Resilient communities:

Economic and environmental breakthroughs both arise from a single source: resilient communities in which people can work together, trust and communication are strong, resources are protected and technology works for people. Right now, with the major national focus on infrastructure, energy and green jobs, SHV is helping local communities prepare and respond with a Resilient Communities Road Show in the spring of 2009 that will: Help communities take action: We will expand our work with an initial partnership of municipalities, aiming to involve at least 20 communities in working toward a 50% reduction in carbon footprints by 2030, and planning for climate change adaptation strategies that work in concert with natural systems. We will apply a highly successful model from the Netherlands Institute of City Innovation Studies to create a Green Community Fellowship Program for senior elected officials, technical experts and citizen leaders who will focus their collective ingenuity on these shared challenges and build a body of knowledge for the next wave of communities who join.

Provide technical assistance: To help communities align their energy policies, building codes, transportation systems and land use strategies toward their local sustainable development goals, we are creating a Public Technologies Collaborative of architects, engineers, planners and policy experts who will volunteer selected services. Backing up these experts is our toolkit for fostering new lifestyle choices and business practices in communities. “Technical assistance” from SHV is more than engineering and architectural advice: it is personalized support in negotiating new behaviors and relationships in a community.

Develop planning tools: To help communities adapt to the effects of climate change that cannot be prevented, we have participated in “Rising Waters,” a regional stakeholder-based scenario planning effort led by The Nature Conservancy. Over 100 skilled volunteers have collaborated to review technical data and envision the changes we might expect in our communities, making it possible to imagine the responses needed to protect people, nature and economic assets. Working with scenarios, or stories of possible futures driven by climate change and local responses, the project is producing decision tools which will help communities to identify the technologies that bring the best long-term results by their compatibility with natural systems. SHV will be a central partner in the regional outreach efforts that follow the publication of the scenario study in the spring of 2009.

Create replicable models: The small riverfront city of Kingston, NY will be a focus for demonstration work organized around the Green Trail, a re-imagined and redeveloped Broadway corridor. Along with five local community groups, we are helping the neighborhood create a hallmark visual identity and improve the environmental performance in the areas of transportation, energy efficiency, storm water control, air pollution, and heat island effect. We are establishing bicycle amenities and trail connections to make biking more safe for children and adults. We are coordinating planning discussions between a group of adjacent hospitals and schools on the potential of a “co-gen” (shared electricity and heating) system. We are promoting green infrastructure with regular training on green building technology for local architects and engineers that can be easily shared with other small cities in the Hudson Valley, Netherlands, and beyond. Upriver, in the Village of Chatham, we are supporting a group of merchants and civic leaders working to take Main Street off the grid with a solar electric array, and supporting green energy projects in several surrounding communities. Both initiatives will be documented on film and linked up with the growing Green Towns USA movement.