In this edition we visit Gerado Quesada Bermudez and his family in Hojancha, Costa Rica.He has seven daughters and one son. Most of his children live in the capital San José, but do come back to see their parents on a frequent basis.

• 1/10/12
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This time, GlobalSnack comes from Montreal, Canada and a company whose hand-made bagels are baked in a wood-burning oven. Owner Erwin Shlafman is the third generation in his family at the helm of the famous bakery.

• 1/10/12
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Ireland’s beer is for more than just drinkingAt Gogarty’s in Dublin, they have Guinness on tap, but the real specialty of the house comes out of the oven - hearty bread made with Guinness as well.

• 1/10/12
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One-tenth of Morocco’s prison population is made up of children and teenagers who are often convicted and sentenced without any legal representation. Now steps are being taken to help these young people.State-run child protection centers work to prevent children and teenagers from winding up in prison in the first place. The children who live in the centers often have very painful pasts - many are homeless, or have first-hand experience with drugs and violence.

• 1/10/12
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In many traditional societies in Africa, women are barred from being landowners. Without that right, they are denied a critical resource for making a living.For many women there, the death of a husband or a divorce can mean a life of poverty. The deceased's property rights are transferred to the next man in the family - and a widow then has to answer to him. But some NGOs have convinced village elders to allow women to keep their spouse's land - which has been a boon to the entire community.

• 1/10/12
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Climate protection is still in its infancy in South Africa. Few people there are aware of what they can do to help. That's what the Climate Train aims to change.It is traveling from Cape Town to Durban, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference starts on November 28. The train is presenting concerts, discussions and theater performances designed to raise awareness about climate protection among South Africans.

• 1/10/12
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Zoran Puljic has invested 2.5 million Euros in the creation of new jobs in the economically depressed city of Sekovici in the Serb part of Bosnia-Herzegovina.His agri-business Eco-Mozaik expects to post its first profits in the coming year. During the summer, seventy people work here, producing honey and vegetables. Workers at Eko-Mozaik earn more than the national average and get health insurance and other benefits.

• 1/10/12
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Julia Titova wants to promote social engagement in Russia - and to do that, she opened the first charity shop in St. Petersburg almost a year ago.The 24-year-old photographer came up with the idea to open a charity shop after visiting London. Her store, called "Spasibo" or "Thank You" in Russian, sells second-hand clothing and used household items. She's already been able to donate the equivalent of 6,500 euros to youth organizations.

• 1/10/12
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Population growth has led to increased demand for vegetables and fruit and ever rising prices. Additional cropland is needed to make sure everyone on the planet can be fed.One solution could be provided by vertical farming, where fruit and vegetables are grown in high-rise greenhouses. Microbiologist Dickson Despommier works with architects and environmental scientists to draw up plans for growing crops effectively in multi-storey structures in cities.

• 1/10/12
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Melda Holdster lives on New Zealand’s North Island, where she runs a souvenir shop selling her own Kauri gum carvings.Melda is happiest when she’s polishing Kauri gum for her shop, because each piece is something unique. She doesn’t have a favorite food – she likes everything, as long as it’s not too spicy.

• 1/10/12
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Zambia's Miombo Woodlands are home to countless endangered animal species. The huge forest area has remained largely intact, but poaching is taking its toll on its animal populations. With German help, the West Lunga National Park has managed sustainably to ensure its protection as a valuable carbon sink. The park can store up to 13 million tonnes of CO2 per year. It will also serve as a protected habitat for endangered animals. The project also foresees developing infrastructure to facilitate the park's protection and training rangers.

• 1/10/12
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We visit a German-Iranian family with two children.Adam Navabi and his wife Iris Hirschfeld studied dentistry in Freiburg and now have their own practice in the United States - in an upscale suburb of Washington, DC.

• 1/10/12
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Laos is known as the "land of a million elephants". But the numbers living in the wild have now fallen to about one thousand. As more forests are cut for timber, nature reserves are becoming ever more important for both elephants and the people of Laos.Now they are learning how to protect the forests while making a major contribution to protecting the climate.

• 1/10/12
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In 2009, fair trade sales totaled more than 3.4 billion euros. More than 5 million people in over 60 countries have directly or indirectly profited from fairer ties between producer and consumer. It's a simple idea: Consumers pay a bit more to benefit farmers and producers in less developed countries. Even more exotic products, such as purple rice from Laos, are being sold as fair trade items. But improving the living standard of fair trade rice farmers in Laos is a slow process - since growing crops using chemical fertilizers and pesticides is more profitable. Instead of planting fair trade rice, many farmers have opted to grow maize for Vietnamese clients. Meanwhile, activists are still pushing the fair trade concept, and a portion of the revenue from fair trade products helps fund local infrastructure.

• 1/10/12
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Doing good comes in many forms - whether it's making donations, offering free tutoring or helping an elderly person cross the street.But not everyone shares the same approach to philanthropy. The Charities Aid Foundation of Britain has created the first index that compares charitable behavior around the world.

