People Fixing the World

We visit farmers growing lettuce, herbs and strawberries indoors in the middle of cities. The plants are stacked up on shelves in vertical farms that use hydroponics and aeroponics to cultivate them.The idea is to grow food closer to where it’s eaten. At the moment, cities get most of their produce delivered from far away, but transporting it uses energy, while fruit and veg can lose their freshness in transit. We visit two European companies hoping to change the supply chain. One makes indoor farming units for food retailers, restaurants and hotels, and the other grows strawberries in shipping containers on the outskirts of Paris. We find out if these pioneers of European urban farming are able to feed our growing cities. Produced and presented by Dina Newman.Picture credit: Getty Images

People around the world are coming up with ways to make the world a quieter place, from portable sound barriers to schemes to stop people honking their car horns.The trouble is that noise from traffic, railways, builders, even neighbours, can have a huge impact on our health and wellbeing, according to the World Health Organization.One of the solutions we look at reduces decibel levels around building sites and music festivals, while another collects acoustic data to help local councils enforce laws if people are being too noisy. Also, a woman in India is doing her bit to reduce noise levels on the streets of Mumbai. Presented and produced by Anisa Subedar Picture credit: Getty Images

Robot shuttles and buses on demand are being tested to persuade more people to use public transport. Tallinn in Estonia and Luxembourg have even made travel free. The aim is to tackle the impact of one billion cars on the world's roads, which have brought some cities to a virtual standstill. But in order to tempt people away from their cars new incentives are needed.Claire Bates tries out schemes that are being developed across Europe.Presented and produced by Claire Bates

It has taken him 40 years, but Omar Tello has turned a patch of exhausted farmland in Ecuador back into rainforest. One of his biggest challenges was repairing the soil. His land was so degraded he had to make enough new soil - from unwanted wood shavings and chicken manure - to cover the entire plot. That alone took about 15 years. He also travelled deep into the Amazon for days at a time, looking for seeds and plants he could rescue. Now his forest is flourishing and the wildlife has returned - it is home to snakes, toucans, monkeys and many other animals. And he is sharing what he has learned to encourage others to protect the rainforests instead of cutting them down. Presented and produced by Jo Mathys.

Human sewage contains lots of valuable nutrients, so should we be recycling it? One of these nutrients is phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertiliser. We need fertilisers to meet the demands of the planet’s growing population, but there is a limited supply of phosphorus. Once it finds its way into the sea it becomes impossible to recover. And yet we all excrete about half a kilogram of the stuff a year, making cities a potentially rich source of the element. In the Netherlands human sludge is already being processed to recover phosphorus and recycle it into a high-tech fertiliser which will not leach into the environment. Reporter: William Kremer Photo: Getty images

This week we’re in Rwanda, where some men are getting lessons teaching them how to look after their babies. As well as promoting gender equality it's helping to reduce the high levels of violence women there experience at the hands of their husbands and partners. People Fixing the World meets the people taking part and finds out how it works and what difference it’s making. Reporter Lily Freeston Executive Producer Nick Holland(Photo Credit: BBC)

It’s a flightless bird on the edge of extinction, but a team in New Zealand is trying to stop it from going the way of the dodo. The kakapo is a large parrot that was once common in New Zealand. But its inability to fly, strong smell and habit of freezing when attacked made it easy to hunt for both human settlers and the animals they introduced. By the mid-1990s there were only 51 left. The remaining birds were moved to an island and a recovery operation began – looking at every aspect of the animals’ lives to try to boost the population. Twenty-five years on and the kakapo are at the centre of an elaborate breeding programme. There are monitors that measure the jiggle of mating birds, “smart eggs” to replace the ones removed for rearing and even a sperm-carrying drone. People Fixing the World looks at what it takes to bring a bird back from the brink. Presenter: Tom Colls Reporter: Alison Balance(Photo caption: A kakapo / Photo credit: Jake Osborne, New Zealand Department of Conservation)

“Fabulous idea” or “waste of money”? Clever observations from our audience about solutions we’ve covered on People Fixing the World. Many are funny and offer fresh perspectives. Regular listeners will know that as well as podcasts, we also make videos that we post on social media. Our viewers love to comment and ask questions, and this episode is made up of these thoughts. Among the solutions coming under public scrutiny today are The Dog Poo Detectives, Electric Trucks and The Glasses Made From Coffee. Presenters Nick Holland and Kat Hawkins get through as many reviews as possible. There are some good ones, some bad ones and a few stinkers.

An idea used in video games is helping LGBTQ people in the Middle East talk safely online. Coming out can be particularly hard, especially if there are no support groups to go to. As a result, the internet is sometimes the only place people feel they can be open about their sexuality, seek advice, and meet like-minded people. But in some countries, opening up on websites to people you’ve never met can expose you to blackmail, surveillance, even police entrapment and prosecution. So one woman has come up with a solution - she has built a website that uses gaming software to protect its users. We hear from her and users who say the site has transformed their lives.Produced by Jo Mathys

People living in this block of flats sign a contract to socialise together for at least two hours a week. The new housing experiment in Sweden is aimed at the two age groups most likely to feel lonely: under-25s and pensioners. A former home for the elderly has been given a revamp, creating plenty of communal areas designed to encourage mingling between the different generations.While loneliness can happen wherever you live, it is a big talking point in Sweden where more than half of all households only have one occupant and it is common to rent an apartment by yourself as soon as you leave school.Maddy Savage meets tenants taking part in the shared living experiment and looks at other solutions designed to help young Swedes who are lonely.Reporter: Maddy Savage(Photo Credit: BBC)