On a blue-skied summer morning, Place Pasteur in the historic center of Besançon is abuzz with colorful market stalls selling trinkets and antiques. But it’s also here that residents bring a different ...

Events Designed to uplift, inform and inspire, Reasons to be Cheerful events are dynamic on-stage conversations moderated by our founder David Byrne. Through these conversations, we explore the ...

After a decade behind bars, it wasn’t the fields that stretched for kilometers around him that struck Nicolas when he first set foot on the farm. It was the smell. “I’ve been through six different ...

Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at [email protected] and we just might feature it here. “The future is in our ...

Juliette Fekkar is a Paris-based journalist covering climate, agriculture, energy and environmental issues. Her reporting has been featured in The Washington Post, Le Monde and France Info.

‘Climate doulas’ prepare pregnant people for any curveball Mother Nature might throw their way, from flooding to storms to extreme heat.

An initiative connecting African donors living in Europe with small businesses in their home countries is a boon for entrepreneurs.

Plug it in and switch it on — this simple renewables technology could open up the market to huge numbers of new citizens, including renters. Geothermal greenhouses are delivering what climate-minded ...

No one on Earth has done more to promote the power of fungi than Paul Stamets, whose mycology work has earned him numerous patents, millions of followers and a Star Trek character.

‘Climate doulas’ prepare pregnant people for any curveball Mother Nature might throw their way, from flooding to storms to extreme heat. At the heart of this success story is a determined shift from a ...

Peter Yeung is a Contributing Editor at Reasons to be Cheerful. A Paris-based journalist, he also writes for publications including the Guardian, the LA Times and the BBC. He’s filed stories from ...

Greater Besançon has cut organic waste by more than 40 percent thanks to diverse policies — and a good dash of persistence.