This week’s edition of the Upside looks at how the world can conserve water despite climate change, and how seeds planted in a Yorkshire valley have grown a global movement

One of the obvious consequences of climate change is that our reservoirs of fresh water are running out. As global temperatures continue to rise, people around the globe will have to figure out how to manage with less water.

This week we looked at how one city united to tackle its water crisis, and found other tales of people coming together and turning around bleak situations.

When Cape Town announced it was rapidly approaching “Day Zero”, the moment it would turn off the water supply to a million homes due to drought, the news made headlines around the world. Four months on and the taps are still on – for now. Krista Mahr visited South Africa’s second city to find out how they did it, and what lessons can be learned by cities facing up to similar emergencies.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Volunteers for the Incredible Edible project in Todmorden enjoy lunch in a local church. Photograph: Matthew Lloyd/The Guardian

There’s certainly no shortage of rain in the north of England, but austerity has taken a toll on community spirit there and villages and towns have fallen into disrepair. In Todmorden, residents got their hands dirty and found a solution. Naomi Larsson visited the tiny Yorkshire town from which a global movement has grown.

In nearby Sheffield, Kate Lyons met some people tackling the taboo of adults with few friend when you’re an adult. Studies regularly tell us we’re feeling lonelier than ever, largely due to the decline of traditional meeting places such as churches, pubs and bricks-and-mortar workplaces. Could “speed mating” fill the gap?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest “Speed mating” events help adults find friends. Photograph: Jon Super/The Guardian

What we liked:

Two great pieces in the New York Times caught our eye, the first on the rocks in Oman that could help save the planet, and the second on news that humpback whales near Antartica are having a baby boom.

What we heard:

My local community got permission to turn disused land surrounded by houses into a community garden. It started off very basic, with just some raised planting beds growing some veg. We’ve now got a poly tunnel, a brick pizza oven and barbecue and another bit of land just around the corner which we’ve planted as an apple and pear orchard.

We get the local primary schools involved, and the local care home too. We grow far more food than we can eat ourselves so we hold public open days and donate excess to the local community centre, who distribute it to those who need it. Commenter Cade writing below the line on our piece about guerilla gardening

It’s fantastic that they averted this, but surely one of the takeaways is that people are capable of living with less and moderating their habits if they understand the consequences – or if the consequences are severe enough. From golf courses in the middle of the desert in Phoenix to people watering their lawns at noon in Los Angeles to growing water-thirsty crops like alfalfa – why do we need to wait to start behaving more sensibly? Thomas1178 writing below the line on Cape Town’s comeback from water disaster

Where was the upside?

In Moscow, where the Street Child World Cup begins today involving more than 230 homeless and street-connected youth from 20 countries. Jo Griffin caught up with the young women of Team England before they set off for Russia.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Players from Team England get some training in ahead of the Street Child World Cup in Moscow. Photograph: Benjamin Mole

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If there is a story, innovation or trailblazer you think we should report on, write to us at theupside@theguardian.com

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