Points of Progress
@pointsofprogress.bsky.social
A regular feature of The Christian Science Monitor, collecting news of positive change from sources around the world. Account run by @formerSAHM
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When thinking big works. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
How to create affordable housing for more people, and make a whole city a sponge
Progress roundup: Copenhagen’s sponge-city strategy protects from floods, and more places in the U.S. adopt social housing to lock in affordability.
www.csmonitor.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
When thinking big works. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
In the largest land-back deal in California history - note that it took the Yurok Tribe and Western Rivers Conservancy more than 20 years of work, including raising millions from a long list of funders to buy the territory. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
In California and in Poland, new laws for who belongs where
Progress roundup: A $56 million purchase doubles the Yurok tribe’s holdings along the Klamath River, and Shanghai bus riders create new routes.
www.csmonitor.com
July 26, 2025 at 1:50 PM
In the largest land-back deal in California history - note that it took the Yurok Tribe and Western Rivers Conservancy more than 20 years of work, including raising millions from a long list of funders to buy the territory. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
In Alabama, hurricane damage prompted voluntary building standards by @ibhs.org and insurance discounts. One key to their success is third-party verification. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Protecting homes from hurricanes, rice crops from heat, and seas from trawling
Progress roundup: Science reveals how rice crops can resist heat for better yields and quality, and how building codes work against hurricanes.
www.csmonitor.com
July 8, 2025 at 3:36 PM
In Alabama, hurricane damage prompted voluntary building standards by @ibhs.org and insurance discounts. One key to their success is third-party verification. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
A woman transforms agriculture in Brazil, a Chinese woman in school in Germany discovers how an ocean microbe makes its own surfactant that could break down oil spills, and the women running a hotel in Sri Lanka, a country w. low female workforce participation
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Helpful microbes: For cleaning up oil spills and helping crops grow
Progress roundup: Science enables Brazil to transform its economy, German researchers to find a microbe that makes detergent, and California to filter PFAS.
www.csmonitor.com
July 1, 2025 at 4:23 PM
A woman transforms agriculture in Brazil, a Chinese woman in school in Germany discovers how an ocean microbe makes its own surfactant that could break down oil spills, and the women running a hotel in Sri Lanka, a country w. low female workforce participation
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
Two examples of empowerment via autonomy (Bear with me here): In the U.S. a small study found that home health care workers who owned the company reported greater satisfaction (so less turnover). & Greta Garbo, part 2: leaving uncontacted peoples alone in Colombia
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
How independence helps caregivers on the job and Indigenous people in Colombia
Progress roundup: Philippine island boosts incomes and mangrove forests, Colombia protects isolated tribes, and U.S. home care workers thrive in co-ops.
www.csmonitor.com
May 25, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Two examples of empowerment via autonomy (Bear with me here): In the U.S. a small study found that home health care workers who owned the company reported greater satisfaction (so less turnover). & Greta Garbo, part 2: leaving uncontacted peoples alone in Colombia
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Cacao trees can be less productive over time. But a tried-and-true technique – grafting – can rejuvenate a tree and help prevent the deforestation that is practiced when starting a new plantation. #chocolate
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Grafting for chocolate in Peru, and going after invasive species in New Zealand
Progress roundup: Grafting revives cacao trees, reforms in Fiji strengthen democracy, and New Zealand commits to pest eradication on three islands.
www.csmonitor.com
May 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Cacao trees can be less productive over time. But a tried-and-true technique – grafting – can rejuvenate a tree and help prevent the deforestation that is practiced when starting a new plantation. #chocolate
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Innovations from Dallas to Finland - Finland news thanks to @katharinehayhoe.com www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
How to reuse exhaust from jets and store energy in sand
Progress roundup: Dallas airport captures jet exhaust for electricity, Finland innovates with heating methods, plus rights rulings in Japan and Kenya.
www.csmonitor.com
April 22, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Innovations from Dallas to Finland - Finland news thanks to @katharinehayhoe.com www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
@csmonitor.bsky.social gives you the 180-word version, but also a link to Dr. Rivera's longer article in Nature.
April 8, 2025 at 11:54 AM
@csmonitor.bsky.social gives you the 180-word version, but also a link to Dr. Rivera's longer article in Nature.
