ELDERS

The Octogenarian Whose Folk Songs Are Restoring 'the Amazon Of Europe'

Having spent her life caring for livestock on her smallholding in the Carpathian Mountains, 80-year-old Silvia Dan is now starring in an album released in the UK. Made by Romanian-born, Brighton-based artist Nico de Transilvania, the album -- Interbeing -- was recorded in the remote village of Nucsoara, 180km north of Bucharest, where Dan is renowned for the pure beauty of her voice. Local musicians on traditional Romanian flutes are also featured. Described as the Amazon of Europe, the area is renowned for its old-growth forests which support lynx, wolves, and bears, but was severely affected by illegal logging. Every copy of the album sold will go towards planting native trees that are properly protected in law, in a project personally overseen by de Transilvania via her nonprofit, Forests without Frontiers. To Silvia, this means a lot: "It makes me proud that future generations will hear my ancestor's songs." "I am so happy that money raised will help to restore the landscape near my village -- it has been devastating to see the destruction, and this project gives me hope." Read Full Story.

ARTS

Nigerian AI Artist Creates A Fashion Show For Elderly People

Nigerian visual artist Malik Afegbua got worldwide attention when he posted images on social media showing African seniors on a fashion runway, draped in stylish, colorful clothes. But the ground-breaking fashion show never actually took place - the images were entirely generated by artificial intelligence. Until "The Elders Series", Afegbua had only worked experimentally with images of Black people on AI platforms. He found that the images they produced were not very good but he was able to train the AI and improve the images it produced. "Now anyone can go into the AI and put 'a Black man in a fashion show' and you are going to get something like what I did, because it's now in the system," he said. The World Health Organization told him that it views his work as a major, positive contributor to the WHO/UN's Decade of Healthy Aging. Read Full Story.

SCHOOLS

He Was Born Without A Hand -- So His Classmates Built One For Him

For his entire life, Sergio Peralta dreamed about playing catch. When he was born, Peralta said his right arm didn't fully develop; instead, he grew tiny fingers at the end of his arm. So, he learned to do everyday activities with one hand. Over the years, the 15-year-old had lost hope that would change. But after he enrolled at a new high school last fall, engineering students there built him a prosthetic hand – a gesture the sophomore said has changed his life. Now, he can not only toss a ball but also carry water bottles, cups and food with his right hand. The project started when computer science teacher Jeff Wilkins noticed Peralta was the only student who moved his mouse to the left side of his keyboard. He then saw that Peralta didn't have a right hand. A few years earlier, Wilkins had started an engineering program at the school so students could take on projects that improve their community. When he learned about Peralta's hand, he had the idea to make a 3-D printed prosthetic hand. The product the students created has changed Peralta's life. "I want to teach them that products don't have to be about making money. They can be about making someone else have a more fruitful life," said Wilkins. Read Full Story.

COMMUNITY

In These Cities, Car-Free Streets Are Here To Stay

What do San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Dublin, Paris, and São Paulo have in common? Well…they are among the increasing number of cities implementing car- free zones! And the best part? Locals -- including local businesses -- are delighted! "With the closing for cars, people started to walk a lot more, to stroll around, and the sales on Sundays grew sevenfold," one local bookstore manager told Next City. "It was the best thing that could have happened for us. Sundays are now, by far, our busiest days." A new report out of New York City has found that far from hurting restaurants, car-free streets actually increased business for restaurants enrolled in the Open Streets program. In Paris, reports suggest that nitrogen dioxide levels fell by as much as 40% along the Seine during a car-free day in September 2015. Whilst the trend had already started before the Covid-19 pandemic, the highly infectious airborne virus has pushed more cities to get serious about outdoor dining and pedestrianized streets. With such great results and feedback, it looks like car-free zones are here to stay! Read Full Story.

INSPIRATION

The Workers Finding Silver Linings In Layoffs

As significant layoffs persist across nearly all sectors of the global job market, many different types of workers have found themselves cut. For many, the impact is substantial, involving a loss of financial stability, health insurance, confidence or even sense of identity. But for some, the experience of being laid off can catalyze positive change. According to a LinkedIn survey of more than 2,000 US employees in December 2022, 27% of people laid off end up seeing redundancy as the best thing that ever happened to them. Some start their own businesses; others find a new career they love, or use the opportunity to reevaluate their work-life balance. These former employees have found themselves with opportunities they wouldn't have had without going through a job cut. "Layoffs can trigger a deeper investigation of our own selves – away from the context of a particular job or role – and enable us to dive deeper into what it is that makes us who we are," said psychotherapist Eloise Skinner. "When it comes to finding another job, we can then build on a foundation of deeper knowledge about ourselves – what we want, what we value, and who we want to be – and ultimately lead to a more fulfilling career path," she said. Read Full Story.

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