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Showing 9 of 2022 news items
Henning Larsen Proposes a "Learning Village" to Expand the Glyvra School in the Faroe Islands
Culture & CommunityApril 8, 2026

Henning Larsen Proposes a "Learning Village" to Expand the Glyvra School in the Faroe Islands

Excerpt from archdaily.com Danish architecture studio Henning Larsen has been selected to redesign and expand Glyvra School in the Faroe Islands, proposing a landscape-driven educational campus that responds directly to the region's topography and climate. Conceived as a "learning village," the project rethinks the role of the school in a small coastal community, positioning architecture and outdoor space as integral parts of everyday learning. Commissioned by Runavík Municipality and developed in collaboration with engineering firm Ramboll, the project will be delivered in multiple phases to ensure the school remains fully operational throughout construction, with new facilities completed and occupied before existing structures are renovated or removed.

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Sri Lanka declares Wednesdays off as Asian countries try to conserve fuel
Energy & TransportApril 8, 2026

Sri Lanka declares Wednesdays off as Asian countries try to conserve fuel

Excerpt from bbc.com Sri Lanka has declared every Wednesday a holiday for public institutions to conserve fuel as the island nation grapples with possible shortages in the wake of the US and Israel's war with Iran. "We must prepare for the worst, but hope for the best," President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said at an emergency meeting with senior officials on Monday. This is the latest in a series of belt-tightening measures undertaken by Asian countries since the war choked off the Strait of Hormuz, which used to carry millions of barrels of oil from the Gulf into the region. Nearly 90% of all the oil and gas flowing through the strait last year was bound for Asia, which is the world's largest oil-importing region.

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Giant tortoises return to Galápagos island after nearly 200 years
Ocean & BiodiversityApril 8, 2026

Giant tortoises return to Galápagos island after nearly 200 years

Excerpt from bbc.com Giant tortoises are roaming the Galápagos island of Floreana for the first time in more than 180 years, in what conservationists have called a "hugely significant milestone". The release of 158 captive-bred juvenile tortoises onto the island is part of the Floreana Ecological Restoration Project led by the Galápagos National Park Directorate. The reintroduction follows a "back-breeding" programme launched in 2017 after scientists discovered tortoises carrying ancestry of the Floreana giant tortoise on nearby Isabela island. Floreana's native species, Chelonoidis niger niger, was driven to extinction in the 1840s by sailors who took thousands from the island for sustenance during long voyages.

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Healthy islands and islanders: Towards a new paradigm for integrating climate change, food security and nutrition in Small Island Developing States
Water & FoodApril 8, 2026

Healthy islands and islanders: Towards a new paradigm for integrating climate change, food security and nutrition in Small Island Developing States

Excerpt from odi.org As climate change intensifies, small island nations are facing growing threats to their food security. This policy brief from the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI) looks at how climate, food, and policy are often treated separately, and why that needs to change. It highlights the unique pressures shaping island food systems and sets out a roadmap for more joined-up thinking, investment, and action.

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Indonesian communities push to reclaim lands following company permit revocations
Culture & CommunityApril 1, 2026

Indonesian communities push to reclaim lands following company permit revocations

Excerpt from news.mongabay.com MEDAN, Indonesia — Sahala Pasaribu, 35, walks on customary land his family has not been able to manage for more than three decades since PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), a pulpwood company, took control of it. Now, after the government decided to revoke the company’s permit in January, he hopes it’s possible. “We feel free to manage our own land without the intimidation we often faced,” said Sahala, head of Natinggir village in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. He succeeded his father, Tomu Pasaribu, who died in 2024. He has already begun replanting the land with secondary crops, such as corn and vegetables. His family also plans to restore a customary forest, which they say is sacred. But whether he, and others from dozens of Indigenous communities whose lands were held by the company, can legally reclaim their customary lands remains unclear. At the start of 2026, the government decided to revoke PT TPL’s forest utilization permit, along with those of 27 other companies, over violating environmental and forestry regulations it said contributed to deadly floods and landslides in November 2025. But according to officials, lands under these permits will be managed by state-owned companies under the sovereign investment agency Danantara. Some companies have also indicated they will appeal the revocations of their permits. Pressure from communities on the government for clarity about whether they can take back lands has so far gone unanswered.

