Formed as an education and networking organization, SHV has been an innovator bridging between the worlds of best practice in planning and development, and the communities that seek more innovative ways forward. From 2000 – 2009, we educated thousands of citizens and elected leaders through forums, columns, conferences, the news media, public testimonies and the creation of the Sustainable Living Resource Center, now operating independently in Cottekill.
Beginning in 2005, SHV began defining projects that brought powerful collaborative approaches into wider use, including:
- coauthoring Taking Action for Sustainability: The EarthCat Guide to Community Development, a whole-systems, asset-building framework, and helping to show its potential in the city of Newburgh’s comprehensive plan;
- creating the Northern Dutchess First economic strategy for strengthening local food, education, culture, professional services and other key economic sectors in ten rural towns and villages;
- producing the Green Building Materials and Products Directory for the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development;
- convening the first Municipal Climate Action Summit with a standing-room crowd of elected officials, state agency staff, and citizen leaders in 2007, introducing the region to key tools and groups for climate action;
- framing Ulster County’s initial climate change strategy to include green technology and financing strategies
- laying groundwork for Kingston’s Green Line by helping to organize Bike-Friendly Kingston and making the case for a Green Corridor through midtown
- addressing the new challenge of climate change adaptation in the Rising Waters scenario planning project;
- assessing the region’s work force development, education and training systems and framing recommendations for a stronger knowledge economy for seven counties in the Green Talent Pipeline Partnership and Clean Energy Technology Training Consortium with the Department of Labor and SUNY Community College system;
- held 8 conferences exploring aspects of climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience
- creating the training Placemaking in a Changing Climate and delivered it to over 100 planners, policymakers and thought leaders region wide
- organizing the 10% Challenge helping Red Hook town and two villages cut energy use 4% in a year
- helping to convene and support the alliance that created the Mid-Hudson Regional Sustainability Plan
Our Project Partners
Our Project Partners have included World Resources Institute, Global Community Initiatives, Northern Dutchess Alliance, Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Nature Conservancy, Hudson River Research Reserve, the Ulster County Legislature, New York State Department of Labor, the SUNY Community College System, NYSERDA, the Environmental Consortium of Hudson River Colleges and Universities, Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission, Americorps, Project for Public Spaces, Hudson Valley Smart Growth Alliance, US Green Building Council, the Green Map System, Central Hudson; Catskill Mountainkeeper; RUPCO; Energy Improvement Corporation; City of Kingston; Towns of Goshen and Warwick; Woodstock Transition; Rosendale Environmental Commission; Town of Saugerties; Northern Dutchess Alliance; Village of Nyack; Town of Wappinger and Village of Wappingers Falls; Orange County; City of Newburgh and Village of Highland Falls; Town of Marbletown; MTA MetroNorth Railroad; Electric Auto Association.
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