New Community Paradigms

Without access to sustainable energy, there can be no sustainable development. One person in five on the planet still lacks access to modern electricity. Twice that number, three billion people, rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. In a global economy, this is inequitable - and unsustainable.

Series of articles in support of the Self-Directed Services and Personal Budgets project in Australia

Nesta is an independent charity with a mission to help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. Nesta doesn't work alone. We rely on the strength of the partnerships we form with other innovators, community organisations, educators and investors too. We're in the very lucky position of gaining greater independence and freedom at a time when many organisations face severe constraints.

Solve for X is a place to hear and discuss radical technology ideas for solving global problems. Radical in the sense that the solutions could help billions of people. Radical in the sense that the audaciousness of the proposals makes them sound like science fiction. And radical in the sense that there is some real technology breakthrough on the horizon to give us all hope that these ideas could really be brought to life.

Development in the 21st century demands access to information. At a time of tight budgets, libraries offer a more efficient, smarter way of doing development. Most countries around the world, regardless of their size or level of development have public libraries. Beyond Access is starting a movement to make them all hubs for economic and social change. We believe that libraries power development.

The World Bank is the largest single source of development knowledge. The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (OKR) is The World Bank's official open access repository for its research outputs and knowledge products. Through the OKR, The World Bank collects, disseminates, and permanently preserves its intellectual output in digital form. The OKR is interoperable with other repositories and supports optimal discoverability and re-usability of the content by complying with Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) standards and the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).

Mayor Buckhorn is moving decisively with an economic development strategy that recognizes that its future as a vibrant, livable and sustainable community depends upon connecting its People, redefining its Places, and igniting Progress. Over the next months, AECOM and Parsons Brinckerhoff, planning and transportation experts, respectively, will work with the city and our community stakeholders and opinion leaders to develop a shared vision and give city leaders an implementable plan of action. This master plan, when complete, will form a living "workbook" of initiatives in core areas of land planning, transit, zoning, and economic development and financing strategies.

Art works to improve the lives of America's citizens in many ways. Communities across our nation are engaging design and leveraging the arts to create livable, sustainable neighborhoods with enhanced quality of life, increased creative activity, distinct identities, a sense of place, and vibrant local economies that capitalize on existing local assets. The NEA defines these efforts as Creative Placemaking:

PublicInterestDesign.org is principally a blog about a growing movement at the intersection of design and service. In many respects, this movement is decades in the making, while it's also gained new life through a series of books, events, and exhibitions as well as the creation of new organizations and collaborations. Our hope with this new website is to share news and opportunities that the various stakeholders of the public interest design movement can take advantage of.

Housing California is the go-to organization for decision makers on housing and homeless policy and legislation. We meet directly with legislators and their staff members - those with the power to create and pass laws that have widespread, long-term stabilizing impacts on California's housing market. We support laws that make it easier for affordable homes to be built; our work results in greater variety and supply in the housing market and uplifts entire communities.

The concept behind the directory is to bring together the increasing number of people needing to do some form of environmental assessment (and particularly quantification) with people that have developed tools to do these assessments and calculations. These tools vary in format - documents, spreadsheets, websites and other software programmes. The directory will be a free resource for users and practitioners in business, Government, other organisations and the general public.

In 2010 we pubished A Private Sector Policy for the Arts, which was our compelling framework of action to reboot and rewire the mixed arts funding economy being revised following extensive consultation. Using business to help realise your arts projects For the arts we offer learning and development opportunities, tailored fundraising advice and resources for organisations seeking partnerships with business Enriching the arts to help bring your business to life For business we connect brands and agencies with arts sponsorship to help bring your business to life.

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector.

In 2009, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) engaged and solicited input from more than 1,000 stakeholders in more than two dozen public forums that brought together leaders from the public, private, business, government, labor, education, environmental, and community-based organizations to develop the first-ever comprehensive, collaborative, consensus Strategic Plan for Economic Development in Los Angeles County.

Here's why: the internet offers virtual spaces where citizens, in absolute equality, can reclaim an active role in the political process. In essence, these virtual rooms today have the same function as the public squares in ancient times, where citizens gathered to exchange ideas and jointly agree to common solutions. So ironically, it is only through sophisticated information and communication technology that we will succesfully revive the fundamental principles of democracy and citizenship, and confront the global issues of our time.

Planners Network is an association of progressive planning. Our members are professionals, activists, academics, and students involved in physical, social, economic, and environmental planning in urban and rural areas. We serve as a voice for social, economic, and environmental justice through planning.

Analytics,data and commercial real estate.Is there one without the other? For most, the answer is a definitive NO. I have been in this business for a kajillion years and have never seen or heard of a deal that did not involve the numbers. No matter what your level of commercial real estate expertise you have got to do the number crunching. Below I have featured a few sites(with some observations) that provide various pieces of the analytics and data puzzle.

The Obama Administration has launched a new pilot program, called "Strong Cities, Strong Communities" (or SC2), to spark economic growth in local communities with taxpayer dollars used more "wisely and efficiently."

AMERICAN employment put in a respectable performance in July. Non-farm payrolls rose 117,000, or 0.1%, and the unemployment rate edged lower to 9.1% from 9.2%, both better, but not dramatically so, than Wall Street had expected.

A healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and developing to their maximum potential.