Global futurist Jack Uldrich: A sustainable economy will require unlearning what we think we know

Illustration by Corey Brickley Learning to Forget interview by Heather Shayne Blakeslee It’s unlikely that any particular college degree would prepare you to become a “futurologist.” But that’s exactly what polymath Jack Uldrich calls himself. His breathless recitations of game-changing inventions and ideas that entrepreneurs and environmentalists should be on the lookout for run the

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6 mins read

The Fight to Divest from Fossil Fuels

Illustration by Nicholas Massarelli Swarthmore students helped spark a national movement toward fossil fuel divestment. But their own school has yet to take action. by Steve Neumann When freshman Kate Aronoff arrived in 2010 on the small, idyllic campus of Swarthmore College, a “Little Ivy” tucked away in the suburbs of Philadelphia, she was already

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15 mins read
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Health Care for All

Big changes to federal policy are cascading into local programs and breaking down barriers to healthier lives for some of our most vulnerable residents

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13 mins read

Philadelphia won’t thrive if we continue to pollute the air we breathe

Illustration by Narrator Choking on the Past by Patrick Ammerman The city of Philadelphia is at a crossroads: We must choose between our past and our future. We are still struggling to fill the most basic needs of our residents: From grossly defunded public schools to the 25 percent unemployment rate among young adults of color,

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3 mins read

Your hybrid car isn’t good for the environment

Illustration by Kathleen White Car Culture Calculus by Jerry Silberman Question: What is best for the environment—a fuel-efficient internal combustion car, hybrid, or electric car? The Right Question: Is driving, regardless of the car, the biggest threat to the environment? When it comes to evaluating a car, we tend to look at how much gasoline

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2 mins read

The Encyclical

Pope Francis, who took his name from St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment, will visit Philadelphia in September of 2015. Long after he has left the City of Brotherly Love, the words from his encyclical letter “On Care for Our Common Home” will be with us. 

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8 mins read

PhillyEarth fosters risk-taking and resilience in North Philadelphia

PhillyEarth permaculture students at the Village of Arts and Humanities stand with their teacher, Jon Hopkins (center) in the middle of their garden | photos by Jared Gruenwald By Marilyn Anthony  The cob oven, hand-built from Warnock Street clay, was nearly finished when it suddenly collapsed. Jon Hopkins, Director of the PhillyEarth project thought, “Oh my

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4 mins read

Freeing bodies and minds for 50 years at the Schuylkill Center

Elementary students at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education get down in the mud during a hike | photo by Rebecca Dhondt   by Justin Klugh  As a child, environmental leader Mike Weilbacher can remember getting lost in the pine woods of Long Island. “That was our home,” he recalls. “We’d go off, two miles away from

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3 mins read
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