Inspiring News Articles
Excerpts of Highly Inspiring News Articles in Major Media
Below are one-paragraph excerpts of highly inspiring news articles from the major media. Links are provided to the original inspiring news articles on their media websites. If any link fails, read this webpage. The most inspiring news articles are listed first. You can also explore the news articles listed by order of the date posted. For an abundance of other highly inspiring material, see our Inspiring Resources page. May these inspiring news articles inspire us to find ever more ways to love and support each other and all around us to be the very best we can be.
It is surprisingly quiet inside the construction site of a high school extension in Sickla, a former industrial area in south Stockholm that is set to become part of the "largest mass timber project in the world." "It's a fantastic working environment – no concrete dust, no silica dust issues. It's clean and quiet," said Niklas Häggström, the project area manager at Atrium Ljungberg, and responsible for the realisation of the entire Wood City project, when we walk around the site. In total, 25 neighbourhoods will cover 25 hectares. The first buildings are scheduled for completion in 2025, with the next phase – including 2,000 homes – planned for 2027. It is an enormous project, but with timber Atrium Ljungberg can build 1,000 sq metres a week. In 2022 Atrium Ljungberg set an ambitious goal to become climate neutral by 2030. Just by choosing timber as the structural material, the company has said it reduces its climate impact by about 40%, a claim backed up by researchers at Linköping University. If other companies were to follow suit, one study found that building with wood instead of concrete and steel in 80% of new buildings would help offset half of Europe's construction industry emissions. Another study found that wooden buildings continue to be climate friendly – a four-storey wooden building results in a net uptake of 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The hope is that the city will also improve the wellbeing of the people inside the buildings.
Note: Explore more positive stories like this in on healing the Earth.
For more than two decades, Theresa S. Betancourt has followed the lives of children (now adults) who returned home after being forced to fight in the civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002. Thousands of children unwillingly participated in the violent conflict as soldiers, spies and laborers. Many took part in attacks on their own neighbors and relatives, many faced sexual violence, many witnessed unspeakable atrocities. Sahr ... was kidnapped as a toddler and spent four years with rebel fighters, returned to rejection and isolation. Then there is Isatu, age 12 when rebels attacked her village, capturing her and her sister. Isatu's experience upon her return was much different. Initial support from her family and community, combined with her own motivation, led to more help from an extended network. "Isatu's perseverance generated additional ripples of support, soon to become a self-fulfilling virtuous cycle," Betancourt writes. Isatu is now a doctor. In her new book, Betancourt ... shares what she has learned about the factors that have helped some of these people recover and even thrive. Shadows into Light is both heart-wrenching and heartening. It tells the stories of the trauma these children faced, their reunion with family, their reintegration into their communities, and their ongoing struggles and healing. One research finding is the importance of family, community, and societal and cultural influences on a person's trajectory - what psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner described as "social ecology."
Note: About 160,000 former child soldiers and their families have been "reintegrated" into Nigerian society, according to estimates by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Explore more positive stories like this on healing the war machine.
