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Web Resources

• APA Policy Guide on Planning for Sustainability— https://www.planning.org/policy/guides/adopted/sustainability.htm. This page provides explanations of unsustainability as well as a guide to achieve community sustainability.
• BALLE—https://bealocalist.org. The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies is focused on creating real prosperity by connecting leaders, spreading solutions that work, and driving invest­ment toward local economies. The website has available manuals, videos, calculators, and tool­kits.
• Center for Neighborhood Technology—www.cnt.org. This organization links economic and com­munity development with ecological improvement in an effort to build prosperous and sustain­able communities.
• Center for Rural Affairs—www.cfra.org. This organization focuses on working to build sustainable rural communities through social and economic justice with environmental stewardship.
• Ecoforestry Institute—ecoforestry.ca/. This site is dedicated to teaching and certifying holistic, eco­logically sound forestry practices that protect and restore the sustainability of forests while harvesting forest products.
• Ecotrust—http://www.ecotrust.org. Ecotrust’s mission is to inspire fresh thinking that creates eco­nomic opportunity, social equity, and environmental well-being. It promotes conservation-based development and helps provide financing for sustainability projects.
• Environmental Protection Agency, Green Communities—http://www.epa.gov/greenkit/index.htm. The Green Communities website is your portal to tools and information on the best strategies, programs, and policies to reduce your environmental footprint. A five-step environmental plan­ning framework leads you to a greener, sustainable future.
• Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)—www.ilsr.org. ILSR is a nonprofit research and educational organization that provides technical assistance and information on environmentally sound eco­nomic development strategies.
• Institute for Sustainable Forestry—http://www.newforestry.org. This organization is engaged in a variety of activities promoting sustainable forestry wood certification.
• International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)—www.iclei.org. The ICLEI is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. More than 475 cities, towns, counties, and their associations worldwide compose ICLEI’s membership. The ICLEI works with local governments and provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge, and support local government in the implementa­tion of sustainable development at the local level.
• The Natural Step International Gateway Page—http://www.naturalstep.org/en. Provides resources, case studies, and other information for those interested in using The Natural Step process.
• Open Source Ecology—http://opensourceecology.org. This website and group is dedicated to creating a set of open-source blueprints for the 50 most important machines for modern life.

• Redefining Progress—http://rprogress.org/index.htm. Redefining Progress works with a broad array of partners to shift the economy and public policy toward sustainability.
• Resource Renewal Institute (RRI)—www.rri.org/index.php. RRI is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 to support innovative environmental management in the United States and worldwide. RRI’s main role is to promote the implementation of green plans—long-term, comprehensive strategies designed to achieve sustainability.
• Rocky Mountain Institute—www.rmi.org. The mission of this organization is to foster efficient and sustainable use of resources as a path to global security. You can find information on resource-efficient buildings, sustainable economic development, and more general topics, such as water and transportation.
• Slow Money—http://slowmoney.org. This organization and website is focused on investing money locally, especially on small food enterprises.
• Sustainable America (SA)—www.sustainableamerica.org. SA is a national membership organization that rejects destructive consumption and development patterns and promotes public policies and private actions that support sustainable development.
• Sustainable Communities Network—www.sustainable.org. This site provides success stories and resources on community sustainable development.
• Sustainable Jobs Fund (SJF)—www.sjfventures.com/about. SJF is a community development venture capital fund and a certified community development financial institution (CDFI) that makes investments in growth enterprises, which create quality jobs in economically distressed regions in the eastern United States.
• Sustainable Measures—http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Indicators. This website is an excellent resource for communities wishing to develop their own indicators of sustainability. It provides examples, data sources, and other useful resources.
• Sustainable Seattle—http://www.sustainableseattle.org. The city of Seattle has one of the most estab­lished sustainable programs in the United States. This website has information on its programs, indicators, and activities.
• Yellow Wood Associates, Inc.—http://www.yellowwood.org. This consulting firm provides training and services in the area of community-based sustainable development in rural communities.