People Fixing the World
Episodes
How to make fishing nets less destructive
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fish have favourite colours and dolphins hate high pitched noises. In an effort to save rapidly dwindling global fish stocks, scientists are trying ...
Making hospitals less stressful
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hospitals can make you sicker. It's a strange thought for places that also can make you healthier. But think about the constant noise, the distinctive...
Using haircuts to fight oil spills
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When you get your hair cut, you probably don't think much about what happens to the bits that get chopped off.But it turns out that rather than being ...
Insects fixing the world
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From an industrial-scale fly factory in London to farming bugs in the Madagascan rainforest, insects are being put to work all around the world. Th...
Prison Voicemail: Messages from behind bars
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Prison Voicemail app connects inmates and their families, helping them stay in touch throughout a sentence. We hear a mum and daughter using the...
Violent partners: The ‘window’ strategy
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Police in Iceland treat domestic violence differently.Leaving an abusive relationship is hard, and many victims stay with physically or mentally hurtf...
Training police to patrol each other
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How do you get officers to step in to prevent other officers from harming the public? “Loyalty isn't saying: ‘Well, you've done something wrong,...
The house that fights malaria
08 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Malaria kills more than half a million people per year. We meet the innovators who are using buildings, lights, genes and vaccines to fight the mosqui...
Using VR to change lives
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Virtual Reality is being used by researchers around the world to change people’s lives – helping them confront their own fears and change how they...
How to fight fake health news
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Could a video game where you pretend to spread Covid misinformation actually make you less susceptible to real-life fake news? Fake news, conspiracy...
Making clean water with rubbish
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A Ugandan chemist has found a way to use old cattle bones and food waste to make clean water.Timothy Kayondo turns the rubbish into activated carbon, ...
Catching up with our solution seekers
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How are Covid sniffer dogs, a sturdy bicycle scheme and balloons beaming down the internet getting on? We catch up with a few of the projects featured...
The forest sound detectives
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists are checking up on the health of forests by analysing the sounds in them. They test their vital signs by measuring the croaks, tweets and...
The moo loo and other stories
28 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Training cows to use the toilet and a bouncy castle that fights climate change are some of the surprising solutions today. Humans have been training...
Creating an alternative gig economy
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the innovators who want to change gig work for the better.When we order a pizza on a Friday night or use a ride-sharing app to get home, it’s l...
How to make electricity for your neighbours
14 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hundreds of millions of people don’t have access to electricity. But all over the world, people are joining forces to provide a home-grown solution ...
Food waste: The solar dryer solution
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A simple system for saving food and empowering women on the show today. Hundreds of millions of tonnes of food go to waste every year, much of it befo...
Ways to save the planet: Using the sun
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Floating solar panels and a see-through pyramid are the solutions this week. The sun is the ultimate source of energy for life on earth. Harnessing ...
The tiny satellites changing how we see Earth
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
CubeSats are small but mighty. They started as an educational toy in 1999, but now help people tackle issues from deforestation in Brazil to modern sl...
The 15-minute city
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everything you need on your doorstep: a radical plan to improve our cities. Imagine if everything you needed - your work, leisure an...
COP26: The tech helping you to help the planet
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change is set to alter our planet and human beings need to change the way we live and work. But how do we know exactly what changes to make? ...
Ways to save the planet: Ancient solutions
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sixteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions could be saved by using biochar, a simple fertilising technique adopted by tribes in the Amazon thousands ...
How to spot fake drugs with a mobile phone
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Fake medicines are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide each year. But inventors around the world are coming up with ways to spot...
Talking signs, amazing peas and planes mapping fires
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Signs that connect to a mobile phone app, which then reads the information out loud, are appearing in some cities. The technology is designed to help ...
Can computer games improve mental health?
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Apart of Me is a computer game that has been designed to help young people process grief. It’s part of a movement that’s bringing together psych...
Robots on the beat
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Police forces in the US are turning to futuristic technology to tackle a rise in violent crime and murder across the country. In one area of Califor...
Helping animals cross the road and other obstacles
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Irrigation pipes have been designed to double as mid-air walkways to help slow lorises cross open farmland in Indonesia; and a footbridge has been bui...
Saving mums and their unborn babies
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Women in a village in Northern Nigeria have come up with an emergency transport scheme that is saving lives. They decided to act when they saw mums-...
The hotel for homeless people
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What would happen if the government of a country decided to try to find everyone who was homeless and living on the streets and offer them a place to ...
The library where the books are people
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
At the human library you borrow a person you wouldn’t usually meet for a half-hour frank conversation. The volunteers have various book titles from ...
Ways to save the planet: Fridge detectives
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Two sources of greenhouse gas could be lurking in your kitchen: rice and fridges. We meet a biologist breeding climate-friendly rice, and a team of de...
Ways to save the planet: Swap concrete for wood
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Wood is strong enough to build skyscrapers, and bamboo - the fastest growing plant in the world - can also be used for building. Both suck up large am...
The seaweed farmers adapting to warming seas
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Seaweed - we have been using it for centuries in food and toiletries. It can help to keep toothpaste and ice cream soft, as well as being a tasty snac...
