Community
Introduction
Community level action is considered level 3 action. It can include big corporations, religious groups, schools, villages, town, cities, the local panchayat, and more.
There are many subjects that effect our communities. Many influence one another and can have knock on effects. For example cutting educational spending, unaffordable housing and scarce food can cause increased crime as people struggle to access basic needs. Improving public transport can open new opportunities for families and businesses, banning pesticides and other pollutants can improve public health, saving everyone money.
The following page explores some things that can be done at the community level to help both people and the planet. When people are healthier, have all their basic needs met, mental health is generally better, and people have more resources such as free time and money to focus on helping the environment themselves.
Where to Focus First
Energy use and emissions will be different in every community, so the items on this page will be organized according to global stats.
If you find that (for example) more energy is wasted on transport than industrial processed in your community, then you might want to focus your efforts on improving local transport first. Or maybe your community runs on mostly renewable resources, so focusing on the local economy would make sense, especially if it's a high-impact industry like cattle grazing, wool production, for fast fashion.
The following are listed approximately from greatest impact to less.
Energy Use
The following are broken up by topic to give an overview of how communities can work together to reduce their impact.
Transport Infrastructure
Transportation is the lifeblood of a community. The safety and accessibility of local roads and transit options can determine if people can access education, employment opportunities, health care, emergency resources, enjoy local entertainment such as festivals or even holidays.
When we focus on slowing local transit, the roads become safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and people with disabilities. Safe roads, decrease crime, and increase the likelihood that children will be able to go outside to play, socialize, and experience a healthy level of independence.
Unsafe roads not only kill people via accidents, but the pollution reduces children's intelligence, increases health risks such as heart, lung and brain damage. When cars are wizzing by, crimes on the street are less likely to be reported, or even noticed. Cars generally travel further to big box stores, instead of supporting smaller, more local businesses. By comparison, studies have found that bike and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, and limitations on street parking actually increase the amount of money customers spend locally. When potential customers are moving more slowly, they are more likely to notice businesses they would miss by car, those same customers have more money freed up that would otherwise go to gas, parking, and costly vehicle maintenance. Not to mention that hungry or thirsty cyclists are more likely than car drivers to stop for snacks or meals and to hydrate along their travel routes.
Money & Emissions Savings From Investing in Buses & Bike Infrastructure
"The argument that embracing a low-carbon future is a road map to economic ruin is bunk, say a band of economists who argue that investing in more efficient transportation, buildings and waste management could save cities worldwide at least $17 trillion. One way to unlock that savings is to promote bikes and buses."
The same article explains, "Transportation comprises as much as one-third of the emission reductions the report says cities can "unlock." That's good for 3.7 gigatons of carbon reductions, which is up to 20 percent of the CO2 emissions needed to keep the global mean temperature from increasing by more more 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. In other words, changing how we get around could save money, and maybe the environment."
Building Efficiency
Energy use in buildings is often around 1/3rd of a community's energy use, though sometimes much higher, especially in extreme conditions where people rely on heating or cooling to survive.
Creating buildings codes and community amenities to conserve energy should take priority as we switch to green energy. Scientists have found that when switching to green energy, our energy use often goes up, which unfortunately makes it harder to meet our total transition goals.
By reducing our energy use, we will reach net zero more easily and cheaply. Electricity-free solutions like using sunlight instead of artificial light, line drying clothes, using passive and/or low-energy heating and/or cooling with location-appropriate insulation and designs will help reduce people energy bills, which in turn may help them afford a switch to renewable energies or even to update their own appliances to more environmentally friendly devices.
On the community scale, leaders can enact community energy programs like Berlin's new giant thermos which uses excess renewable energy to heat water, that can be used by hundreds of residential buildings. Some councils have had solar installations built on public buildings, with the energy now going to low-income families who would otherwise not be able to afford their energy bills.
Manufacturing
Depending on the local economy, this is often another major consumer of energy.
