Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Let us know what you think at info@reasonstobecheerful.world. Great grains At RTBC‚ we are often drawn to solutions that are‚ well‚ old. Sure‚ we like innovation‚ but there’s something alluring about the idea that the solution to a problem has been out there waiting to be rediscovered. That’s part of what drew Editorial Director Rebecca Worby to a story from Inkcap Journal this week about a Bronze Age crop in the UK’s Outer Hebrides. Becca says:   Recently I’ve read several stories about how ancient crops — in this case bere‚ a very old variety of barley — can help us adapt to climate change. This one is beautifully written. Part of it is also about how distilleries on these islands are using the grain‚ which seems like a ripe subject for a future story of its own. Bere barley. Credit: Roger Culos Planting plans A decade ago‚ close to half of the Dominican Republic’s land had been degraded. According to a story from El País shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas‚ a large-scale land recovery plan has yielded impressive results: one-fifth of the Caribbean country has been reforested in 10 years. Michaela says:   Impressive when a country reverses the downward trend. What else we’re reading The Finnish miracle: how the country halved its suicide rate – and saved countless lives — shared by RTBC founder David Byrne from the Guardian Welcoming Relatives Home: Bringing Back the Bighorn — shared by Rebecca Worby from​​ YES! Magazine What Texas can teach San Francisco and London about building houses — shared by David Byrne from the Financial Times From our readers Della Gilleran from Sacramento‚ California sent us a story from the Christian Science Monitor about what happened when neighbors said “yes in my backyard” in Boston’s Back Bay. As Della notes‚ it’s a “rare story of a wealthy community finding solutions to homelessness.”  The post What We’re Reading: Ancient Crops‚ Caribbean Regreening and More appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.