This is an invitation to join Peace and Collaborative Development Network, an online initiative to bring together professionals, academics and students involved in Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Development, Democratization, Social Entrepreneurship and related fields.

The network fosters interaction between individuals and organizations around the world and currently has over 5,600 members. The site is a terrific networking tool where you can find local and international partners and practitioners, share resources, read guides to careers, scholarships, internships, funding, and IT resources in the field and exchange best practices. Discussion topics and personal blogs can be posted. The site also has a video section where members can access and view videos related to the field.   Read more...

"It's not their attitudes, it's not their families; the majority of students are one, two, sometimes even three or four years behind," explains Oakland sixth-grade teacher Sam Franklin in a video on the Vida Verde website. The children are motivated to learn, but they are coming from a large gap in educational opportunity and experience. Many children have supportive parents - although frequently the parents don't have a broad knowledge base to pass on - but the families and school districts don't have the budget to provide experiences that many other children take for granted.

Vida Verde begins addressing this problem by providing "at-risk" youth with a three-day environmental education program.   Read more...

I have noticed in my morning commute how jealous people are of their own space on busy sections of freeway. One car will follow another, bumper to bumper, shouting and honking if someone attempts to merge or change lanes. The result is always the same: the merging car goes as far as it can and then wedges into the lane, causing everyone to come to a complete stop. Including the jealous, honking driver who was afraid to give just a little bit of space.

Cami Walker explained in an interview that, before she started her personal 29 days of giving, she was "a selfish, resentful person." However, 29 days of giving have transformed not only her, but a community of over 3,600 committed givers.   Read more...

The tag line for Ashoka's Changemakers initiative is "open sourcing social solutions." Changemakers seeks to develop a community that competes to generate the most effective solutions to social problems and afterwards works together to refine and implement them. The latest Changemakers contest, Cultivating Innovation: Solutions for Rural Communities, focuses on improving the quality of life in impoverished, rural areas.   Read more...

Akoha's cutting-edge approach to gaming takes advantage of the most sophisticated 3D technology to create the world's most massively multi-player game. Interact with almost 7 billion lifelike characters and practically infinite, perfectly-rendered, real-world objects. When you complete a mission - with pulse pounding, a smile tugging at your lips or perhaps with victory arms - you feel as though you are literally inside the game. Because you are. It's the world's first "social reality game."   Read more...

Ashoka's Young Venture, a contest for aspiring young inventors, comes to a close this Sunday. Entrants include such inspiring participants as Cody Smith, a visually impaired inventor who is designing a high-tech pair of glasses that would allow even legally blind individuals to read. The device combines cutting-edge LCD technology with cameras and microcomputers.   Read more...

For the last few years, my husband has been after me to do something with the seeds in our catchall drawer. My response is always, “I am going to plant them in the spring.” But springs seem to come and go lately, and the only germinating that appears to be going on is that of new seeds in the drawer.

I have an affection for gardening and even dried these seeds myself. But a lack of follow through with planting is a sign of change for me. It is a hint that I have outgrown this activity - outgrown it because it doesn’t fit who I am anymore.   Read more...

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently awarded Matthew K. Gold, assistant professor of English at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), a grant for his innovative digital humanities project, “Looking for Whitman: The Poetry of Place in the Life and Work of Walt Whitman.”

The project focuses on a new kind of interactive learning, made possible by recent advances in social networking technologies, that is gradually reshaping academia by expanding the boundaries of education beyond the “walled garden” of traditional academic disciplines, classroom activities and online learning environments.   Read more...

The United States needs to establish individual and family health insurance premiums so that everyone is paying the same percentage of their income per dependent regardless of the source of that income. This percentage would be based on the national cost of health care as a percentage of the gross individual income (not taxable income). In other words, both people on welfare and those earning multi-millions per year would be paying some fair (emotional) share tax deductible premium.   Read more...

‘g’ serves as a one-stop shop, containing items that range from green building materials and home improvements to lifestyle products. With a commitment to make going green a simplistic process, the flagship store - located on Cape Cod in Mashpee, Massachusetts - has grown into a position as a community leader providing affordable and accessible materials under one roof. With continued success in the marketplace of environmentally conscious consumers, ‘g’ Green Design Center offers the opportunity to capitalize on a growing industry.   Read more...