Even worse is that some industries need particularly hot temperatures, that can be harder to achieve without fossil fuels. Some new technologies are emerging that can meet industry needs with renewables, and new battery technologies.
Light Waste & Pollution
Light pollution is a community-wide problem, where neighbors and businesses can cause pollution for one another at the small scale, but communities can pollute the sky for other communities. When this gets out of control, light pollution grows to the point that communities through an entire island or country may lose the ability to see the night sky and connect with their heritages.
Light pollution is often overlooked as a source of energy waste, but when lights are kept on all night (while potential users are all asleep), or turned upward where they become blinding glare to drivers or cast off into space where they block out the stars, about 35% of outdoor lighting is estimated to be wasted by poor orientation.
One of the biggest contributors to light pollution is the inappropriate design and direction of public streetlights, but the guide to the right (or above if you are on a phone), explains how these problems can be fixed or avoided. The article also presents a range of existing street and park light designs that not only elegant, but also help reduce light pollution in their communities.
For more information about light pollution and eco-friendly lighting solutions, please click the buttons below.
Dangers & Disasters
Understanding the dangers and possible disasters that can impact our communities means we can build strategies and infrastructure to protect against these things before they strike.
See our Dangers & Disasters page to see how climate change and other issues influence our vulnerabilities to different types of danger or disasters, and how these can in turn impact those same issues around us.
We've included antibiotic resistance, floods, fires, and more.
Food Security
Food security is a growing concern world wide, especially for communities who see shortages due to poverty, severe weather and climate emergencies, water shortages, pandemic shut downs, or even violent conflicts.
"According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, some 828 million people, almost one in ten, are currently undernourished, regularly not getting enough food in order to lead an active and healthy life. At the same time, agriculture is producing more food than ever before, both in total numbers as well as on a per capita basis, despite the fact that the world population is growing. If the harvest was used entirely and as effectively as possible as food, it could already feed 12 to 14 billion people." - https://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/hunger-in-times-of-plenty.html
Click the Food Security button to learn more about some of the major causes food shortages, and appropriate steps that can be taken to help end this problem.
Click the Food & Carbon button to learn more about which food choices produce the most emissions vs which ones help sequester the most. This can help ensure cleaner air for communities, boost nutrition, and help improve people's health, since many of the worst polluting food products are also some of the least efficient and least healthy.
Eating Local
Eating local is one of the lesser food choices we can take to protect the environment, but it is a great way to help support local farmers and reduce transport emissions.
Reducing Product Consumption & Sharing
At the community level we need to focus on business types that will help reduce consumption and waste. Energy Production and waste, transit, and safety.
Housing
Private Equity Causing Homelessness
This One Thing Is Making Your Life More Expensive 5:09 minute video which explains how the private equity boom is causing the current housing crisis, which in turn is putting more people on the streets.
Fires & Floods Destroy Homes Until People Can't Afford to Rebuild or Move
Sea Level Rise & Housing
"Between 470 to 760 million people could lose their homes to rising sea levels if carbon emissions meet or exceed 4°C of warming — the direction in which business-as-usual is heading — with unstoppable rises to occur over centuries, according to a new report and searchable interactive maps published by Climate Central.
Aggressive carbon reductions resulting in 2°C warming could bring the number as low as 130 million people, the report shows. The analysis comes as world leaders prepare to meet in Paris next month for COP21, which many hope will result in the first international, legally-binding climate change treaty." - https://sustainablebrands.com/read/new-metrics/report-rising-sea-levels-could-make-half-a-billion-homeless
Evidence- Based Solutions for Homelessness
Buyout Programs for Fire, Flood, & Seal Level Rise Victims
Click the Flooding & Sea Level Rise button to learn more about the dangers of flooding and sea level rise, about the benefits and problems of buyout programs, what can make buyout programs more fair and effective, as well as which places currently have buyout programs.
Home-First Policies
help people with mental health and/or addition problems more effectively than programs that require people to "fix their lives" before applying for basic necessities.
