People Fixing the World

In many communities grandmothers have a great influence on their families and communities. In Senegal we visit a project using grandmothers to give vital health information to adolescent girls and is also empowering them to influence men to stop practices like female genital mutilation. We also tell the story of the Granny Cloud, a team of volunteer grandmothers from all over the world, who used the internet to reach out to some of the world’s poorest children. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter/Producer: Farhana Haider Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Annie Gardiner Editor: Penny Murphy Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Grandmothers and girls from the The Grandmother Project, Senegal.

Can playing board games help us fix real-world problems?All around the world, people play board games for fun. But in recent years, a new generation of designers have been creating games with a social purpose - to enable understanding about complex problems like climate change, inequality and deforestation, and collaboratively design strategies to solve them.We look at how a group of researchers from Switzerland are creating custom-made board games that help resolve environmental disputes, led by Professor Claude Garcia from ETH Zurich and Bern University of Applied Sciences. Local farmers, businesspeople and government officials play their own roles in the games – which have helped them find compromises that protect the natural world in Indonesia and the Congo Basin.And in London, we also get a first-look at Daybreak, a new cooperative board game designed by Matteo Menapace and Matt Leacock, who designed Pandemic - a game that helped people understand the spread of coronavirus. In Daybreak, they’ve used the best scientific advice to design a game where you work together to try to stop climate change in its tracks.Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporters: Lizzy McNeill and Zoe Gelber Producers: Zoe Gelber, William Kremer and Lizzy McNeill Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.ukImage: The Daybreak board game

The amount of sleep you get makes a huge difference to your life – don’t get enough and it can harm your health, productivity and decision making.But research also suggests that people on lower incomes sleep less, because of things like shift work, overcrowded housing and stress. So how do you improve the sleep of those most in need?We visit a project in the north of England which is recycling old mattresses to help sleep deprived families afford a decent slumber. Myra Anubi talks to a researcher studying the sleep of people living in informal settlements in India and are discovering the power of a little nap. And we find out about a project in Spain which is helping hospital patients sleep more soundly.Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporters: Josephine Casserly and Esperanza Escribano Producer: Craig Langran and Claire Bates Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.ukImage: A bed (Getty Images)

In 2021 a video clip showing a seemingly magical bodysuit when viral on the internet. The clip showed a man who suffered constant convulsions quelling them after activating electrical pads on the suit. Many suggested the video was a hoax, but the Molli suit is real, and it is helping people with a range of conditions from cerebral palsy to multiple sclerosis. William Kremer finds out more.Meanwhile in Japan, one rehabilitation doctor has been on a quest to design a new kind of wheelchair. People with spinal cord injuries or conditions like Parkinson’s propel the Cogy wheelchair by pedalling, not pushing with their arms – allowing them to do physiotherapy while moving around.Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporters: William Kremer and Cheng Herng Shinn Producer: Zoe Gelber Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.ukImage: The Molli suit (Credit: Ottobock)

As the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, we look at the initiatives around the world which are using football as a way to solve problems off the pitch. We meet the people using the beautiful game to support men with their mental health in the UK, bring people together after conflict in Iraq and build the confidence of girls in the Netherlands.Presenter: Myra AnubiReporters: Jo Casserly and Craig Langran Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Emma RipponEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.ukImage: Roxanne ‘Rocky’ Hehakaija

How hard is it for women to break into male-dominated jobs? We look at two projects which are helping women to increase their earnings by training them in forms of work that have traditionally been done by men. In Uganda, we meet the woman training girls in careers from mechanical engineering and welding to carpentry and construction And in India, we visit the college that trains impoverished women from around the world in the nuts and bolts of solar technology. As well as the economic benefits, by challenging the status quo these projects are also aiming to empower women and change society.Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter/Producer: Farhana Haider India Reporter: Chhavi Sachdev Series producer: Tom Colls Sound Mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.ukImage: Smart Girls Uganda students working on a car, Kampala.

Tree-planting schemes don’t always work, so what’s the best way to do forest restoration?Projects around the world are planting huge numbers of trees as part of the fight against climate change. But not all of these schemes are successful – leaving dead saplings and wasted money in their wake. People Fixing the World works out how to do it right. In West Africa, we look at how farmers have reforested and restored huge areas without planting a single seed. In Brazil, we visit a project that has planted more than 600,000 trees in the endangered Atlantic Forest. Myra Anubi also hears about new satellite technology which can help us map reforestation across the world, to give a clearer picture of what is and isn’t working when it comes to growing trees.Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Julia Carneiro Producers: Zoe Gelber and William Kremer Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.ukImage: A sapling (Getty Images)

Would you pick up litter if your life depended on it? Around the world, companies and governments are trying to incentivise people to pick up litter and recycle their waste. In Nigeria, we visit the tech start-up which encourages people to pick rubbish up off the street – and then swaps the plastic bottles, cartons and metals they collect for potentially life-saving healthcare.And in Turkey, we meet the mayor on a mission to get his residents recycling, by exchanging their household waste for points that earn them money. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporters: Craig Langran and Kareemot Salami Producer: Jo Casserly Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Recycling in Turkey

Giant seabirds and shellfish are being used to help protect our planet.On an tiny island in the remote Southern Ocean, a French researcher wanted to find out why so many birds were being killed by fishing boats.By attaching radar loggers to Albatrosses, he inadvertently invented a powerful method for tracking down illegal vessels.And in New Orleans in the US, a restaurant owner is recycling tonnes of old oyster shells.They’re being put back in the ocean to protect the shoreline and create new reefs so more oysters can grow.Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Anna Adams Producer: Zoe Gelber Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: An albatross (Getty Images)

How do you help young displaced people get a better start in life?Young people who become refugees often have their education disrupted – which can have a serious impact on their future prospects. But we find out about two schemes that are trying to help. In Jordan, a charity has developed a high school curriculum specifically aimed at young people who are displaced. Amala enables 16-25 year olds to complete their secondary education, and also develop skills that will help their community. And when it comes to further education another organisation in Canada has been helping young refugees. The Student Refugee Program run by the World University Service help them to study at Canadian universities and then settle in the country. We speak to a student who’s been through the scheme, and to one of the volunteers who helped them.Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Lucy Burns Additional production: Craig Langran Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Gareth JonesEditor: Penny MurphyEmail: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.ukImage: Amala graduates in Kenya, (Credit: Chol Ghai Angeth)