We found hope in worrisome times

Every day, every hour, you click on news that is stressful, overwhelming, and disheartening. Even as one remains committed to witnessing what is happening the world over, it seems equally important to feel powerful and hopeful in the face of so much bad news.

That collective sense of doom can be verified with data when market research company IPSOS releases its What Worries the World survey, revealing where global anxieties lie. In the recent August 2025 survey report, the top concerns across 30 countries are inflation, crime & violence, poverty, and social inequality.

These data points matter, of course. But perhaps the surveys we often don't find are the ones asking the question "What Gives the World Hope?". It's a valid and crucial question. In times of such extremes, hope remains as one of the important possibilities for change, a declaration that all is not lost.

I, like many others I assert, derive hope from taking action and witnessing the action of others. Let me walk you through a few examples of how local communities are turning worry into hope in action.

Local-led solutions: building grounds for hope

When inflation squeezes budgets and the cost of living makes it hard to put food on the table, farmers' cooperatives in Morocco and Egypt step in, empowered to produce food in their communities in sustainable, equitable, and inclusive ways.

As small-scale farmers worked together to form a regional social and cooperative economic entity, they are upscaling a women-led chili-pepper production into a regional cooperation and movement that hoped to transform the policies in the countries they operate.

In places where housing seems like a privilege rather than a basic need, housing cooperatives, such as Kampung Akuarium in North Jakarta, provide a solution. The residents, who were once victims of forced eviction in 2016, rebuilt their lives and were allowed to return. The "kampung" (neighborhood) built "kampung susun" (stacked vertical kampung) an appropriate design that fits their needs and customs.

Aside from provisioning shelter needs, the neighbourhood cooperative ventured into small-scale businesses, such as catering, laundry, and renting out shops. These gave additional income that the neighbourhood was able to distribute to the community in support of other basic needs such as electricity, water, and building maintenance. The efficacy of the alternative system led to replication in several urban poor communities across Jakarta and even inspired Rujak Center for Urban Studies to apply it to its mid-rise housing in Jakarta.

When economic growth fails to provide basic services for the people, a traditional system of money management in Africa, known in many names such as "njangi", "tontine", "stokvel", "pari", "sousou", "ajoh", and "family lottery", serves as a safeguard.

These community-based systems represent a vast informal economy. They support families through tough times, helping them to put children to school, and offering opportunities to improve people's lives who are often excluded from formal systems offered by banks and the state.

These grassroots efforts are not just responses-they are vibrant embodiments of hope in action are reshaping the economy-tackling housing, food, and fairness head-on, while giving policymakers a blueprint for real change.

Explore our map to discover how local-led solutions are making a global impact.

Your turn: What brings you hope?

We at Greenpeace, invite you to look around you, reflect and share with us: what brings you hope in the world right now? Is it a youth-led enterprise initiative? A collective transforming how cities and communities become more resilient to the climate crisis? Is it a labor union advocating for a fair share of profit and a just working environment? A solidarity economy model creating equitable opportunity?

We believe a thriving economy and a healthy planet can go hand in hand together. Now, we'd love to hear from you: in your view, what's a win-win idea for the planet and the economy? Share your hopeful thoughts through the form below.

Rhea Jane Mallari is a Wellbeing Economy Project Lead at Greenpeace International