Currently it isn't unusual for governments to require applicants to have a home address in order to apply for food or medical aid, disallowing the use of homeless shelter addresses.
Self-Managed Tiny Home Communities
Inspired Self-Managed Tiny Home Village for Formerly Homeless 30:39 minute video
Floating Homes
Plastic Bottle Buildings
Rebuild it Better: Construction From Recycled Plastic Bottles Proven to Withstand 9.8 Earthquake
8:17 minute video. "The film explores the method of ecological construction and examines how nylon-6 fishnet is used to replace steel within the structural slab and recycled plastic PET Bottles packed with earth are used to replace conventional baked bricks. Capable of withstanding up to 9.8 on the Richter scale the seismic testing of the method of construction is also examined."
Plastic Bricks & Paving
These are cheap the make, more durable than traditional brick, and lighter, making them easier to transport. When designed with air space in between they can also offer great insulation for people living inside.
One major concern is the safety for workers and microplastics that may shed from exposed plastic surfaces, especually for walkways with high traffic. When used as internal building materials, with paint or other types of exterior, they will probably last for 100+ years without negatively impacting the environment or people.
These Recycled Plastic Bricks Are Stronger Than Concrete | Trailblazers | BBC Earth Lab
8:32 minute video. All over Africa, different entrepreneurs are experimenting with ways to recycle plastic waste into affordable housing options. The Kenyan woman in this video explains and shows the process she invented.
Ghanaian turns plastic waste into affordable homes | Building a house in Ghana
23:41 minute video. The Ghanaian man who created these blocks explains how a central groove in the blocks prevents heat exchange from the outside, helping these new buildings remain a comfortable temperature inside. Sand is used to help make these homes more fire retardant.
Sargablocks
These bricks are made of around 40% sargassum, plus dirt, water, and other ingredients common in traditional brick making.
A Mexican entreprenure who was already being paid to remove the dangerous seaweed from beaches, worked out how to turn the waste into affordable building blocks for poor families.
Research has found that seaweed is a great insulator that keeps home cool in the summer, and warm in the winter.
How Bricks Made From Invasive Seaweed Clean Mexico's Beaches | World Wide Waste | Insider Business
"Millions of tons of sargassum wash up on beaches across North America every year. Exposure can lead to breathing problems, and it costs millions to clean it up. Now, one Mexican entrepreneur is building houses out of bricks made from the invasive species."
"Examples where brown seaweed (macroalgae) is being used for building material include the following:
The United States of America-based Tamarisk Technologies Alginix company uses an alginate extracted from kelp to make algae slabs which are reported to be much stronger than concrete.
In Denmark, designers Jonas Edvard and Nokolaj Steenfatt are using a mixture of brown seaweed and paper to create unique furniture and lamps.
In Australia, a research team at the University of New South Wales has been investigating the use of brown seaweed and mollusc wastes as secondary fillers in wood-plastic bio-composite particleboard for building applications. Results indicate that incorporating marine bio-fillers improves the moisture-resistant properties of the bio-composite panels, which suggests that these are suitable for high moisture environments (Echeverria et al., 2017). Prototype panels Potential uses of sargassum biomass 47 have applications in interior design, cabinetry, furniture, acoustic and insulating panels, division panels and screens, architectural linings and ceiling panels (Echeverria et al., 2017).
Biopolymers extracted from brown seaweed have shown to be useful as additives in unfired clay bricks to increase particle bonding. Unfired clay bricks are considered an environmentallyfriendly alternative to traditional fired bricks and concrete blocks. Alginates have been shown to increase the flexural and compressive strength of bricks, depending on the type of alginate and soil used (Dove, Bradley and Patwardhan, 2016). The highest strength was observed when using soil with low clay content, combined with medium viscosity alginate from the brown seaweed Laminaria hyperborean stem. ..." - Pelagic Sargassum: A Guide to Current and Ppotential Uses in the Caribbean
Organizations & Companies
Africa
Kenya
Gjenge "Gjenge’s pledge is to be true to our vision and mission while maintaining sustainable practices as a social enterprise. Thus far we have managed to recycle over 100 tonnes of plastic waste. We have also managed to create 112 job opportunities for garbage collectors, women, and youth groups by turning plastic waste into affordable beautiful building materials."
