Swati Sanyal Tarafdar’s Post

One of my favourite things about working at The Local is how engaged (and friendly!) our readers are. The story below started in May this year, when one reader reached out to us to tell us that Indian parents were putting off applying for citizenship in Sweden as a perfect storm of Indian and Swedish bureaucracy risked making their children stateless. Emma Löfgren and I spoke to more readers affected by this issue and we wrote up an article. Today, another different reader who had been following the story sent me a link from an Indian newspaper which they thought might be relevant. That link led to me spending a morning digging through Indian court documents, after which I discovered that the Indian government has issued new guidelines which should stop Indian children from becoming stateless when their parents become Swedish citizens. I opened my email inbox to send a link to this new update to the reader who started it all, but they'd managed to read it first and I already had an email with their heartfelt thanks waiting for me. This may seem like a niche issue, but Indians are one of the largest groups of work permit immigrants in Sweden and often work in key industries, like tech, academia and the green transition. As happy as I am that Indians in Sweden trust us and come to us with their problems, I can't help but think that more Swedish newspapers should be writing about issues like this, whether that's issues affecting Indians or other groups of immigrants in Sweden.

If you're looking to learn a whole lot about climate solutions reporting quickly, we've got you. More accurately, we and Terra.do have got you. On Sept. 4, 11, and 18, we're co-hosting a series of climate primers designed to deliver lots of information about climate solutions clearly and in a way you can use in your reporting. And these sessions will tackle tough issues that come up in solutions reporting, like who benefits from certain solutions and whether some currently small (but meaningful) efforts can scale. They're totally free and open to all. Come to one that grabs your attention, or join all three. Sept. 4: Nature-Based Solutions — https://lnkd.in/g-KXhZ8M Sept. 11: Indigenous Climate Solutions — https://lnkd.in/gHbzq5VF Sept. 18: Co-Benefits of Climate Solutions — https://lnkd.in/gFWRZ2wa

How do you know if you're on the right track with your solutions story? Swati Sanyal Tarafdar is here for you. She noticed something as she learned, then taught others, solutions journalism: Similar questions about how elements of solutions journalism can strengthen stories kept coming up — all over the world. If you've ever found yourself eager to do solutions reporting but wondering if you're on the right track, this is for you: seven FAQs answered by someone experienced in both creating and teaching solutions journalism. Swati's insights are presented with SoJo learners in mind because she was one. Then she pairs that with her skill as a trainer. We know lots of journalists have ideas for a solutions story lingering on a sticky note or laying in a notebook. But getting started can be confusing. Swati's tips are all about helping you structure your story around the pillars of solutions reporting (response, evidence, insights, limitations) without being confined by them. So if you've got questions, just know that the people learning SoJo in Serbia, Nigeria, and Brazil probably have the same ones. Swipe through the illustrations for some scrumptious crumbs of advice, then eat the whole cookie at the link: https://lnkd.in/gkVKfaaG

Every minute, 23 girls are married before they turn 18. That’s over 12 million girls every year. India is home to 223 million child brides — the world’s highest. This National Sports Day, meet 66-year-old farmer Pandurang Terase, who uses sports to save girls from early marriage. “I wanted to help girls by making sports accessible to them,” he says. In his remote village, sport was never considered a career, nor was any girl encouraged to pursue it. Within a few years of taking up sports in 1979, Terase became a renowned national-level kabaddi player. He also started coaching fellow villagers. Since Terase came from a remote village, he knew the problem of child marriage and how poverty plays a significant role in it. Although it was a long shot, Terase knew sports could help lift people out of poverty and solve the problem of child marriage. At first, he couldn’t even find 10 students, so he went house to house in the nearby villages, convincing students and parents. Today, four decades later, Terase has trained over 15,000 boys and girls from marginalized communities across hundreds of villages for free. Many have successfully overcome poverty and inspired more, all using sports. When Pratiksha Sasulkar was just 16, her relatives began talking about getting her married. “Because of abject poverty, many parents think once they get their daughter married, they become free of any responsibility. Daughters are just looked at as burdens, and they believe marrying will relieve them of bearing her education and daily expenses,” Terase explains. Upon his suggestion, she started her kabaddi training. In just three years, she won more than 10 championships. She not only won medals but also started mentoring young girls. “Since this patriarchal society wants to restrict girls to household chores, they never let their daughters face the outside world and become independent,” Terase says. But once Sasulkar began winning prize money, she became independent and started paying her own expenses, and her parents stopped pressuring her to marry. Sports and consistent training boosted her confidence and she started mentoring 50 girls aged 10 to 16, completed a postgraduate degree in business management, and supported her family. Now, Sasulkar is pursuing a course in physical education, and within a few years, she aims to become a certified coach. Do read my story for Devex to know more about Terase’s inspiring work: https://lnkd.in/despMywR 55 publications rejected this story!

