Tourism brings money and opportunities to communities around the world, but it brings risks too. Sometimes an influx of tourists changes a place, damages the environment or leads to the exploitation of local people.

But the social enterprise Local Alike has a different model. They have worked with dozens of villages in Thailand to get them ready before “opening up” to tourists. During this process, which can take months or even years, they help locals identify the meals, activities and sights that will interest visitors, and they bring in outside investment to improve the village. Then they help establish a fair stream of revenue for the community.

We travel with Somsak Boonkam, the founder of Local Alike, as he faces his toughest challenge yet: to work with his own home town as it prepares for tourists.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Just over a quarter of people on the planet live in water stressed countries. And our increasing demands for water as well as climate change is putting even more pressure on this finite resource.

We take a look at how Indian farmers are growing crops with a device that stores rain underground. Plus how a test farm in the US uses a special clay liquid to grow vegetables in the desert. Finally we visit a project in Cyprus that could help coastal cities clean and reuse their wastewater in a more eco-friendly way.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

(Image: Biplab Paul demonstrating his bhungroo device in Gujarat, India, Biplab Paul)

US shopping malls, once a mainstay of American life, are in decline. Forty malls have closed since 2020, while more than 230 department stores have closed in the same time period, according to Green Street, a real estate analytics firm.

But where there is change, there is also opportunity.

After Burlington High School in Vermont had to close its doors because dangerous chemicals were found, the school hopped into a site vacated by Macy’s department store five years earlier.

The children now ride the escalator to class. Elsewhere, malls have been converted into offices, casinos or large healthcare facilities. We explore the surprising second life being offered to these temples of consumerism.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Email: [email protected]

Image: Pupils at a school in a department store.

What we wear helps us express ourselves and communicate to others in the most immediate way. But the tools we frequently use to do that, such as clothing and haircare are not available to everyone equally.

One in six of us has a disability of some sort - according to the World Health Organisation - but most clothing and beauty brands don’t take account of that. From making shops accessible to catering for differences in design and size, few companies address these particular needs.

This week on People Fixing The World we’re talking to people trying to change that. Hair and Care is a London-based hairstyling workshop which helps people with visual impairments take better care of their hair.

Plus, we bring together two entrepreneurs who’ve brought adaptive clothing to Africa and Asia allowing people with disabilities to fully express themselves in the way they dress. We also meet the UK-based adaptive clothing company that could affect the way we all dress – by working with technology companies to develop a scanner that will help in tailoring for all body shapes.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

(Image: Wearapy model photoshoot)

Mexico's capital often floods during the rainy season, but paradoxically, it's also running out of water. A large and growing population, along with crumbling infrastructure and the effects of climate change - are increasingly putting a strain on the city. We meet the army of scientists, activists and urban planners trying to solve this problem - and rethink Mexico City’s relationship with water - including the scientist using plants to clean sewage water and the architect who has designed a park that absorbs excess rainwater.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

(Image: Alejandro Alva in Cuautepac wetland area, Mexico City, BBC)

Poorer countries are likely to bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change, with rising temperatures and more unsettled weather leading to greater stresses on natural resources and often inadequate infrastructure. But whilst there’s a lot of focus on global attempts to limit temperature rises by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, there are many smaller scale projects aimed at both tackling and living with climate change.

On this edition of People Fixing The World, reporter Jane Chambers travels to the small Central American nation of El Salvador. She meets communities working to preserve highly endangered mangrove forests, crucial in protecting coastlines against flooding and valuable carbon sinks. She also visits a “shade coffee” plantation – where coffee is grown beneath a canopy of plants and trees – to hear how the method can help preserve rainforest and protect against soil erosion and water loss. And she visits a project on the Pacific coast that has made huge strides in protecting the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

(Image: Aldo Sanchez and Boanergues Sanchez holding a hawksbill sea turtle, photo by Magali Portillo)

If you could invent a new kind of school what would it look like? What skills would you teach children, and how would the school be run?

On this edition of People Fixing The World we visit the Mechai Pattana School in Thailand which was founded by the campaigner Mechai Viravaidya in 2008, on principals of charity and leadership. Children are responsible for every aspect of running the school, from buying food for the kitchens to disciplining fellow students and even recruiting new staff.

The children also run their own businesses, and perform several hours of community service every week. Many of the students come from underprivileged backgrounds, but their school fees are “paid” by planting 800 trees a year, together with their families.

The idea is for the school to produce “change-makers” – could it be a model for others to follow?

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Across the world millions of women and girls face discrimination and worse because of their gender. On this edition of People Fixing The World we look at projects designed to change attitudes. In India we visit workshops aimed at recruiting younger men as allies in the fight against sexism and gender inequality. And we speak to the founder of Chalk Back, a street art initiative that encourages women to write sexist remarks they’ve been the target of onto pavements in chalk to highlight the problem of street harassment.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Often described as underwater rainforests and the “lungs of the ocean”, kelp forests line as much as 25% of the world’s coastlines. They provide important shelter and food for fish and other marine life, and are vital for our oceans’ ecosystems. However kelp is under severe threat because of climate change, warming seas and overfishing. We look at projects in California aimed at stemming the decline of kelp including how scientists are growing it in a laboratory to be planted at sea as well as tackling a key cause of kelp degradation - sea urchins.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Premature babies often need a lot of expensive specialised care - but that isn’t always available. So, doctors in Colombia are teaching mothers to look after their babies in a similar way that kangaroos look after their own young.

It’s called "kangaroo mother care" and instead of being in an incubator, babies are wrapped tightly against their mother’s skin.

The technique was developed in Bogota in the late 1970s as a response to overcrowding in hospital maternity units. There weren't enough incubators and around 70% of premature babies didn’t survive.

Doctors started using this simple skin-to-skin method. They found it wasn't only saving babies but was also helping them to thrive. Now, kangaroo care has spread around the world.

Presenter: Myra Anubi