North America
Mexico
SargaBlock "Por cada 2,000 piezas de block de sargazo utilizado en una construcción, ayudamos a limpiar más de 20 toneladas de este material en las playas."
USA
Pennsylvania
Tamaqua Sustainability Project offers classes for building earthships.
Principles of Healthy Community Design
Home & Community Placement
5 Best (and Worst) Places to Build a Home or Village
10:33 minute video focuses on the best places to put living spaces based on permaculture principles, passive solar heating, wildfire threats, flooding threats, and landslide risks. This info also applies to bigger communities like towns and cities.
The video also covers exceptions to these general rules, such as arid regions.
Urban Density & It's Ecological Effects
Imperviousness of an area above 15% increases negative impacts on aquatic health and biodiversity.
Track Transit
The 10 Most Useless Urban Rail Systems In the US: Poor Frequency, Weird Networks, Bad Land Use
14:27: minute video giving examples of what not to do with a rail system to avoid wasting money on infrastructure that will be too inconvenient for users to get adequate use from.
North America train travel is good in some places and terrible in others. There are options to travel between and across Canada and the USA, with at least one train company offering journeys on both sides of the border.
In Central America and the Caribbean, many tracks have gone out of use, but could be restored. There are routes that can be take from as far North West as Tijuana, Mexico to Costa Rice, or perhaps Panama.
Missing Links: Short-Sighted Transit Planning 11:27 minute video.
The biggest issues facing train transport in Europe and Africa appear to be that those continents are patchworked with countries who have different track sizes and widths from one another, meaning that travel through 2 or more countries may require a number of train swaps and some of the stations are positioned far apart requiring people to travel long distance to the next train station by foot or other method, then buy a new ticked for the new train/track type.
In the UK our public train system was privatized, which has increased ticket costs above what many people can afford for daily travel or even for rare visits to events or places.
South America and Oceana need to focus on expanding their train systems as these would help to diversify people's transit options.
Some Asian countries have genuinely impressive train and subway systems, particularly Japan, but it should also be noted that Trans Siberian and Silk Road trains gave people the options to travel from as far as Scotland to the East coasts of Russia and China, even as far South as Singapore.
The Middle East has every sparse train networks, but some cities have impressive, and beautiful subway stations. Some locations have plans to building more train networks.
More Resources
Our Transit page talks about different modes of transportation, more-or-less organized from most safe and efficient, to less eco-friendly.
The Bikes & Infrastructure page focuses on bikes, bike advocacy, and community design that creates safer spaces for everyone, even those who never ride.
Our Bike Advocacy Directory lists international and local organizations all over the world who are fighting to make roads safer for everyone. Join one today to learn how you can help make your streets safer, and to know which topics to advocate to your local leaders.
Businesses
How to Bring Back Front Yard Businesses
8:44 minute video about the resurgence of this traditional family business model.
These hyper-local businesses, much like businesses build on the bottom floors with the owner's residence directly upstairs was the standard for many centuries, if not longer. Today many communities have zoning laws banning them, but bringing them back can help revitalize businesses, reduce travel needs, and help keep money in communities, instead of being siphoned off by international corporations.
This type of business placement only works for people lucky enough to own their own land, or who live in places dense enough or with enough through traffic to support business.
These hyper-local businesses, much like businesses build on the bottom floors with the owner's residence directly upstairs was the standard for many centuries, if not longer. Today many communities have zoning laws banning them, but bringing them back can help revitalize businesses, reduce travel needs, and help keep money in communities, instead of being siphoned off by international corporations.
With this in mind it is important for communities to have spaces for craft fairs, farmers' markets, libraries, and more. The following directories include business types/models that sustain healthy, and vibrant communities.
