Photo: Benny Lin via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
In today’s edition: a former airport in Toronto is being turned into a $30 billion sustainable city; the Ocean Cleanup project removed a record 25 million kilos of plastic in 2025; and Teen Line’s peer-to-peer hotline offers mental health support run entirely by trained teenagers.
Toronto’s former Downsview Airport is being reimagined as YZD: a $30 billion sustainable urban district built around nature, walkability, and low-carbon living. The plan replaces runways with green neighbourhoods, transit-first streets, and parks, anchored by the 1.6-mile former runway, transformed into a tree-lined, pedestrian boulevard.
Source: Newsweek
The milestone, reported by the Dutch nonprofit in its year-end summary, brings its total plastic recovery to more than 45 million kilos since operations began, making 2025 the project’s most impactful year yet in the fight against marine pollution.
Source: Noticias Ambientales
Spain’s socialist-led coalition government has approved a decree it said would regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, rejecting the anti-migration policies and rhetoric prevalent across much of Europe.
Source: The Guardian
The UK is set to partner with nine other European countries, including Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands, on a large-scale offshore wind project in the North Sea. The government says the partnership will increase clean energy supply and cut emissions, all while simultaneously improving energy security by lowering reliance on fossil fuels.
Source: BBC News
In Ireland, an HPV vaccine “catch-up” drive has begun giving free vaccines to 5th and 6th year students, with 2nd through 4th years starting in the fall. Initially just for 1st years, the expansion plans to include anyone who missed that opportunity, with a target of eliminating cervical cancer by 2040.
Source: Euractiv
Redesigning its streets around people rather than cars, Hoboken used detailed crash data to target its most dangerous intersections and protect its most vulnerable road users. The solution focused on proven safety upgrades like curb extensions that slow vehicles, shorten crossings, and improve sightlines, alongside redesigns near schools, parks, and senior centres.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
The community-based organisation GoodGym encourages people to stay active by walking, running, or cycling to do practical good – whether that’s sorting donations at food banks, cleaning up local streets or supporting older residents, with no memberships or equipment required.
Source: AP News
As youth mental health needs rise and federal funding for support declines, Teen Line is a people-centered solution: peer-to-peer support run by trained teenagers via text, email and phone. The hotline connects callers with volunteers as young as 14 who undergo a rigorous, months-long selection and training process covering crisis response, active listening, and emotional regulation.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
On Dal Lake in Kashmir, classrooms anchored on water are helping children overcome accessibility barriers that make traditional, in-school education unreachable. Born from a small local initiative, these floating schools now serve families across the lake’s scattered hamlets, with the model set to expand to other regions.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
At Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow, a new programme is helping fathers behind bars strengthen their bonds with their children. Men first learn parenting skills in class, then put them into practice during supervised play sessions with their kids inside the prison. Modelled on Australia’s Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids scheme, the initiative aims to reduce reoffending rates by giving fathers a meaningful role in their children’s lives.
Source: BBC News
