Message from the Executive Director
 

We have just moved out of "the decade from hell," according to the pundits. If your life is anything like mine, you might not be too sure. While I do not believe in "decade packaging" of history, I do believe that the hunger for fresh approaches is pretty broad and deep, as the twin disasters of climate change and economic stagnation are driven home day after day.

At Sustainable Hudson Valley, we have been taking a probing look at our own approaches and assumptions, and realizing it is time for some changes, ourselves.

Well before sustainability was a mainstream concept, we were educating the region on challenges and opportunities including local greening strategies, "local first" economic development. Today the issues and strategies are more widely understood... the playing field is full and fractious... and the new role that is emerging for us is coordinating and supporting the hundreds of initiatives now underway in communities and industry groups. We are redesigning the basics of our organizational structure to allow for a greatly expanded network of experts, an expanded base of grassroots change-makers, and a flexible communications platform that can be used by both.

Our model of change combines three simple elements: clear vision and strategy, dynamic support systems, and motivation. We’ll bring those elements together in a new program of outreach and action, beginning with the Ten Percent Challenge to use 2010 as a springboard for deep carbon cuts and playful creativity.

Watch this site and your email for specifics. In the meantime, thanks for your continuing support and all best wishes for a satisfying New Year.

Melissa Everett, Ph.D.

click here for 2009 Highlights

February 27 at SUNY New Paltz, a regional gathering on innovations in local energy financing will be held. Co-produced by the League of Women Voters, Hudson Valley Smart Growth Alliance, SHV and others, the meeting will feature in-depth practical presentations on "PACE" mechanisms for financing home energy improvements and SHV's Ten Percent Challenge. SUNY New Paltz. Details to follow shortly. A followup to last fall's Community-Based Climate Change Strategies for the Mid-Hudson Valley (took place Oct. 20 at 7 pm in New Paltz) Read More

Take the 10% Challenge in Your Community!
 
Communities are facing up to the need for sharp reductions in their environmental footprint through more efficient use of energy - including the resources like water that take energy to produce and distribute. As a first step down the long path of "80% by 2050," Sustainable Hudson Valley is initiating a challenge campaign to communities to start now and take some meaningful action that moves the needle in the right direction and gets people involved. We are challenging - and supporting - actions that reduce eco-impact 10% by the end of 2010. We believe that harnessing people-power in the short term is what's needed to make the longer-term changes possible.
 
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Hear Melissa Everett present the 10% Challenge on WDST's Woodstock Round Table.

 
SUNY and SHV create Clean Energy Technology Training Website and Resource Centers. Course listings and details...
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