No matter how many ‘back to school’ ads pop around (and one tries to ignore), mid August is still summer. Which means holiday travelling for many, myself included. Sometimes I feel a sort of hopelessness when walking through certain old towns in certain cities, or visiting some coastal areas. Everything seems so prepared to be ‘locally’ authentic (paella, sangria, amigo) that it looks fake, and the number of tourists is inversely proportional to the locals', who are conspicuous by their absence.

As the saying goes, ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. It is not by chance that similar bywords exist in almost every other language, since many innovative solutions come indeed to light in times of generalized crises: for example, the trueque (barter) markets during the Argentinean corralito. Transforming plastic waste into building bricks is another good illustration of these innovations forced by need.

In the last 20 years, bees and other insects have become more popularly accepted in cities. With a growing awareness of the global socioecological crisis has also come a recognition of pollinator’s essential ecosystem services, i.e., their tasks for the balance of ecosystems and our food production.

It is not unknown that the textile industry is one of the most polluting. Fast fashion, constantly providing new styles at very low prices, requires huge volumes of production with equally giant environmental impacts.

Since 2015 the Swedish municipality of Eskilstuna, one hour west from Stokholm, hosts ReTuna Återbruksgalleria, the first recycling shopping mall in the world. Everything sold in this 5,000 m² center is repaired, reused, recycled, upcycled, organic or produced sustainably.