3 . More than 50 million people in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere follow pastoralism(游牧) as a way of life. The practice has survived for so long because it is designed to change with the environment. Pastoralists move with animals to find new lands and water, leaving behind eaten plants to regrow.

Mongolia is well known for its pastoralism. Agvaantogtokh and his family are herders(牧民). On horseback, he rides with nearly a thousand sheep and goats to help them find water. Sometimes, he and his wife, Nurmaa, stop to help struggling young ones, weak after a difficult winter.

For families like Agvaantogtokh’s, pastoralism is more than a profession. It is a cultural identity that connects generations. At its heart is the human connection to animals. While they consider the animals as their property, they also see them as living beings working alongside them.

Researchers say herders believe in “animal agency”. Agvaantogtokh lets his animals choose the food they eat and where they find water. To him, restricting an animal’s movement and asking it to eat the same thing each day is like putting a person in prison.

In Mongolia, weather extremes are a part of life. When Agvaantogtokh thinks about climate change, he is concerned about humans and animals. Continuous dry and warm weather affects Mongolia. Since 1940, the government says, average temperatures have risen 2.2 degrees Celsius. To keep their practice alive, pastoralists seek ways to modernize. In Mongolia, Lkhaebum recently began using a small vehicle to more easily search for horses. The family uses electricity and has other technologies including a TV and a washing machine. They also use a cellphone to follow the weather and access social media where herders share information.

One of the biggest threats to pastoralism comes from within. Nurmaa and Agvaantogtokh’s 18-year-old daughter studies medicine. Their son spoke about becoming a herder when he was a child, but not anymore. “I won’t regret anything if my child won’t be a herder,” Nurmaa said. “I would like them to do what they desire to do.”

4 . On Indonesia’s eastern island of Sumba, a lack of electricity once left many communities in the dark at night. But off-grid(离网) solar energy programs are bringing people there limited electricity years before normal power systems reach them. Such small solar panels(电池板) mean a lot to them. They can work later in the evenings, help their kids with their homework and even hold more social gatherings. Besides, there are experts saying off-grid solar programs could be reproduced across the nation of thousands of islands and that the energy is renewable.

However, off-grid solar energy systems face problems too. Most villagers depend on donators, some international organizations, to pay most of the cost of solar panels, so, villagers without off-grid solar panels have to wait until there is enough money from the donators. And when solar systems break, imported parts are needed, which can be hard to find and costly. While the solar systems can power light bulbs and charge cellphones, they do not provide the same amount of power as a grid and thus cannot operate devices like a sound system for a church.

Despite these challenges, off-grid solar programs have proven successful in Indonesia and other places, such as Bangladesh and Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. These programs, offered by companies like Sumba Sustainable Solutions, help provide electricity for millions. The company has sent over 3,000 solar light systems across the island, reaching more than 3,000 homes. To continue the successful completion of off-grid solar projects, Sumba Sustainable Solutions is seeking support from Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership Deal, which involves loans and other money from developed nations and international financial companies. By increasing solar use in Indonesia, more people will have access to electricity and improve their livelihoods.

6 . My son’s seventh birthday is approaching, so conversation at my house has naturally turned to organizing his party.

For his sixth birthday, we booked the local trampoline(蹦床) park. This worked out well. But the whole event cost us hundreds of pounds. This year, I’m trying to convince him that the dinosaur-themed park down the road offers just as much fun—and you don’t even need to wear special socks! This will be cheaper, because we aren’t required to hire a space—we can simply buy tickets for his mates.

But I still keep pondering over one thing—party bags. Why should a bunch of seven-year-olds, who have already been treated to a day out and a mountain of sugar, also be handed a bag full of pound-shop gifts for simply bothering to show up?

Party bags are an environmental disaster. I reckon my son attends 20 parties per year, and at each party there are 20 kids in attendance, which means 400 plastic bags in total. Within these 400 bags are perhaps 800 plastic toys, almost all of which fall apart on the journey home and then get binned instantly. The waste is shocking, and I don’t want to be part of it.

I know there are some party bag alternatives: one couple I know covered a table with Mr. Men books and got the kids to choose one each. At another party, I saw the hosts fill a bucket with soft toys and crumpled newspaper, and do a lucky dip (抽奖). Admirable efforts.

