Creating sustainable communities requires new ways of thinking, caring, and working together. Sustainable Hudson Valley provides high quality experiential education including tours, hands-on workshops, visualization and decision tools, and community-based learning such as study circles. We are committed to creating a culture of learning that attracts people and rewards their investment of time and energy .

Our expertise is two-fold. We bring knowledge and skill in using new tools for economic development, including import replacement, cluster development, and "local first" marketing. We are also skilled in interactive communication and education, to help cities, towns and villages choose new strategies for resource management and economic well-being.

SHV is connected broadly, to sustainable development innovations around the world.

SHV is connected deeply, working with hundreds of local innovators in seven counties of the Hudson River Valley.

SHV develops partnerships with communities engaged in planning and action now, and in creating strategies for the long-term future. Wherever possible, we work with whole communities including government, industries, households and other institutional stakeholders.  Our expertise is the integration and customization of tools and methods to meet the particular needs of Hudson Valley communities. We assemble expert teams to work directly and intimately with local governments and industry groups.

People and communities vary widely in their receptivity to sustainable development principles. SHV is guided by a "social diffusion" model that focuses on supporting new approaches among those who are most ready, and then helping these early adopters to educate and inspire a more mainstream segment of society. We carefully tailor this model so that change is managed coherently and important traditions are preserved.

“Successful social movements -- like civil rights, women’s rights, and human rights -- have gained critical mass by getting people to connect personally with the issues and wrestle with their ethical and cultural meanings over a period of time. The environmental movement hasn’t really accomplished this yet.”

 

- John Cronin, Hudson River Environmental Consortium

“To change a system, change the flow of information and incentives within it. The same people can behave very differently when they have a reason to do so.”

 

-- Dana Meadows, coauthor, Beyond the Limits