Global Us: What connects us all

At the jungle school in the Bukit Tigapuluh national park in Sumatra orangutans are trained for when they're later released into the wild.

Spending hours a day stuck in traffic jams is normal for Bangkok's commuters. Public transport is run-down and unreliable. Electric tuk-tuks are a green and efficient alternative, and the elevated rapid transit system, the Skytrain, is set to be expanded.

Adela Vasquez lives with her five children in the highlands of Chiapas. Her family congregates in the kitchen where she makes fresh tortillas twice a day on her 'comal', a traditional griddle.

Amsterdam has big plans: the city wants to achieve a circular economy by 2050. This means that emissions will be minimized, and waste will be recycled as far as possible. New technology enables all kinds of waste to be removed from the canals.

Affordable housing of adequate size and location is pure luxury in many cities. Leilani Farha, a former UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, is calling on the global real estate sector to recognize that housing is a human right.

Architect Nilanjan Bhowal wants to do something about Delhi's profusion of poorly constructed and polluting buildings. He designs sustainable buildings inspired by traditional construction methods.

Visiting research scholars at the Alfred Wegener Institute spent a year working on the German North Sea island of Heligoland. And they are still out there, 50 kilometers from the coast. The coronavirus crisis cut them off from their families.

Thailand's work elephants often lead a miserable existence. Animal welfare activist Lek Chailert has set up a sanctuary for rescued elephants in northern Thailand. There the animals can enjoy their retirement.

With her NGO Toybank, Shweta Chari fights for every child's right to play. She says it's the only way they can develop into happy and empathetic people. Together with schools and communities, she builds play areas for children.

For centuries the Nenets people have wandered across northern Russia with their reindeer. But now, climate change threatens to bring an end to their nomadic existence. Researchers are looking for a way out of this man-made crisis.