All milkman services listed are vegan or include vegan options. Many offer glass bottles with return service.
Overlooked & Under-Appreciated Multi-Use Spaces
This section is organized alphabetically.
Alleys
Why Alleys Are the Most Important Spaces in a City
This 13:16 minute video explains the historical uses of alley ways and how those uses have evolved in recent decades.
These are vital networks that help business and homes deal with waste, utilities, reduce the danger of fires by creating fire breaks, and how well-designed alleys can be safe shortcuts for people including pedestrians and cyclists.
Greenbelts & Greenways
Greenbelts or greenways are wild areas that often double as public parks where residents and visitors can enjoy nature, flooding overflow areas that protect homes and businesses, as well as a relaxing and safe alternative for people to use instead of dangerous car-dominated roads.
For wildlife they act as habitat and corridors for local species, as well as resting and refueling spots for migratory species.
SUDS
Introduction to Innovative Stormwater Management
This is a 4:49 minute video introducing a more detailed video series on the subject.
SUDS are Sustainable Drainage Systems that help reduce flooding, water contamination, drought impacts, and water shortage. You can learn more about SUDS, their many benefits, and their wide variety of forms here.
While standard water management practices focus on getting rid of rain water as quickly as possible, using ugly or even dangerous infrastructure, SUDS can use space efficiently, and even be beautiful. SUDS can include wetlands, public parks, roof gardens, greenbelts or even convert ugly (and pollution encouraging) grass strips into beautiful rain gardens/pollinator strips.
Tools for Communities
A Student Guide for Community Organization (PDF) "I wrote this guide as a collection of anecdotes and lessons I have learned from being an undocumented, working-class woman of color who is also an organizer and a student. I want this guide to inspire people to organize in their communities and develop the tools they need in the ongoing fight for liberation and freedom. I chose to write this guide as a form of resilience.
Over the past six years, I have been an organizer and have had to balance school, work, and being an activist. At times I had to prioritize my organizing over my own academic goals, and I am now just understanding how to balance each part of my life." While this guides is directed at students, it's got valuable lessons for people outside of school too.New Tool and Step-by-Step Guide: Community Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Ecosystem Restoration Camps "The goal of Ecosystem Restoration Camps is to help local communities establish camps across the world in order to support planetary scale ecological restoration through local action."
Calculators
North America
USA
Rewiring America: Track Your Local Pace of Progress "These projections from Rewiring America worked backwards from the emissions targets for 2050, and forward from current sales of machines for cooking, water heating, space heating, transportation, and rooftop solar to set a number of new clean electric machines that must be sold each year to reduce emissions from fossil-fueled machines. Type your city, county, or state into the search bar to get those numbers broken down for your area, by each machine category.
While creating this tool, one of things we found is that some individual communities and states are leading the way: their goals are bolder than the rest of the country and so don’t match the path laid out in our data. That’s a great problem to have. So our tool should not be considered the only source of its kind -- but one that reflects only one of the possible paths to decarbonization."
Resources
North America
USA
Organizations
International
The Cohousing Association of the United States An active organization that promotes cohousing in America through conferences, workshops, tours, database directory, networking and more.
EcoCity Builders A nonprofit organization dedicated to reshaping cities for the long-term health of human and natural systems. They develop and implement policy, design and educational tools and strategies.
Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) "catalyzes communities for a regenerative world. GEN is a growing network of regenerative communities and initiatives that bridge cultures, countries, and continents.
GEN builds bridges between policy-makers, governments, NGOs, academics, entrepreneurs, activists, community networks and ecologically-minded individuals across the globe in order to develop strategies for a global transition to resilient communities and cultures."International Association of Wildland Fire "Facilitating communication and providing leadership for the global wildland fire community."
International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) was founded in 1985 by the late Dr. Henry L. Lennard, a Viennese medical sociologist, and the late Dr Suzanne C. Lennard, an English architectural scholar. The Lennards were passionate about sharing the best evidence-based lessons of great cities and towns to improve the quality of life for all. To do it, they brought together many of the world’s most innovative and successful mayors, planners, economic development specialists, designers, developers, NGO officials, and researchers and scholars.
