Stay ConnectedDiscover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.
A weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them.
Presenter Myra Anubi speaks to reporters, experts and innovators to investigate how effective different solutions are, share their successes and inspire listeners with what is possible.
Copyright: © (C) BBC 2022
“Fabulous idea” or “waste of money”? Clever observations from our audience about solutions we’ve covered on People Fixing the World. Many are funny and offer fresh perspectives.
Regular listeners will know that as well as podcasts, we also make videos that we post on social media. Our viewers love to comment and ask questions, and this episode is made up of these thoughts.
Among the solutions coming under public scrutiny today are The Dog Poo Detectives, Electric Trucks and The Glasses Made From Coffee. Presenters Nick Holland and Kat Hawkins get through as many reviews as possible. There are some good ones, some bad ones and a few stinkers.
An idea used in video games is helping LGBTQ people in the Middle East talk safely online. Coming out can be particularly hard, especially if there are no support groups to go to. As a result, the internet is sometimes the only place people feel they can be open about their sexuality, seek advice, and meet like-minded people.
But in some countries, opening up on websites to people you’ve never met can expose you to blackmail, surveillance, even police entrapment and prosecution. So one woman has come up with a solution - she has built a website that uses gaming software to protect its users.
We hear from her and users who say the site has transformed their lives.
Produced by Jo Mathys
People living in this block of flats sign a contract to socialise together for at least two hours a week.
The new housing experiment in Sweden is aimed at the two age groups most likely to feel lonely: under-25s and pensioners. A former home for the elderly has been given a revamp, creating plenty of communal areas designed to encourage mingling between the different generations.
While loneliness can happen wherever you live, it is a big talking point in Sweden where more than half of all households only have one occupant and it is common to rent an apartment by yourself as soon as you leave school.
Maddy Savage meets tenants taking part in the shared living experiment and looks at other solutions designed to help young Swedes who are lonely.
Reporter: Maddy Savage
(Photo Credit: BBC)
Men and boys are being taught how to tackle some of the uncomfortable truths about everyday sexism.
Many don’t realise the extent of the problem - cat-calling, unwelcome comments and dominating behaviour are all things that women across the world put up with on a daily basis.
This week’s solution looks at a project called the Good Lad Initiative in the UK, which is trying to help men understand why it happens and how they can help change things. It also helps them to improve their relationships with other men and challenge traditional values.
Robbie Wojciechowski meets ambassadors for the group as they train and he finds out how positive masculinity workshops are creating communities of men who want to help in the fight for equality. Produced by Robbie Wojciechowski for BBC World Service.
(Photo credit: Good Lad Initiative)
If exercise were a drug, almost every single person on Earth would be prescribed it in the later years of their lives. The health benefits for older people are massive – it can help reduce the risk of dementia, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, depression, heart disease and more.
But not enough older people are getting the benefits of this “miracle cure” – as the UK and Ireland’s Academy of Medical Royal Colleges describe it. They are living out their retirements suffering from chronic illnesses, while health services struggle with the costs of looking after an aging population.
Where there’s a problem, though, People Fixing the World finds a solution. Around the world, imaginative projects are springing up to try to get older people exercising. We hear from veteran cheerleaders in South Korea, walking footballers in the UK and the mayor giving out free gym vouchers in Finland.
Reporters: Tom Colls, Olivia Lang and Erika Benke
(Photo Caption: An older person exercising / Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Women in Uganda are learning how to treat their neighbours for depression. That’s because there aren’t enough resources for professional care, especially for people from poor backgrounds.
An organisation called StrongMinds sets up group therapy sessions across the country, and when clients come out of depression, some are trained to run courses for other women.
People Fixing the World visits a session in Kampala to see how it works and meet women whose lives have changed dramatically.
Produced by Reha Kansara for the BBC World Service
(Photo credit: Kwagala DeLovie)
What if all the energy used at the gym was directed towards helping others, rather than lifting useless weights and running nowhere on a treadmill? That thought struck Ivo Gormley 10 years ago. So instead of running on a treadmill, he started running to see an elderly person twice a week. A few friends liked his idea, and the Good Gym was born.
Today, you can find the organisation in more than 50 areas across the UK. It combines fitness with volunteering. One of its activities involves younger members running to visit older people - both groups can be at risk of feeling lonely and isolated, particularly in big cities. People are also invited to work on community projects - a group runs to the job together, helps out, then runs back. It has been particularly successful at attracting women who tend to exercise less than men.
Reporter Dina Newman
(Photo credit: Good Gym)
As thousands of people are moved in the evacuation of the area around the Taal volcano in the Philippines, Ecuador - which has more than 20 active volcanoes - is looking at how to protect people there.
A scientist based in Quito has designed a system to forecast dangerous activity. The Red Cross is working closely with him, so they can now warn people of potential disaster further in advance - giving a bigger time window in which to move themselves and livestock, and get medical backup in place.
It is part of a radical rethink in the way humanitarian aid is delivered, using forecasts to give people more warning and help them prepare before nature strikes. But funding a project like this means asking donors to donate cash to a disaster which may never happen. Reporter Jo Mathys
(Photo credit: Red Cross)
If you had a rare disease and the only drug that could help you suddenly shot up in price how would you feel? What if your health service or insurer decided it was too expensive and they wouldn’t fund it any more? This is the problem facing some patients in the Netherlands.
In order to encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in developing drugs for rare diseases, the EU allows them to have a 10-year monopoly. The number of these drugs has risen as a result, but the way the rules are written has created a problem. Pharma companies have been able to re-register old drugs that were used for other diseases and then, with their legal monopoly, raise the price significantly.
While some countries might accept the price rise, the Netherlands hasn’t, and small-scale pharmacists there are stepping in. They’re making small quantities of some of the drugs themselves and giving them to patients, at a fraction of the cost. People Fixing the World hears from the patients, pharmacists and big pharma companies who are trying to find a way forward.
Reporter: Charlotte Horn
(Photo Credit: Marleen Kemper)
Using lasers or asteroids to move our planet away from the sun may sound extreme, but a few scientists have come up with plans to do just that.
The sun’s power is slowly increasing. Over the next billion years or so, the extra energy is going to boil off the oceans and make the earth inhospitable.
Given the timescales involved, you might think this is someone else’s problem. But such is the human enthusiasm for problem-solving, potential solutions have been found - from shooting asteroids past the Earth to creating a gigantic solar sail.
We meet the scientists who are trying to figure out how to save the planet from the sun.
Presenter: Kat Hawkins Reporter: Tom Colls
Image: The Earth in space. Credit: Getty Images
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