People Fixing the World Folgen

Scientists are checking up on the health of forests by analysing the sounds in them. They test their vital signs by measuring the croaks, tweets and hums of resident creatures. If they can hear a full range of animals they can be confident an ecosystem is doing well. However, if gaps start to appear, it’s a sign something is up. Nick Holland hears more about how it works and how it’s being used to strike a balance between the needs of Papua New Guinea’s growing indigenous communities and the need to preserve the biodiversity of the forests they live off. Produced and presented by Nick Holland Image: The Nature Conservancy Repeat - first published 04 May 2021.

Training cows to use the toilet and a bouncy castle that fights climate change are some of the surprising solutions today. Humans have been training animals like dogs and horses for centuries. But how easy is it to train a cow? Well scientists in New Zealand and Germany have been successfully training cows to use a special latrine. The cows get a reward each time they pay a visit. The idea behind it is that by collecting their urine in the latrine, it won't release so much ammonia into rivers and streams. In this programme we are going to look at some unusual solutions to big problems, and solutions to unusual problems you might not know existed. We’ll also hear about a bouncy castle which fights climate change by absorbing CO2, and a project to help people with different size feet find shoes that actually fit. Presenter: Celestina Olulode Reporter and producer: Richard Kenny Image: Dr Matthews (Credit: Dr Caroline Bagshaw)

Meet the innovators who want to change gig work for the better.When we order a pizza on a Friday night or use a ride-sharing app to get home, it’s likely that the person providing the service is a ‘gig worker’ – a flexible employee who picks their own hours and gets paid per-job.The app-based gig economy provides convenience for consumers - and has become an increasingly important part of the global economy over the last 10 years. Workers can log on and off when they chose – but they are often managed by an absent algorithmic middleman, and don’t have access to basic workers’ rights such as sick pay, holiday pay or an hourly wage.But people around the world think that a fairer approach to gig work is possible – from a co-operative run by ex-delivery riders in London to a blockchain based ride-sharing app launching in India. But can these upstarts provide the flexibility and convenience that both workers and consumers have come to expect?Produced and presented by Craig Langran