No Camels, Israeli Innovation News: Bloomberg Foundation, Peres Center, Interior Ministry to Launch Innovation Hubs in 12 New Cities Across Israel
September 4, 2019
Bloomberg Philanthropies is partnering with Israel’s Ministry of Interior and the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation to launch a national network of hubs for municipal innovation across Israel. The network will be called Hazira (the arena or the scene, in Hebrew) and will tap into a unique Bloomberg Philanthropies program to set up innovation hubs in 12 new Israeli cities over the course of five years, the foundation announced this week.
Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization of American billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, will leverage its Innovation Teams program, or i-teams, for the initiative. The program allows mayors to fund in-house innovation teams that investigate complex local challenges and design solutions with clear goals, to improve citizens’ lives.
Read moreSmart Cities Dive: Fighting extreme heat in cities with urban design
August 8, 2019
The following is a contributed article from Adam Freed and Jacob Koch of Bloomberg Associates’ Sustainability Practice.
It’s no secret that climate change has caused extreme weather and record-shattering heatwaves around the world. This past month, Europe experienced its hottest month on record ever. In France, hydration breaks were required during the Women’s World Cup and more than 4,000 schools were forced to close. In the U.S., temperatures in Anchorage, AK soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 20 degrees above normal; and San Francisco reached a high of 100 degrees, more than 30 degrees above average.
Read moreThe Telegraph: Tobacco industry interference holds back efforts to stamp out smoking
July 26, 2019
Last year Bloomberg Philanthropies, which funded the WHO report, established Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (Stop), the world’s first tobacco industry watchdog. Stop has launched an online database, highlighting a wide range of organisations in 22 countries acting as what it describes as “tobacco industry allies” – organisations which purport to be independent but which receive funding from the tobacco industry and promote the tobacco companies’ agenda.
Read moreThe Washington Post: Latin America’s war on obesity could be a model for U.S.
July 16, 2019
“Brazil’s guidelines are simple but radical,” says Neena Prasad, of the Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has funded and provided technical assistance for obesity prevention programs in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Peru. “It’s a really sensible approach. Choose whole, minimally processed foods, cook those foods yourself, and eat those foods with other people.
Read moreThe Philadelphia Inquirer: Bloomberg announces Pennsylvania projects in its $10M overdose-prevention initiative
July 9, 2019
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s initiative to prevent overdoses around the country — starting with $10 million in funds going to Pennsylvania, one of the states hardest hit by the opioid crisis — is funding its first projects in the commonwealth.
Vital Strategies, the public health nonprofit that is working with Bloomberg Philanthropies on the project, is announcing Tuesday that the money will help more than 100 hospitals to develop treatment strategies for opioid use disorder; support the use of medication-assisted treatment in state prisons; and train law enforcement on the principles of harm reduction.
Read moreAxios: How Democrats came to oppose natural gas
June 25, 2019
Why it matters: Natural gas, while far cleaner than coal and oil, is still a fossil fuel that emits heat-trapping emissions that cause global warming. It’s become plentiful in America over the past decade and is poised to become one of the world’s dominant energy sources. To what degree politicians embrace it or not is critical.
The big picture: As I’ve written in two recent Harder Line columns, Democrats, including those running for president, are increasingly embracing more aggressive and progressive policies on climate change while rejecting natural gas, along with oil and coal. But this hasn’t always been the case.
Flashback: Positions by two prominent Democrats — former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) — illustrate the overall party’s shift away from natural gas. Let’s break them down.
Read moreFast Company: Milan is embarking on a bold plan to plant 3 million trees
June 22, 2019
Soon, there will be more trees than people in the city of Milan. Mayor Giuseppe “Beppe” Sala has embarked on an ambitious plan to plant 3 million trees in the Italian city—population 1.3 million—better known for industry than natural wonders.
For the last year and a half, the city of Milan has been working with Bloomberg Associates, the pro bono, not-for-profit consultancy established by Michael Bloomberg with the goal of helping cities around the world. They work with local governments on disciplines like marketing, municipal integrity, sustainability, cultural asset management, urban planning, media, digital, tech, transportation, and social services. In Milan, the relationship covers about two-thirds of those disciplines, including the creation of new public plazas. (“It’s funny that ‘piazza’ comes from Italy and we’re going back and helping them new plazas,” says George Fertitta of Bloomberg Associates.)
Read moreCNN: A temple that was built to help people heal after the Parkland school shooting goes up in flames
May 20, 2019
The Temple of Time, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, is among five large-scale art installations being displayed in Coral Springs and Parkland over two years. The projects are an extension of an art therapy program that has turned the Coral Springs Museum of Art into a space that has helped children and educators cope since the shooting.
Best also built two of the four benches surrounding the temple. They will be given to the families of victims Nicholas Dworet and Helena Ramsay. The others will be on display in Coral Springs and Parkland, city officials said.
The Telegraph: Sink or swim: how Bangladesh is turning the tide against child drowning
April 29, 2019
Now a new partnership between the Bangladeshi Centre of Injury Prevention and Research (CIPRB) and Bloomberg Philanthropies aims to tackle this by opening over 500 day care centres – known as anchals – and rolling out swimming lessons for children across villages.
The initiative – introduced in seven districts covering a population of several hundred thousand – has reduced the number of children drowning by 80 per cent.
Read moreHealth Affairs: How Evidence Has Fueled Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Work In Tobacco Control
March 27, 2019
By Dr. Kelly Henning and Dr. Jennifer Ellis
When he became mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg picked tobacco control as one of the key issues on which he could have the biggest impact on public health. Immediately after taking office in 2002, the new mayor implemented science-based approaches to reducing tobacco use that were not yet commonly in place in the United States but had the potential to dramatically lower smoking rates among city residents. That strategy paid off. Reductions in tobacco prevalence in New York City were immediate and evident. In twelve years, adult smoking rates dropped from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 13.9 percent in 2014.
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