Even if that is a nice try, and even if the contents in the party bags don’t fall apart, so what? Will our guests think more highly of our child because of the party bags from our party? Will my child’s ability to make and keep friends be improved?

Well, the tradition for kid’s party bags ends with me, and it ends here, and it ends now. Who’s with me?

8 . The US tech giant Microsoft Corp and the leadership consulting firm DDI worked together on a new project on Thursday, with the goal of helping more than 1 million women in China improve their digital skills and embrace the digital future.

The Women Digital Future project came as reports show that women have been more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 than men, and an improvement in digital skills is expected to help them better deal with the bad results from it.

Microsoft said it will partner with a number of companies and organizations to help women in multiple ways, as COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation worldwide and women are faced with more challenges in both life and work.

Alain Crozier, chairman and CEO of Microsoft Greater China, said, “Microsoft has always placed a high value on the development of our female employees and strongly promoting the power of women to drive the world forward.”

Mindy Yeh, managing director of Greater China, said the company’s global survey shows that there are nearly double the number of female leaders at the top 20 percent of well-performing companies than in the bottom 20 percent. Moreover, they have clear advantages in terms of teamwork and interaction.

Cecilia Qi, general manager of GSK China, said, “Digital transformation is both an opportunity and a challenge for women. This is especially the case in the new era, which requires companies to provide women with more support to help them achieve better work-life balance and continue to gain success as they continue forward in their career. Success belongs to everyone, and I believe that, in the future, society will be more supportive of women and provide them with more equal career opportunities.”

9 . Those who don’t live in cities often complain about or feel surprised at the fact that strangers don’t talk to each other in urban public places. They feel sorry about the way we seem to increasingly get lost in mobile devices, seemingly oblivious to what’s going on around us. But sociologists recognize that the space we give each other in the urban places serves an important social function.

Well-known sociologist Erving Goffman developed the concept of   “civil inattention” in his book Behavior in Public Places. Far from ignoring those around us, Goffman proved through years of studying people in public that what we’re actually doing is pretending to be unaware of what others are doing around us, therefore providing them a sense of privacy, as they do the same for us. Goffman proved in his research that civil inattention typically involves at first a mirror form of social interaction, like very brief eye contact, the exchange of head nods, or weak smiles. Following that, both parties then typically shin their eyes from the other party.

Goffman theorized that what we achieve, socially speaking, with this kind of interaction, is mutual (相互的) recognition that the other present causes no threat to our security, and we both agree, tacitly (默契地), to let the other alone to do as they please. When we provide civil inattention to others, we effectively approve their behavior. Sometimes, we use civil inattention to save face when we’ve done something we feel embarrassed by, or to help manage the embarrassment that another might feel if we witness them trip, or drop something.

Civil inattention is thus not a problem, but an important part of maintaining social order in public. For this reason, problems arise when this norm (规范) is broken. Because we expect it from others and see it as normal behavior, we may feel threatened by someone who doesn’t give it to us. This is why women feel threatened by those who catcall (发嘘声)to them, and why for some men, simply being stared at by another is enough to cause a physical fight.

10 . It is reported that 90 million people in China suffer from depression, with around 90% not getting any effective treatment. Other research further suggests that mental disorders have generally become more common across China in the last 30 years.

China’s resources for dealing with mental health have not always been at the same level as other countries. A 2020 WHO report showed that there were only 1.7 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, compared with 15 per 100,000 in the European countries.

In the past, mental health support was largely focused on specific groups such as “left-behind children”. However, many now recognize the need to make support more widely available.

One issue that has helped bring mental health into the spotlight on a national scale is that of “996” work culture. The term refers to jobs in which employees are required to work six days per week from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. With the 996-work culture, more and more people are starting to realize that actually, mental health can affect a whole number of people. As we all know, long hours of overtime may cause many health problems, even leading to sudden death.

Our government is indeed designing policies to deal more effectively with mental health challenges. The country’s National Health Commission plans to introduce screening (筛查) for vulnerable groups and require medical institutions as well as universities, colleges and high schools to re evaluate mental health policies. The government plans to set up mental health outpatient services in 40% of the general hospitals in pilot areas by the end of 2022, a move catalyzed by the pandemic.

Whether said policies will be effectively implemented remains to be seen. However, what is clear is that mental health is now very much taken seriously across China.