People Fixing the World

A suit originally designed for astronauts has been adapted to save the lives of mothers who experience bleeding after giving birth. It stems the bleeding, buying time until people in remote areas can get to hospital for treatment. Produced and presented by Craig Langran

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 forest in just a few years. At that size they won’t make much of a dent in global warming but they do have many benefits including bringing increased biodiversity into the heart of the city. Produced and presented by Richard Kenny Picture: Afforestt

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 just one day. But are their solutions any good and can they survive in the real world? Nick Holland went to Dhruv Boruah’s first solutions event in 2019. Two years on, he tracks down some of the people who were there to see whether anything came of their ideas. Produced and presented by Nick Holland

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, healthcare and more - and save the planet at the same time. Economist Kate Raworth, who came up with the idea, explains how it works. And we visit projects in Amsterdam that are using the model to provide food, clothing and sustainable housing. Produced and presented by Anna Holligan.

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 project where residents have to promise to socialise has coped with Covid. And the latest from a pharmacist in the Netherlands - after a setback, her operation to make cheap medication for her patients has started up again. Produced and presented by Claire Bates

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-to-be and their unborn babies dying in childbirth because they couldn’t get to hospital in time. Their solution also inspired the state government to help thousands of other women. Produced and presented by Bara’atu Ibrahim

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 world, each trying to perfect lab-grown or cultured meat. It’s a huge challenge in bioengineering to make it work at a cheap enough price. But there are big benefits for the planet if they can pull it off. Presented by Amy Elizabeth Produced by Amy Elizabeth and Tom Colls Image: Lab-grown meat produced by Memphis Meat

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 sense when it’s dark and switch the lights on. And researchers in the UK are developing strains of fungi that won’t just replace plastic, but eat it as well. Produced and presented by Claire BatesPicture: Getty Images

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 perovskites were discovered more than 150 years ago. More recently, their crystal structure has been copied using other materials and used to produce energy.If it can be made to work, these crystals could be used to literally print out solar cells to put on skyscraper walls, furniture and electrical gadgets. Produced and presented by Tom CollsImage: Olga from Saule Technology

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 on solar power. Plus we visit the solar farm that’s plugged directly into a railway in Britain and hear about Indian Railways’ big plan for converting to renewable power.Produced and presented by Richard Kenny