A California City That’s Taking Beauty Seriously
Bob Sampayan believes in the transformational power of beauty. Now in his sixties, Sampayan is the mayor of Vallejo, California, a primarily working-class city at the north end of San Francisco Bay.
building resilient communities
Ireland’s Taking $380 Million Out of Fossil Fuels. Where Should It Go?
While divestment shifts capital away from industries that exacerbate inequality and harm community and ecological well-being, it’s only the first step in achieving a just, sustainable future.
Report Shows Hurricane Maria Death Toll Overwhelmingly Hit the Poorest and Oldest
A much anticipated study into the death toll from Hurricane Maria was released Tuesday. The independent report, commissioned by the governor of Puerto Rico, puts the number of people who died at 2,975 ith low-income communities and elderly men at the highest risk of death.
The Case for Community Gardens
The idea of a community garden isn’t a new one. Long before urban and suburban dwellers started pitching up balcony herb gardens, people found that coming together to plant hope in the ground was a pretty good thing.
Southern Discomfort
Solar power owned directly by the people and neighborhoods who use it creates local jobs, reduces polluting emissions and can save individuals money, The opportunity is there: 42 percent of the country’s residential solar potential is located on the rooftops of low- and middle-income dwellings, finds a National Renewable Energy Laboratory study published earlier this year.
Community Development and the Commons
What if community development was actually shaped by all members of the community, not just the most privileged and most likely to profit?
10 Stories of Transition in the US: Transition Milwaukee and the Victory Garden Initiative
To return this sense of empowerment, food sovereignty, and resilience to the people, Transition Milwaukee helped to launch and incubate the Victory Garden Initiative, which recently celebrated installing its 4,000th garden.
Japan in Transition – Fujino
With Yorozu network as a base, this community has lots of events and chances to see each other, and more and more projects are starting. Feeling the bond with others, people feel like talking to others instead of keeping everything to themselves.
New Thesis Explores the Transition Experiment in Ungersheim
A fascinating new piece of research on Transition has just been published, entitled Transitioning towards Sustainability: What are we waiting for?. The Masters thesis explores Transition in Ungersheim, a fascinating village in the Alsace in France which is home to a remarkable experiment in Transition.
Look and See; Listen and Hear: Wendell Berry and the Contradictions of our Climate
Although certainly embraced more frequently and ardently by liberals than by what passes for a conservative today, Wendell Berry is clearly a religious rather than Liberal thinker, praising the unified and relentless in his criticism of the fragmented.
Why I Never Moved to Portland
My advice for young adults everywhere is this: pick an issue you’re passionate about and volunteer. You’ll meet people who care about the same things, and more importantly, you’ll be DOING SOMETHING to make the world a better place.
Still No Evacuation Plan for Vulnerable Residents at End of Louisiana’s Bayou Bridge Pipeline
Sharon Lavigne and Geraldine Mayho took me to meet some of the most vulnerable members of their community, handicapped residents of St. James, Louisiana, who live near a terminal where the Bayou Bridge pipeline will end. “These people have no way of getting out if there is a spill or explosion,” Lavigne told me.