Reposted by Points of Progress
Do you hesitate to give your rideshare 5 ⭐? @larivera.bsky.social explains studies on job evals: A 6-point scale instead of 10 eliminated gender gaps, maybe because a 6-out-of-6 rating is not as associated with perfection, which is more often attributed to men. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
When a ‘thumbs-up’ beats 5 stars, and where paralegals aid women’s land rights
Progress roundup: three equity questions on job performance grades, the worthiness of women as landowners, and Indigenous people’s quality of life.
www.csmonitor.com
April 8, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Do you hesitate to give your rideshare 5 ⭐? @larivera.bsky.social explains studies on job evals: A 6-point scale instead of 10 eliminated gender gaps, maybe because a 6-out-of-6 rating is not as associated with perfection, which is more often attributed to men. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
Where a Supreme Court struck down a pro-development law, and a Congress put animal rights into its constitution (OK, I’ll tell you – it’s Nepal and Mexico)
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
The rights of animals and the environment, from Mexico to Nepal
Progress roundup: Nepal’s Supreme Court disallowed development in protected areas. And in Mexico, Congress put animal welfare in the constitution.
www.csmonitor.com
March 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Where a Supreme Court struck down a pro-development law, and a Congress put animal rights into its constitution (OK, I’ll tell you – it’s Nepal and Mexico)
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Especially in Texas - agrovoltaics on the rise
We *can* all just get along, said the sheep to the solar panel. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Low-tech and upside-down: The solutions under our feet
Progress roundup: Fish advance science on China’s space station, solar farms host sheep on the ground, and across Africa, new publishers boost writers.
www.csmonitor.com
March 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Especially in Texas - agrovoltaics on the rise
School lunch yields up to a tenfold return on investment for the community, according to the World Food Program. Canada now has a national plan. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
A quiet recognition of Black soldiers in South Africa, and new rights in Ecuador
Progress roundup: School lunch goes nationwide in Canada, overdue honor for Black soldiers in South Africa, and in Ecuador, marine life gain rights
www.csmonitor.com
March 11, 2025 at 1:19 PM
School lunch yields up to a tenfold return on investment for the community, according to the World Food Program. Canada now has a national plan. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
U.S. researchers, starting with @centerforcooperativemedia.org.web.brid.gy - are mapping local news coverage. It's helping some philanthropic funders know what communities to target for support. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Deserts and dollars: Where news gathering, and fossils, need support
Progress roundup: EU court says binary choices are discriminatory. And in Colombia, two museums hold mother lode of 10 million-year-old fossil history.
www.csmonitor.com
March 3, 2025 at 3:18 PM
U.S. researchers, starting with @centerforcooperativemedia.org.web.brid.gy - are mapping local news coverage. It's helping some philanthropic funders know what communities to target for support. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Hang onto this. Americans gave each other a very good year: fewer traffic fatalities, lower homicide rate, less drug use among adolescents. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
How our actions affect others – from driving more safely to making art
Progress roundup: Studies show that Americans are safer partly because of better driving. And Britons are healthier when they pursue arts and culture.
www.csmonitor.com
February 24, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Hang onto this. Americans gave each other a very good year: fewer traffic fatalities, lower homicide rate, less drug use among adolescents. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
We count on the balancing power of the courts. In Belgium, a court recognized the harm of colonialism and a crime against humanity: Decades ago, children of Belgian fathers, born to Black mothers in Congo, were abducted and sent to Belgium.
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Income grows in Africa, and solar power soars in Pakistan
Progress roundup: Colombian women chose fish farms over coca, Africa made income gains, and solar power is surging in Pakistan.
www.csmonitor.com
February 15, 2025 at 7:16 PM
We count on the balancing power of the courts. In Belgium, a court recognized the harm of colonialism and a crime against humanity: Decades ago, children of Belgian fathers, born to Black mothers in Congo, were abducted and sent to Belgium.
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Reposted by Points of Progress
For a monarch all too accustomed to Middle East crises, King Abdullah's Oval Office meeting with Donald #Trump Tuesday was one of the most pivotal of his 25-year reign.
One challenge: what "concession" to offer the president to make him feel like he got a deal?
www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle...
One challenge: what "concession" to offer the president to make him feel like he got a deal?
www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle...
Jordan in a bind: What to offer Trump instead of taking in Gaza refugees?
Jordanian King Abdullah’s meeting with Donald Trump Tuesday was one of the most consequential of his 25-year reign. His mission: to get the U.S. president to walk back his plan to relocate Gaza’s popu...
www.csmonitor.com
February 12, 2025 at 6:13 PM
For a monarch all too accustomed to Middle East crises, King Abdullah's Oval Office meeting with Donald #Trump Tuesday was one of the most pivotal of his 25-year reign.
One challenge: what "concession" to offer the president to make him feel like he got a deal?
www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle...
One challenge: what "concession" to offer the president to make him feel like he got a deal?
www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle...
Puerto Rico is close to a #30x30 goal, by making marine protected areas of 27% of its waters. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...
Bee fences and women taxi drivers to protect people
Progress roundup: Taxi companies built by women are improving their safety. And fences made of beehives are keeping farmers safer from elephants.
www.csmonitor.com
February 10, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Puerto Rico is close to a #30x30 goal, by making marine protected areas of 27% of its waters. www.csmonitor.com/World/Points...