--- description: Climate resilience in developing countries, growing plants in the air, becoming a white ally, Obama’s crumbling cabinet, and giving kids fewer better standardized tests. title: These Are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: November 25 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2014 5:01 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2014 5:01 PM CUT **1\.** [**“White people who are sick and tired of racism should work hard to become white allies.” Here’s how.**](http://qz.com/250701/12-things-white-people-can-do-now-because-ferguson/ "undefined") By Janee Woods in Quartz **2\.** [**We can’t afford to ignore the innovative history of developing countries as we face the impact of climate change.**](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/12/opinion/climate-change-africas-poor/ "undefined") By Calestous Juma at CNN **3\.** [**Aeroponics – growing plants in mist without any soil – may be the future of food.**](http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2014-11-20/cities-of-the-future-may-eat-plants-grown-in-the-air "undefined") By Bloomberg Businessweek **4\.** [**The Obama White House is still struggling to separate policy from politics, and Defense Secretary Hagel is the latest victim.**](http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/11/24/the%5Ffall%5Fguy%5Fchuck%5Fhagel%5Fresignation%5Fobama%5Fadministration%5Fnational%5Fsecurity%5Fteam "undefined") By David Rothkopf in Foreign Policy **5\.** [**Fewer, better standardized tests can boost student achievement.**](http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/10/09/07tucker.h33.html "undefined") By Marc Tucker, Linda Darling-Hammond and John Jackson in Education Week  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3604882/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-november-25/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3604882/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-november-25/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: November 25","datePublished":"2014-11-25T17:01:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:55.386Z","description":"Climate resilience in developing countries, growing plants in the air, becoming a white ally, Obama’s crumbling cabinet, and giving kids fewer better standardized tests.","url":"https://time.com/3604882/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-november-25/","keywords":["Innovation","Congress","Africa","Foreign Policy","Agriculture","climate change","School","Technology","Obama","facebook","Racism","Department of Defense","farm","white","Black","Tests","Ferguson topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3604882/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-november-25/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: November 25"}}]}] ```