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Cli­mate resi­li­ence and inclus­ive water access in Jamaica
Water & FoodApril 1, 2026

Cli­mate resi­li­ence and inclus­ive water access in Jamaica

Excerpt from pressreader.com THROUGHOUT THE mid-20th cen­tury to the present, one of the fore­most global issues has been that of cli­mate change and its com­pound­ing impacts on the global pop­u­lus. Due to global warm­ing, modi­fic­a­tions in weather pat­terns have res­ul­ted in increased extreme weather events, unpre­dict­able water avail­ab­il­ity, and increased water scarcity (UNICEF, 2024). In Jamaica, an intens­i­fic­a­tion of hydro­cli­matic vari­ab­il­ity across sea­sons is being observed, mani­fes­ted as a shift in the island’s tra­di­tional rain­fall pat­terns. Over recent years, pre­cip­it­a­tion events have been char­ac­ter­ised by unpre­dict­able, short-dur­a­tion, high-intens­ity storms, which gen­er­ate rapid sur­face run­off rather than infilt­ra­tion and ground­wa­ter recharge. Sim­il­arly, the occur­rence of drought has become increas­ingly peri­odic. Unpre­dict­able rain­fall has also meant longer dry spells, plunging Jamaica into drought-like con­di­tions for months at a time. Dur­ing an inter­view with Dr Arpita Man­dal, senior lec­turer at the Uni­versity of the West Indies, Mona, she stressed that “increases in drought-like con­di­tions affect all sec­tors across the island”. The per­petual impacts of cli­mate change on Jamaica’s sub­stand­ard water dis­tri­bu­tion net­work spe­cific­ally, however, deep­ens island­wide water inequity. Water inequity is the unequal access to water resources and ser­vices shaped by social, eco­nomic, polit­ical, and envir­on­mental dis­par­it­ies, affect­ing vul­ner­able groups (Sus­tain­ab­il­ity Dir­ect­ory, 2025). As unpre­dict­able rain­fall and droughts occur more habitu­ally, impacts on water resources are inev­it­able, neces­sit­at­ing resi­li­ent and equit­able water-man­age­ment solu­tions for groups facing unique vul­ner­ab­il­it­ies.

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Tourist visits to Madagascar help conserve some forests, but others suffer: study suggests what to do
Tourism & Remote WorkApril 1, 2026

Tourist visits to Madagascar help conserve some forests, but others suffer: study suggests what to do

Exceprt from theconversation.com Madagascar is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. The island country is well known for its diverse and endangered range of wildlife. This includes over 100 species of lemurs and six species of majestic baobab trees found nowhere else. The country is also among the world’s poorest. About 80% of its population live below the international poverty line of US$2.15 a day. Attracting tourist visits to protected areas, such as Analamazaotra-Mantadia National Park, has long been one of Madagascar’s policy priorities. The aim is to channel tourist income towards conserving these areas. Tourist revenue is also supposed to reduce poverty through foreign currency revenue, job creation, and infrastructure development.

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UM Computer Scientists Land Grant to Improve Models of Melting Greenland Glaciers
Climate ActionApril 1, 2026

UM Computer Scientists Land Grant to Improve Models of Melting Greenland Glaciers

Excerpt and Photo Credit from umt.edu MISSOULA – The melting Greenland ice sheet and glaciers contribute significantly to global sea level rise. Now two University of Montana researchers are using advanced neural networks, machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve climate models to better predict the threat to coastal areas. Assistant Professor Jacob Downs and Associate Professor Doug Brinkerhoff are faculty members in UM’s Department of Computer Science. They earned a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to train neural nets on historical data, which should build capacity to project future glacier evolution. Neural networks are highly flexible computational models loosely inspired by the human brain, Downs said. Just as human brains use interconnected neurons to process information, these networks transform complex data to detect underlying patterns.

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Palau Retirees Push ‘Community Bridge’ to Bolster Elder Care Without Uprooting Traditions
Culture & CommunityApril 1, 2026

Palau Retirees Push ‘Community Bridge’ to Bolster Elder Care Without Uprooting Traditions

Excerpt from islandtimes.org KOROR, Palau (March 17,2026) — “Caring for elders at home is deeply rooted in Palauan culture and family responsibility,” said Madelsar, an organizer with the retirees association. Community programs can supercharge this by delivering caregiver training, medical gear, clinic rides, and health worker visits, she said, helping families tap Social Security, pensions, and resources to keep elders safe at home. These initiatives also keep retirees vibrant through storytelling, volunteering, and mentoring youth. “These efforts also keep retirees active in their communities through knowledge sharing, volunteerism, and intergenerational engagement, reinforcing the cultural value that elders remain respected contributors to society,” Madelsar said. For outer islands, mobile clinics, local leader partnerships, and retiree registries are key. “Support for elders in the outer states can be improved through mobile services, stronger coordination with local leaders, and community registries of retirees,” she explained. “Practical measures include periodic medical outreach teams, transportation assistance for clinic visits, telehealth services, and better coordination between state governments and national agencies.”

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