!!TODAY is the last day to REGISTER!! Join guest speaker Swati Sanyal Tarafdar and me for the FREE online course: Climate Solutions Journalism: A Community-informed & Equity-focused Approach 🙌🏽 Don't miss this OPPORTUNITY https://bit.ly/4d6s6Tu - Knight Center Solutions Journalism Network

Along with instructor Hugo Balta, meet and learn from guest speakers, Steve MacLaughlin and Swati Sanyal Tarafdar! 🌎🌟 ✅ Register for the free course here: https://bit.ly/4d6s6Tu #climatesolutions #solutionsjournalism #journalism

Wayanad is home to us , for me and my family ! Innumerable trips within a year , the care , love affection , my dearest farmer friends , my dearest families , my mentors , most of my stories I have written is all from Wayanad ! Somehow it never got into our mind to stay in any resorts so far in Wayanad and we are glad we never did and will never do ! We have stayed with friends and family . It’s devastating and heartbreaking ! Wayanad in a span of two days got 140mm to 300 mm in two days five times more than what was expected . From June 1-July 30 the normal rainfall is 1369 mm . Blame it on Climate Change and the very sensitive zones of the land of Kerala ! “No development should have taken place in these highly sensitive areas,” these zones had tea plantations during the British period and had since seen extensive development, including the construction of resorts and artificial lakes. On all my trips I have been hearing stories of uncontrollable tourism in areas like Meppadi , Soochipara, Mundakkai, Kuruva dweep etc. The number of resorts in these places are a testimony to those stories . But if they give employment to the locals then let it be is what the thought always was .. Have you all heard of the zip line near the place where the landslide happened ? Have all these contributed to the tragedy , no idea. But anything uncontrollable is not good at all. The place itself is a very delicate area, we had to be gentle, but we forget all the time , blame it on Human Memory ! The more sustainability we speak in , workshops, and conferences the more we move to destruction ! Sustainable doesn’t mean building more resorts to give local employment , it means much more than that .SDG goals don’t remain alone , they are all interconnected and interdependent .. They cannot stand all alone , it also means taking care of nature too ! The images I have shared shows resorts in mundakkai area and chooralmala and soochipara area ,but did they contribute , must have definitely contributed in increasing the load !

How do you know if you're on the right track with your solutions story? Swati Sanyal Tarafdar is here for you. She noticed something as she learned, then taught others, solutions journalism: Similar questions about how elements of solutions journalism can strengthen stories kept coming up — all over the world. If you've ever found yourself eager to do solutions reporting but wondering if you're on the right track, this is for you: seven FAQs answered by someone experienced in both creating and teaching solutions journalism. Swati's insights are presented with SoJo learners in mind because she was one. Then she pairs that with her skill as a trainer. We know lots of journalists have ideas for a solutions story lingering on a sticky note or laying in a notebook. But getting started can be confusing. Swati's tips are all about helping you structure your story around the pillars of solutions reporting (response, evidence, insights, limitations) without being confined by them. So if you've got questions, just know that the people learning SoJo in Serbia, Nigeria, and Brazil probably have the same ones. Swipe through the illustrations for some scrumptious crumbs of advice, then eat the whole cookie at the link: https://lnkd.in/gkVKfaaG