Locust hunters
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
People in Kenya have been paid to catch swarms of locusts eating farmers’ crops. The insects are full of protein and the captured ones are ground up...
Turning preachers into LGBT allies
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The LGBT community in Mombasa, Kenya has suffered from violent mob attacks in recent years - often fuelled by influential preachers spreading messages...
The ATMs that dispense clean fuel
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sleek blue machines have been popping up in convenience stores across Nairobi over the past two years. These “Koko points” look like cash machines...
Introducing: Season 2 of 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How animals make us smarter – we thought you might like to hear our brand new episode. It’s about a robotic arm inspired by an elephant’s trunk....
Unsung victories in the fight against disease
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Recent years have seen remarkable successes against some of the most unpleasant illnesses on the planet. While much of the world’s focus has been...
How five friends can change a refugee’s life
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dutch friends Evelien and Roel are part of a group sharing their social networks and local knowledge with Laila, a Syrian refugee, and her family. The...
The great mosquito swap
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A large study published in June showed how a peculiar intervention could help prevent the spread of dengue fever. Instead of vaccinating people, the W...
The career where it helps to have a criminal past
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Former criminals are being employed to run part of the probation system in one of America’s deeply troubled, gang-ridden communities. It’s a bold ...
Test-tube rhinos
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have hatched an incredible plan to save the northern white rhino from extinction. The team is using IVF techniques to produce a calf becaus...
Smashing the glass ceiling for young Africans
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A young Zimbabwean, Farai Munjoma, has set up a network of mentors to help Africa’s youth achieve their dreams. The idea is to link young people u...
The helpline for jealous and violent men
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week we hear from Colombia, where a helpline with a difference recently opened. Its aim is to stop domestic violence, but instead of targeting vi...
Turning the desert green
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Sinai desert in Egypt is a dry, barren place where not much grows. But Ties van der Hoeven has come up with a scheme to turn it into a green and f...
Catching up with the problem solvers
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are stickers still saving lives? Was a coral reef repaired? Did the volcano erupt? In this episode we check back in with three projects that have fe...
Regrowing the rainforest
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It has taken him 40 years, but Omar Tello has turned a patch of exhausted farmland in Ecuador back into rainforest. One of his biggest challenges was ...
Turning oil platforms into reefs
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are thousands of oil and gas platforms in the world’s oceans and in the coming decades many will become obsolete. Some people think that inste...
The forest sound detectives
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists are checking up on the health of forests by analysing the sounds in them. They test their vital signs by measuring the croaks, tweets and ...
The detection dogs tracking poachers and Covid-19
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Marlo the labrador is learning how to sniff out Covid-19 in the UK. In Tanzania, Polish hound Thor is on the track of wildlife poachers. We explore ho...
Pedal power: How bicycles can change lives
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is the story of how one man is trying to transform lives through the power of the humble bicycle. Many rural communities in rural Africa don’...
Shred it yourself: The DIY plastic recyclers
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Machines to shred, melt and mould waste plastic are popping up in workshops around the world - from the UK to Malaysia, Kenya to Mexico. The projec...
Helping animals cross the road and other obstacles
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Irrigation pipes have been designed to double as mid-air walkways to help slow lorises cross open farmland in Indonesia; and a footbridge has been bui...
Watching out for Gran with help from her toaster
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As many countries contemplate the best way to care for an ageing population, a common question is how to support the elderly to continue living in the...
How to reuse a demolished building
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to construct a new building, just by reusing materials from homes and offices that have been knocked down? That’s the dream of a p...
Using satellite photos to help distribute cash
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Togo has found a high-tech way to identify people who need financial help in the pandemic and send them emergency cash, using satellite photos and mob...
The magic greenhouse
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A greenhouse cooled and humidified by seawater and the wind is transforming arid land. In Somaliland, vegetables have been grown in a spot previously ...
The secret to making your stuff last longer
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world generates more than two billion tonnes of rubbish every year. So we’re visiting companies in Sweden that want to make it easier to mend th...
Tackling sport’s concussion problem
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Head injuries in sport can have a devastating effect on the brain, which is often only noticed later in life. So lots of people are investigating ways...
Beating superbugs
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A small team of Indian scientists think they’ve found a new way to kill superbugs. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are killing hundreds of thousands o...
How to store power in soil and salt
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Giant towers of building blocks rising into the sky and huge vats packed with volcanic rock or molten salt are being used as massive batteries. The...
The breath of life
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A clever invention is saving the lives of hundreds of children.Pneumonia kills about 1.4 million children under five every year. Treatment with concen...
The spacesuits saving mothers’ lives
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A suit originally designed for astronauts has been adapted to save the lives of mothers who experience bleeding after giving birth. It stems the bleed...
A forest down your street
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Forests the size of tennis courts are being planted in towns and cities around the world. They use a special method from Japan which can grow a dense ...
The solutions whisperer
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dhruv Boruah’s mission is to inspire other people to solve problems facing the planet. What’s more, he gets them to come up with their ideas in ju...
Can doughnuts save the planet?
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a ring doughnut. This is the basis of an idea about how we could run the world in a way that gives everyone what they need - food, homes, heal...
