All across the world, invasive species are on the march. These are plants and animals that take over new areas, throwing nature out of balance. If left unchecked, they can destroy local ecosystems, drive native species to extinction - and put local livelihoods at risk.

But people have been finding innovative ways to combat these invaders… like eating them!

In Belize, we look at how encouraging local fisherman and restaurants to catch and serve up invasive lionfish has helped control their numbers and protect the local reefs.

Meanwhile in Nashville, Tennessee, we see how one urban shepherd is deploying his flock of sheep - dubbed the ‘Nashville Chew Crew’ - to eat invasive plants and weeds across the city.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

email: [email protected]

Image: A lionfish (Getty Images)

In cities across Japan and the Philippines, an app called Tekkon is making data collection cool.

It's a Pokemon GO-style game which pays people with cryptocurrency if they track down broken infrastructure – such as missing manhole covers and tangled electrical wires.

The same technology that makes the cryptocurrency possible - blockchain - is also being used in South Africa to improve the lives of rubbish collectors.

We investigate how this cutting-edge technology is attempting to solve some everyday problems.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

email: [email protected]

Image: Isaiah Demdam

How do you care for someone properly in a hospital or care home if you don’t know who they are?

With US hospitals and care homes seeing fast turnovers of staff, many clinicians don’t get the chance to learn their residents’ backstories. This can lead to patients feeling isolated and misunderstood. Meanwhile, staff miss out on valuable insights which could be incorporated into treatment plans or used to make someone’s hospital stay more comfortable.

But a start-up called MemoryWell is working to fix this by hiring professional writers to create short biographies of residents that get pinned up on their walls. It’s helping staff personalise care for patients and it’s led to valuable points of connection at what can be a difficult and lonely time.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Email: [email protected]

Image: Dot being interviewed for her biography.

As climate change leads to global temperature rises, cities around the world are being faced with extreme levels of heat. This can bring whole cities to a halt, disrupt key infrastructure, and for the most vulnerable in society heat can be a killer.

But where there’s a problem, innovation is never far behind.

We meet the people who are trying to find solutions – from urban designers finding inspiration in ancient technologies to keep cities cool, to social projects offering simple solutions to vulnerable populations.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Email: [email protected]

Image: A hot child.

A young scientist has developed a white powder which gives waste soil concrete-like properties.

Gnanli Landrou grew up in Togo, helping his neighbours dry out soil to make bricks, and his big dream is to help people like them build stronger, cheaper, houses.

But the European building industry is also excited about his new, low carbon building material.

We talk to Gnanli about his ambitions for this extraordinary powder, and meet the Swiss architect who is about to build a luxury apartment block with it.

This episode was first broadcast in May 2022.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Email: [email protected]

Image: Gnanli Landrou

Is it possible for palm oil plantations, wildlife and the rainforest to happily coexist?

Products containing palm oil, including soaps and cosmetics, are used by billions of people worldwide. While the industry is credited with reducing poverty in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, it has also contributed to mass deforestation.

In Malaysian Borneo, only small pockets of pristine rainforest remain, with much of the land taken over by mile after mile of palm oil plantation. But on one plantation, an NGO called Hutan has joined forces with the palm oil growers to try and make them better for nature.

We visit the plantation to see how they're using wildlife corridors to connect the remaining islands of forest.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Email: [email protected]

Image: An orangutan (Credit: Getty Images)

How can you get kids to school safely in a way that’s good for the environment and gives them some exercise too?

Presenter: Myra Anubi

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.

As humanity expands further and further into the wild areas of the world, they are increasingly coming into conflict with the creatures that live there. One of those animals is the elephant. When tensions flare with these huge creatures, lives can be lost on both sides.

We investigate the people trying to resolve these conflicts in a peaceful, bloodless way - like the farmers placing beehives on their fences in Kenya to ward off elephants looking to eat their crops. Because despite their size, it turns out that elephants are scared of bees.

And in India, we meet a woman who is making trying to make sure people get the compensation they deserve when animals damage their land - so they don't let their anger out on the animals.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Email: [email protected]

How do you help older people, and particularly those with dementia, to remain independent for longer?

In Singapore, where dementia affects roughly 1 in 10 people over 60, the government are betting that the re-designing neighbourhoods with an aging population might just be the answer.

Reporter Craig Langran visits the Singaporean suburb of Nee Soon – an area of public housing which has been overhauled by a team of healthcare experts, designers, and residents – and looks at some of the other innovations in elderly care taking place in the country.

And we look at a village in France where everything has been designed especially for people with dementia.

Presenter: Myra Anubi

Email us: [email protected]