103,558 research outputs found

    Can the Arts Change the World? The Transformative Power of the Arts in Fostering and Sustaining Social Change

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    A group of nonprofit leaders working in the arts, advocacy, political organizing, social services, and education explored the connection between community organizing and creative expression by engaging in collective activities, including visiting various examples of community arts, and experimentation with their own practice. Through this process, the group concluded that arts could be socially transformative; that community arts can create a safe space that allows people to trust and be open to changing; that art can help people reflect together and not talk past one another; and that the process of creating together can be healing and sustaining

    Ten Years of Community Profiles in New Hampshire

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    Through a program called Community Profiles, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension has helped 57 New Hampshire communities develop a vision for their future and mobilize local residents to act on that vision. The Community Profile process is based on the premise that communities must engage members in identifying and documenting common and deeply held values from which to craft a vision for the future if they are to build and sustain community vitality. The process also helps communities find new and creative ways to pursue that vision by leveraging resources within and outside of the community. These resources include individual skills, local organizational capacity, and local, state, and regional institutional-support structures. Since creating and pursuing a vision is a challenge for communities that often rely on volunteers, the Community Profiles program was conceived to help them achieve these functions. Community Profiles is, in essence, a process that enables community residents to take stock of current conditions, build a collective set of goals for their future, and develop an action plan for realizing that vision. In the past 10 years, UNH Cooperative Extension has helped nearly a quarter of the state’s incorporated cities and towns conduct Community Profiles. This retrospective shares with our stakeholders the various successes that communities have had as a result of the process. This publication was inspired by stories emerging from Community Profiles conducted between 1996 and 2006 in 42 communities. The communities selected for this report were either particularly successful at carrying out the Community Profiles process, or they achieved positive outcomes as a result of the process. Through this report we will tell their stories and illustrate how these and other communities can work together to shape their future through persistence, creativity and teamwork

    Women at work in Mali: the case of the Markala Cooperative

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    African Studies Center Working Paper No. 5

    City profile: Ghent, Belgium

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    Cities Building Community Wealth

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    As cities struggle with rising inequality, widespread economic hardship, and racial disparities, something surprising and hopeful is also stirring. In a growing number of America's cities, a more inclusive, community-based approach to economic development is being taken up by a new breed of economic development professionals and mayors. This approach to economic development could be on the cusp of going to scale. It's time it had a name. We call it community wealth building

    Energy Transition and Urban Planning for Local Development. A Critical Review of the Evolution of Integrated Spatial and Energy Planning

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    The aim of the article is to analyse the evolution of spatial and energy planning integration, seen as a mean to foster local development, from the birth of the theme to the current prospects of shared sustainability and Decentralised Energy System (DES) solutions. The paper is a review of the evolution of the spatial and energy planning integration, exploring weaknesses and future opportunities. After an initial period of intense theoretical elaboration, the relationship between energy and city physical-functional organization and planning is still far from finding an implementation. The article explains this lack of integration through the analyses of significant steps in the last 50 years with the aim to outline current obstacles in achieving a more comprehensive vision of energy and spatial planning. The experiences selected highlight critical aspects concerning the trend towards the divergence of energy planning from systemic urban and spatial planning, also due to the low consideration of energy as a factor for local development. From the processes of decentralization and energy localism, some perspectives emerge which converge on the eco-energy district as a projection of the local energy community and which seem to enhance a more systemic and strategic dimension of planning

    Gettysburg College Fountain

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    When visiting Gettysburg most people are surprised to find a college nestled amongst the acres of battlefields and quaint tourist town. The few that find their way to the campus are taken back by its unique array of architecture, beautifully manicured lawns, and a fountain right in the middle of all of it. Prospective students often have the same reaction. On paper Gettysburg College seems like any other school, but usually once a student visits, they fall in love with the with the campus, charming in every shade of green in spring, and ablaze with vibrant oranges and reds in the fall. It is hard to imagine a better place to spend a college career. The one element that ties the campus together aesthetically is the simple splendor of the fountain. It is not and elaborate piece, a simple circle with a sitting wall and a few jets of water, but somehow it manages to draw viewers in to revel in its simplicity. [excerpt] Course Information: Course Title: HIST 300: Historical Method Academic Term: Spring 2006 Course Instructor: Dr. Michael J. Birkner \u2772 Hidden in Plain Sight is a collection of student papers on objects that are hidden in plain sight around the Gettysburg College campus. Topics range from the Glatfelter Hall gargoyles to the statue of Eisenhower and from historical markers to athletic accomplishments. You can download the paper in pdf format and click View Photo to see the image in greater detail.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/hiddenpapers/1030/thumbnail.jp

    Greening Historic DC: Challenges and Opportunities to Incorporate Historic Preservation into the District\u27s Drive for Sustainable Development

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    This paper focuses primarily on the District of Columbia, a city with a robust past and a bold agenda for a sustainable future. However, it may not be obvious why historic preservation - a movement typically concerned with aesthetics - can play an integral role in a city\u27s sustainability initiative. Therefore, this paper first sets forth the basic argument why historic preservation can be a tool to promote sustainable development. Part II examines the scientific data indicating that historic preservation is a green building practice. Next, Part III posits that investment in historic districts is an investment in sustainability. Then, Part IV gives an overview of the recent efforts by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to bolster this argument, including the National Trust\u27s collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council, which has yielded significant changes to the LEED rating system. The remainder of this paper focuses on the efforts of the District. This paper identifies challenges and opportunities for the city\u27s historic preservation program as the city commits to a sustainable future

    Pace Energy & Climate Center 2016 Annual Report

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    The Center staff and many allies are deeply involved in the business of electric utility transformation. We live and work in a remarkable time. Decades of steady, thoughtful leadership on clean energy issues is now bearing fruit. Clean energy is not just the right thing to do, it is increasingly recognized as the right choice economically, technically, and for all members of society. Our work, especially in 2016, has been about making sure that we seize the moment and secure the benefits of clean energy use for all communities in New York, the Northeast U.S., across the country, and throughout the world. Never has it been more important that we succeed in our work. The challenges of climate change, the changing path of policy, and the moral imperative of building a clean energy foundation for future generations drive us every day. While we don’t work actively in Washington, D.C., changes there threaten our work. The Center focuses on waging a strong offense at the state and community level, and on effectively communicating the benefits of clean energy development and policy. In 2016, we answered the call for clear-eyed policy leadership in the many New York Public Service Commission’s (“NYPSC”) Reforming the Energy Vision (“REV”) initiative proceedings under way. Our work multiplied as the Commission transitioned from vision to implementation and execution, and so did our impact. See the Appendix for the active NY PSC proceedings in which the Center is engaged! The Center continued its regional leadership as a champion of super-efficient combined heat and power, strong solar energy market policy, and interstate cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We expand the reach of our ideas and support through formal regulatory interventions, thought leadership, and good old-fashioned research and writing. The Pace Energy and Climate Center continues to operate as a small, agile, interdisciplinary team of talented and committed individuals, and continues to benefit from the support of the best law student interns anywhere. Our network of collaborators at other organizations has grown over the year, as has our reputation in the media
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