What happened next to our problem solvers
29 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We revisit Lewis to find out how the hydrating sweets he designed for people with dementia have gone into production. We find out how a housing projec...
Saving mums and their unborn babies
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Women in a village in Northern Nigeria have come up with an emergency transport scheme that is saving lives. They decided to act when they saw mums-...
Making meat in a lab
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine if the meat we ate was all grown in shiny silver vats, with no animals harmed in the process. That’s the vision of start-ups around the wo...
Building with fungi
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Companies are growing light and durable packaging from mycelium that is easy to compost. Another team in Europe is creating a fungal home, which will ...
Perovskites: The future of solar?
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A new kind of solar cell - made by drying a special liquid on a surface - is being heralded as a revolution in solar power. The minerals known as pero...
Riding the solar railway
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can you make the railways greener by powering trains with energy from the sun? We hear about the pioneering train in Australia that’s run entirely o...
From prison to star employee
17 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why former criminals are being chosen for jobs at hundreds of companies in a small US city.One boss even tells us that some violent and sex offenders ...
Audience takeover: Your questions answered
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Audience members praise and pick holes in solutions we’ve covered. Nick Holland and Kat Hawkins hear the best comments and questions and try to get ...
Teenage inventor special
03 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this inspiring episode, we hear ideas from high school students in Asia, Africa, Europe and America. They’ve created a new form of sound insulati...
Saving Cape Cod’s dolphins
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The mass stranding of dolphins, orcas and whales is depressingly common. We join a team on the East Coast of the United States who have dramatically i...
How to put the internet in a box
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you take a little box containing some of the vast knowledge amassed on the internet, to communities that live offline? From a pea...
How jellyfish can help us
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jellyfish blooms can cause havoc, scaring away tourists, clogging up fishing nets, and even getting stuck in power station cooling pipes. But scie...
Training police to patrol each other
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A growing number of police departments in the US are introducing a new concept in their training - teaching officers on the beat how to step in when t...
Getting rid of AI bias
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not just search engines that are powered by artificial intelligence. From the courts to the jobs market, AI is influencing decisions that have ...
How to prevent drowning
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We hear how AI lifeguards are helping to spot danger on Israel’s beaches, while on Lake Victoria special forecasts for fishermen are saving hundreds...
Smartphones saving the rainforest
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Old smartphones powered by solar panels are being used to catch illegal loggers in rainforests across the world. Each year, more than 150 million mob...
A happier planet
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Looking for the happiest places in the world. We follow in the tracks of someone who gave up his job to cycle round the world to investigate happiness...
Keeping data forever
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Could your family photos end up being stored on a piece of glass? Might you find yourself saving a file to DNA storage? Or downloading a video from a ...
Could a device invented in the 1930s help end period poverty?
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Period poverty affects girls and women across the world who can’t afford to buy sanitary pads or tampons each month. So what are the alternatives? I...
The mums saving each other from a taboo condition
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Get rid of the girl who smells" - this is the reaction thousands of traumatised new mothers face every year because of a condition called fistula. Bu...
The tech doctors forecasting heart failure
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Monitoring devices implanted in a person’s chest are helping doctors predict if something is about to go wrong with a patient’s heart. Sometimes t...
Prison Voicemail: Messages from behind bars
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Prison Voicemail app connects inmates and their families, helping them stay in touch throughout a sentence. We hear a mum and daughter using th...
Financing the forests
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Protecting the rainforest could make people millions of dollars under a pioneering new scheme.Bankers and conservationists have teamed up to regrow a ...
Life-saving surgery, but not by a doctor
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nurses and midwives in Ethiopia are being trained to perform emergency operations, saving thousands of lives.People Fixing the World follows one of th...
New uses for old solutions
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Two life-saving apps have been adapted to fix problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic - hear how ideas we’ve visited before have developed and grow...
How to get everyone online
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From balloons in the stratosphere to swarms of satellites in space, the race to get everyone online is heating up. The internet may never be more usef...
A future without bees
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tech companies have developed drones to drop pollen on orchards or shoot it at crops through pipes from tractors. They’re responding to a crisis in ...
How tech is tackling wildlife trafficking
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
New technology is helping in the fight against wildlife poaching. Computer scientists have created a programme that uses artificial intelligence to pr...
Personality tests for loans
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A short online test that reveals attitudes, opinions and thought processes is being used to help decide whether to give people loans. The idea is to...
Kids fixing the world
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week we look at four brilliant inventions by children: a phone app to stop drivers missing road signs; a robot that is activated when a vulnerabl...
No more bosses
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can companies operate better without managers? We hear from people who’ve got rid of managers and say it has helped them do a better job, made them ...
The ancient technology getting a second wind
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Old ships, powered by the wind, are sailing small amounts of cargo around the world again to help cut pollution. Some of them were built more than 100...
Electricity that grows on trees
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists in Italy have discovered that trees generate an electrical charge every time the wind blows strongly enough to make their leaves touch one ...
The breath of life
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A clever invention is saving the lives of hundreds of children. Pneumonia kills about 1.4 million children under five every year. Treatment with co...