Bike Rack
Sustainable Hudson Valley's mission is to help the region's communities rebuild economy and restore environment by bringing people together in action projects to improve quality of life and directly create green collar jobs. SHV supports local leaders in developing their own realistic scenarios for responding to the economic and environmental challenges of the 21st century. With an international network of experts in implementing new technologies and helping people to adapt, we are a resource broker, a consensus builder, and a source of both technical and moral support, assisting each community with achieving its unique goals. We believe that the promise of an environmentally advanced and restorative, "green" economy will come to life distinctively in every region based on the assets and needs of the place. In the Hudson River Valley, we are working with many partners to build a knowledge economy that's capable of success in essential projects such as:
  • managing water sustainably;
  • transforming waste into wealth through recycling-based industries;
  • bringing the latest energy-efficiency technologies to the market and supporting ongoing innovation in this key area;
  • producing food, fuel and fiber sustainably in and for the region;
  • developing high-performance construction and renovation industries that work with, and benefit, the natural environment.

We focus the expertise of our staff and networks in two areas:

  • Technologies and business strategies;
  • Bringing people together, creating consensus and supporting real changes in the ways people live and work.
Design for a Sustainable Economic Recovery for the Hudson Valley
By Melissa Everett, Ph.D., Executive Director, Sustainable Hudson Valley

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Help us launch the Partnership for the Next 100 Years, SHV’s quadricentennial initiative to share green technology and community planning expertise with Dutch counterparts including the Netherlands Institute for City Innovation Studies, the Cartesius Institute which helps to commercialize technologies from the three Dutch technical universities, and the Living Green Project to renovate historic buildings using contemporary building science.

Regional economic transformation can only be done by a broad collaboration that allows for independent and flexible functioning of the partners. SHV is a new kind of organization that facilitates experimental partnerships in communities and industries. We work primarily with leaders in government, business, and institutions, to devise projects that build upon their existing efforts, but add "green value" by connecting them to new technologies, practices and funding streams.

Our work is to stimulate a home-grown green economy that gains security from a base of businesses with loyalty to this place. This strategy helps the region take better advantage of external funding sources and trading partners, without over-relying on them. Our work takes two primary forms: strengthening key industries with new resources for marketing, work force development and strategic alliances; and practical job-creation projects in communities that are ready to change the way they build structures, move people, and use resources. We partner with communities that are willing to commit themselves to measurable results, using the national Green Jobs Pledge endorsed by the US Conference of Mayors. We then help those communities design their own ways to create good job opportunities through demonstration projects, market transformation strategies, and local policy.

The Kingston Green Trail is our 2009-10 focal point to translate strategies into action. This partnership of key agencies and citizens is rallying the community to create good green jobs and a transformed urban environment, where people can move by cycle and on foot... gardens, parks and tree cover are abundant... renewable energy and recycled materials create economic advantage... and these activities form the base of a vibrant knowledge economy.

Resilient Communities Initiative:
bringing affordable technology solutions to local governments along with design and strategy development – to scale up energy-efficiency, renewables, green roofs and healthy landscapes.

Green Collar
Job training, coordination and strategy with the Work Force Investment Boards and training systems of seven counties.

Kingston Green Trail:
concentrating resources and creativity to make the center of Kingston more thriving and environmentally advanced with a bike-friendly city initiative, a major communications platform, and the creation of a Green Zone demonstrating the possible city of the (near) future.

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Posts from Melissa's Blog

Posts from the SHV Guests Blog

Datesort icon
04/09/2009 - 11:33Mimi KatzenbachCheaper Solar: Buying Clubs
02/07/2009 - 16:53Doug ClarkAdaptive Communities in Theory and Practice
02/07/2009 - 15:14Al Landzberg A Modest Proposal to Promote Ride Sharing
02/07/2009 - 15:14Simon Gruber Finding Biodegradable Party Ware