The International Development & Environment Article Service (IDEAS) is a national story service on international development, the environment, and the Canadians volunteering overseas to help Third World communities.

We tell the stories beyond our borders.

These original stories are available free-of-charge to internet publications, community newspapers, alternative media and NGO newsletters. For-profit media should contact us to negotiate terms.

Our stories are about real people struggling - and succeeding - to make a living in the real world. They are also about Canadians volunteering abroad to help make a world of difference. The focus is on positive solutions to environment and Third World development issues, and the role of Canadians in those projects.

IDEAS is a initiative of CUSO, a non-profit Canadian international development organization that has recruited, trained and placed around 11,000 dedicated volunteers since 1961.

The IDEAS project was been built on the success of the Sustainable Times, an award-winning Canadian magazine on the environment and international development published from 1995-2001. The Times internet magazine is archived at www.sustainabletimes.ca

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

To many Canadians, "developing countries" are little more than distant places on the map, vacation spots or places of war, famine and disaster. Many of us are inclined to open our hearts and wallets when major disasters occur, but once the immediate tragedy leaves the front page, we often lose interest.

The crucial, life-giving work of development goes on, but the general public does not hear enough about these efforts. And Canadians hear a lot of the negative - what's wrong, not what's right - so a success story or tale of hope can cut through the media clutter and have a forceful impact on the public.

Canada has a long history of looking beyond its own borders. Many players, from private to government to not-for-profit, sponsor Canadians abroad. These volunteers are working for community development, for the environment, for gender equity and for fair trade. The holy grail is a truly new new world order, for the Third World, the First World, and all worlds in between.

Some nations have achieved remarkable progress: there have been advances in education and literacy, and the global mortality rate has dropped by 40 percent since 1970. But there is still lots of work to do: other countries are mired in economic stagnation, debt and ecological degradation.

It's easy to be either a hard-nosed cynic or a naïve optimist; it's more difficult to take a clear-eyed, down-to-earth and cautiously hopeful look at international development.

That is the mission of the International Development & Environment Article Service.

Freelance writers may submit story ideas to Sean Kelly, communications officer with CUSO, at the address below. However, due to limited funds, we are not commissioning many articles at this time.

You can contact IDEAS:

c/o Sean Kelly
1225 Prospect Bay Road
Prospect, Nova Scotia, B3T 2A6 Canada

Tel: (902) 850-2510
Email: ideas@cuso.ca