The mission of the IMCL has always been to raise awareness, through conferences and publications, of the effects of urban planning on livability, health and social well-being. Conferences have been held annually in the United States and Europe. They are unique in enabling city officials, architects, planners, developers, community leaders, behavioral and public health scientists, artists and others responsible for the livability of their cities to exchange experiences, ideas and expertise. The varied perspectives provide deeper understanding of the issues and generate creative solutions."TUMI "supports transport projects all around the world and enables policy makers to transform urban mobility. TUMI is based on three pilars: innovation, knowledge, investment. We support innovative pilot projects around the whole world. We share knowledge with planners about modern mobility concepts, in workshops and conferences. We invest in construction and modernisation of sustainable urban infrastructure."
Africa
GEN-Africa "is the African ecovillage association, promoting social resilience, environmental protection and restoration of nature through the concept of ecovillages as models for sustainable human settlements. We actively support the development of ecovillages and networks in all parts of Africa."
Asia
GENOA (Global Ecovillage Network Oceania & Asia) "is a network of people, ecovillages and organisations in Oceania & Asia. GENOA promotes Ecovillage living where people live together in a sustainable way, with dignity, in harmony with each other and with nature."
Livable Cities "... has three operational approaches or pillars: Improve coverage, quality efficiency, and reliability of services in urban areas; strengthen urban planning and financial sustainability of cities; and improve urban environment, climate resilience and disaster management of cities.
With 65% of people in Asia and the Pacific set to live in cities by 2050, we have gathered stories and lessons that will ensure cities in Asia and the Pacific are inclusive, competitive, environmentally sustainable, and resilient."
Europe
GEN Europe "is the European ecovillage association promoting social resilience, environmental protection and restoration of nature through the concept of ecovillages as models for sustainable human settlements. We actively support the development of ecovillages and networks in Europe."
North America
CASA Latina "is the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America, which coordinates and strengthens regional and national networks that promote, educate, investigate and disseminate sustainable lifestyles."
Coalition for Green Capital "is a non-profit with a mission to halt climate change by accelerating investment in clean energy technologies. CGC achieves this by advocating for, creating and implementing Green Bank finance institutions. Green Banks are a proven finance model that uses public and philanthropic funds to mobilize private investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other decarbonization technologies. For over a decade, CGC has led the Green Bank movement, working at the federal, state and local level in the U.S. and in countries around the world. By increasing investment and accelerating the construction of clean power, CGC is helping deliver a cleaner, better future."
Congress for the New Urbanism The organizational center for the New Urbanist movement, promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.
Green For All "works to ensure that, as the green economy grows, all communities will benefit from good jobs, better health, and increased opportunity. Together, we dream of a healthy, sustainable future that is green for all, not green for some.
We're working to ensure that historic climate funding benefits communities that need it most. By uplifting disadvantaged communities and creating green career pathways for underrepresented talent, we can build an inclusive green economy that creates environmental and economic benefits for everyone."GEN North America (GENNA) "has created the Regenerative Communities Alliance (REGEN ALLIANCE) – an emerging collaborative platform for organizations and individuals serving the regenerative communities network within North America and beyond."
Walk Friendly Communities is a national recognition program developed to encourage towns and cities across the U.S. to establish or recommit to a high priority for supporting safer walking environments. Communities are recognized for working to improve a wide range of conditions related to walking, including safety, mobility, access and comfort.
Canada
Congress for the New Urbanism The organizational center for the New Urbanist movement, promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.
Mexico
USA
Congress for the New Urbanism The organizational center for the New Urbanist movement, promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.
