot of angry people in this go-around regardless of the result. An imagined polling station next to a gun shop. (Illustration by News Decoder) This article was produced exclusively for News...
by Katharine Lake Berz | 8 Apr 2024 | Culture, Education, Educators' Catalog, Human Rights, Middle East, Syria
Desperate to give daughters a safe life, some refugees marry them off early. One organization in Lebanon is showing girls that there is an alternative. Batoul, age 13, in an Alsama classroom in Lebanon. Batoul came to Alsama two years ago illiterate because her...
Girls face barriers to education due to poverty, cultural norms and practices, traditional gender roles, societal pressure and gender inequality. Katharine Lake Berz looks at how education and gender equality play a crucial role in redressing the balance and keeping girls worldwide from early marriage.
Exercise: Read the article. Use the ‘Questions to Consider’ below it as a starting point for discussion. Find out more about the importance of girls’ education and think about why it should be a priority. For further reading and research, use the following information on girls’ education: Girls Not Brides, World Bank. Discuss why this issue should be a priority and how it relates to SDG 4 and SDG 5. You could screen this ‘School is just the start’ TED Talk by Angelina Murimirwa (8min) and discuss the key points in groups.
by Susanne Courtney | 4 Apr 2024 | Africa, Environment
Little grew in the Sahel region of North Africa, until the World Food Program helped people revive a traditional farming practice and resuscitate the land. Resilience land rehabilitation site in Niger during the rainy season. Photo courtesy of the World Food...
by Liam Gwynn | 29 Mar 2024 | Educators' Catalog, Environment, United States
Taking down massive dams is one thing. Now can we restore the land to what it was a century ago? The Copco 1 Dam reservoir in Hornbook, California 17 September 2023, before the dam was breached in January 2024 and the water drained. (AP Photo/Haven Daley) This article...
Well, I’ll be dammed! Correspondent Liam Gwynn dives into rivers, dams and the devastating environmental impacts of dams on river ecology.
Exercise: In groups, choose one of these five nature restoration projects. Read the summary of the project, follow the link to further reading and watch the accompanying video. Take notes, discuss and think about the environmental and social issues surrounding these projects. Who is involved in the rewilding projects? Who will benefit from them? What will nature restoration achieve? Next, imagine you are running the project and need funding. Present your project to the class in the form of a 3-minute project proposal pitch. Once every project has been presented, the class votes on which project they would fund.
by Lizan Nijkrake | 27 Mar 2024 | Africa, Decoder Replay, Health and Wellness, Human Rights, Women
Millions of girls around the world undergo a brutal and unnecessary surgery. Gambia, which banned the practice, is set to reverse course. Doctors in Somalia perform a repair surgery on a patient who had previously undergone female genital mutilation, 8 February 2022....
by Enock Wanderema | 26 Mar 2024 | Africa, Media Literacy, Technology
Courts around the world are considering promises made via text message as legally-binding contracts. Text messsages depict a reneged deal. (Illustration by News Decoder) This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global news service. It is through...
by Düzgün Ali Sarikaya | 22 Mar 2024 | Contest winners, Europe, Politics, Realgymnasium Rämibühl Zürich, Student Posts, Youth Voices
The fear of another Chernobyl makes nuclear energy bad for politics. But with Europe struggling to reduce carbon, is it good for the environment? The Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant in Cattenom, France, 8 September 2022. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) This...