• 1/10/12
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Maize and cattle farming, illegal logging and illegal settlements are all contributing to the destruction of the Sierra del Lacandón national park's rainforest.It's the third largest national park in Guatemala, and if nothing is done it will have lost more than half its rainforest within the next 25 years. OroVerde is a German environmental organization that has teamed up with local partners to prevent this happening. Farmers are making an effort to protect the environment with sustainable farming methods, alternative sources of income and reforestation programs.

• 11/8/11
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Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the third largest in the world. It provides over 30 million people in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya with a livelihood.But fish stocks are dwindling and the industry is floundering. Management strategies are conspicuous in their absence.

• 11/8/11
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The beaches of Trelleborg in southern Sweden are awash with algae. But the bane of tourists is a boon for environmentalists.Trelleborg is pioneering a project involving all the Baltic States that will turn algae into fuel.

• 11/8/11
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Gottfried Härle runs the first eco-friendly brewery in Germany. At first, people laughed at him.But now, visitors from around the world come to the town of Leutkirch to have a look and learn how he makes tasty beer without releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Härle won the German Sustainability Prize last year for his achievements.

• 11/1/11
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The Turkish economy is growing fast, and that means electricity consumption is rising and is in increasingly short supply. Turkey wants to boost the share of power generated by the wind to help solve the problem. The first wind farm in the country went into operation in 2007, on the Gallipoli peninsula.By the end of last year, Turkish wind farms had the capacity to generate 1.3 gigawatts of electricity; that's enough to power a city with a population of a million.

• 11/1/11
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Violence against women is a worldwide problem. In Bolivia, the poorest country in Latin America, it is particularly widespread.A third of Bolivian women say they have been mistreated by their partner at least once. But things are changing. Women's rights activists have launched campaigns to draw attention to the abuse.

• 11/1/11
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Hydroelectric power is Bosnia's biggest export and has been for decades. However many power plants and distribution networks were destroyed during the Bosnian War. Now the German development bank KfW is financing the restoration of the Rama and Trebinje hydroelectric plants.Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country in this region to produce more hydroelectric power than it consumes. Yet it also plans to harness the power of the wind. Bosnia is creating its first wind farm with the help of a 72 million euro loan from the KfW bank.

• 10/25/11
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In December of 2010 one of Tunisia's best-known rappers, Hamada Ben-Amor, was detained for days for recording a song critical of the government.As a result, rappers -- along with bloggers -- became important forces for change during Tunisia's Arab Spring. Rapper Wajdi Mascott takes GLOBAL 3000 on a tour of his production studio, where young musicians record their rap tunes, and shows us locations which played an important role in the revolution.

• 10/25/11
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The United Nations now believes the world's population is increasing more rapidly than previously thought. It estimates there will be 9.3 billion people on the planet by 2050.And the German international development and advocacy organisation DSW predicts that the world's 7-billionth human will be born on October 31, 2011.

• 10/25/11
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Women still fall victim to discrimination and are disadvantaged in many parts of the world. The organization "UN WOMEN" is aimed at giving them more focused support than in the past. They are also fostering the continuation of projects that have already been successful.One of these is the Sabaya Program, which is active in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Sabaya helps women to find work and to improve the societal status of women and young girls through employment.

• 10/18/11
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A village in Germany’s Allgäu region, Wildpoldsried, is writing climate conservation history. A series of awards, including for example, the "Climate Protection Community of 2009" demonstrate this, and there is good reason for that. The community of 2,500 residents produces three times the amount of energy it consumes and does it using renewable resources.In addition to biogas generators, wind turbines supply the energy required by the Bavarian village. In order to nip resistance in the bud, the mayor is trying to get residents involved in climate conservation projects early on. He says his best argument is that it pays for everyone to invest in environmental projects. In the meantime, the Siemens company has discovered the village. There, the company is testing what is known as a "Smart Grid," an intelligent power network that guarantees the efficient distribution of electricity.

• 10/18/11
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Some pesticides are based on nerve toxins that can be deadly to people and animals as well. It is estimated that some 2.5 million tons of them are applied annually worldwide. They are used on banana plantations to kill nematode worms that destroy the banana plants. But these chemicals pose a threat to the health of the people who work on the plantations.In a field trial in Costa Rica, biodegradable poisons - or biopesticides - are being tested. Some say they could become an alternative to highly toxic, more conventional pesticides.

• 10/18/11
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Growing economic prosperity is having massive consequences for the environment and climate protection. Electro-mobility could be a solution to many problems.In China, both private and state-run companies are now working to optimize battery and control technology. Experiments using electric vehicles in public transport and taxis are being carried out in more than 20 project cities. But the transition to electric power is difficult. Batteries are too expensive and make cars too heavy.

• 10/11/11
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