New York
Adopt A House "is a 501(c)3 nonprofit agency and is dedicated to help re-build our local communities by bringing valuable information, solutions and financial assistance to Long Island residents affected by Super Storm Sandy and other emergency situations. Run entirely by volunteers, Adopt A House's simple mission is to support recovery for Long Island's SouthShore by preparing and administering a comprehensive disaster aid and long term recovery program to individuals, families and the community. Adopt A House also contributes assistance to individuals in unfortunate emergency circumstances by easing financial burdens and offering help and guidance. We achieve this mission through multiple avenues including, but not limited to: educational workshops, community outreach, programs for financial assistance, community service, and acting as liaison between elected officials and registered families. We are constantly striving to improve our ability to assess housing needs, improve community services and raise funds that go directly to registered families and our programs."
The Office of Resilient Homes and Communities "strives to address communities’ most urgent needs, while also encouraging the identification of innovative and enduring solutions to strengthen the State’s infrastructure and critical systems. The office utilizes approximately $4.4 billion in flexible funding made available by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program to concentrate aid to four main areas. Paired with additional federal funding that has been awarded to other State agencies, the CDBG-DR program is enabling homeowners, small businesses and entire communities to build back even better than before. And in a State already known for its great resiliency and can-do spirit, the efforts are paving the way for a tremendous comeback– one that will reinvigorate New York and better prepare it for future extreme weather events that come its way."
Oceana
GENOA (Global Ecovillage Network Oceania & Asia) "is a network of people, ecovillages and organisations in Oceania & Asia. GENOA promotes Ecovillage living where people live together in a sustainable way, with dignity, in harmony with each other and with nature."
South America
CASA Latina "is the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America, which coordinates and strengthens regional and national networks that promote, educate, investigate and disseminate sustainable lifestyles."
Colombia
Maps
International
More People Care About Climate Change than You Think "The majority of people in every country support action on climate, but the public consistently underestimates this share."
North America
USA
Walk Friendly Community Map "A Walk Friendly Community is a city or town that has shown a commitment to improving and sustaining walkability and pedestrian safety through comprehensive programs, plans, and policies. Communities apply to the program to receive recognition in the form of a Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum designation. [With this map] you can sort and view profiles for communities that have been designated since the program began in 2011."
Washington
Explore the Walkability of DC Neighborhoods (Interactive) "Select a neighborhood to learn more about who lives in that community"
Grants & Funding
Asia
Livable Cities: Financing Partnership Facility "The urban operations of ADB benefits from the support of notable trust funds, which are collectively referred to as the Urban Financing Partnership Facility. Under this umbrella, strategic, long-term, multi-partner investments on innovative urban solutions are implemented. These investments help to achieve the vision of livable cities." These include:
Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) eligible countries include Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Vietnam.
Europe
UK
National award schemes There are a number of key organisations offering grants and advice to community based projects e.g.
Big Lottery Fund "Groups can apply to us for funding under £20,000, or over £20,001, depending on what they want to do."
Heritage Fund "We fund projects of all sizes that connect people and communities to the UK’s heritage."
North America
USA
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) Program "provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. Authorized under Section 60114 of the Inflation Reduction Act, this two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants, and approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants."
Dream.Org Empathy Network Leadership Fund "The Justice team at Dream.Org is looking to partner with directly impacted leaders at the state and local levels. The Dream.Org Empathy Network Leadership Fund is an opportunity to apply for a grant of up to $2,500 to support your activism. And the sky’s the limit!"
Justice Innovation Prize "is an open call for innovative, impactful, feasible, and scalable ideas to end the cycle of mass incarceration. The Justice Innovation Prize Pitch competition is free and open to the public. Watch the Justice Innovation Prize Documentary."
Power Forward Communities "is a coalition of some of the country’s most trusted housing, climate, and community investment groups dedicated to decarbonizing and transforming American housing. We’re saving homeowners and renters money, reinvesting in communities, and tackling the climate crisis."
Connecticut
The Connecticut Green Bank "is the nation’s first green bank"
Minnesota
MWMO: Community Grants "are available for short-term or small-scale water quality projects. The grant amount may not exceed $5,000. No matching funds are required."