Leadership Institute

There some other organizations in our region focusing on sustainable development, smart growth, and livable communities whose missions closely parallel ours. We strive to work with them and to utilize their resources and materials whenever possible to educate the community and its current and future leaders. We like to think of the following organizations as our partners for sustainable development.

Local Government Commission

The LGC's Center for Livable Communities helps local governments and community leaders be proactive in their land use and transportation planning, and adopt programs and policies that lead to more livable and resource-efficient land use patterns.

LGC programs can help jurisdictions expand transportation alternatives, reduce infrastructure costs, create more affordable housing, improve air quality, preserve natural resources, conserve agricultural land and open space, and restore local economic and social vitality.

Urban Ecology

Urban Ecology is a membership organization dedicated to building ecologically and socially healthy cities. It's mission is to develop and communicate innovative alternatives to the ways we build, making it possible for humanity to live in an ecologically sustainable manner that permits all people--and all species--the opportunity and fullness of life.

Urban Ecology works to create ecological cities by following these principles:

Revise land use priorities to create compact, diverse, green, safe, pleasant, and vital mixed-use communities near transit nodes and other transportation facilities.
Revise transportation priorities to favor foot, bicycle, cart and transit over autos, and to emphasize "access by proximity."
Restore damaged urban environments, especially creeks, shore lines, ridgelines and wetlands.
Create decent, affordable, safe, convenient, and racially and economically mixed housing.
Nurture social justice and create improved opportunities for women, people of color and the disabled.
Support local agriculture, urban greening projects and community gardening.
Promote recycling, innovative appropriate technology and resource conservation while reducing pollution and hazardous wastes.
Work with businesses to support ecologically sound economic activity while discouraging pollution, waste and the use and production of hazardous materials.
Promote voluntary simplicity and discourage excessive consumption of material goods.
Increase awareness of the local environment and bioregion through local activist and educational projects that increase public awareness of ecological sustainability issues.

Bay Area Transportation Land Use Coalition

The Bay Area Transportation and Land Use Coalition is composed of over 60 organizations. Together, we encourage public agencies, private developers, and groups of concerned citizens to promote policies and take actions leading to a Bay Area with intelligent, sustainable land use patterns and an efficient and equitable transportation system.

The Coalition believes that current development patterns and projections for the future do not have to be our destiny. The Bay Area can retain its environment and quality of life while ensuring that all residents have access to economic opportunity by:

Refocusing public investment to serve and revitalize existing developed areas;
Designing livable communities with housing near jobs, recreation, transit and services; providing real transportation choices;
Reforming pricing incentives which promote unsustainable development; and
Addressing important equity concerns.

Greenbelt Alliance

Greenbelt Alliance is the Bay Area's citizen land conservation and urban planning organization, dedicated to protecting the region's Greenbelt of open space and making our communities better places to live. Over the past four decades we have helped save more than 600,000 acres of Greenbelt lands.

Their Livable Communities Program encourages smart growth instead of sprawl. We believe that designing compact, pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented neighborhoods that include affordable housing is critical to preserving open space and ensuring a sustainable region. Their work includes:

Protecting the Greenbelt: preserving farmland and open space by supporting the passage of urban growth boundaries, and opposing sprawl development through grassroots advocacy and work with local leaders.
Focusing Investment in Existing City Centers and Suburbs: advocating for good planning that directs public and private investment into existing communities and contributes more compact, walkable, transit-friendly neighborhoods that include affordable housing and locally-oriented retail, instead of wasteful sprawl development.
Generating public support: Working with local citizens to protect open space and build stronger neighborhoods in their area. Educating the public and local officials about urban planning and open space issues.
Publishing research on open space and community development issues to address our region's growth challenges. Working with local leaders to develop model smart growth public policies.

Sustainable Sonoma County

SSC envisions a future with societies that are a harmonious part of the natural world and that offer satisfying lives for all, including humans. In order to bring about that vision, SSC pioneers and promotes understanding of sustainability and empowers people working towards the shift toward a sustainable society.

Their work includes MASH (Making Amazing Stuff Happen) Sustainability Workshops: a community education and action program, increasing public awareness and understanding of sustainability. The interactive workshops and public events encourage the shift to a sustainable world by helping people integrate the perspectives and principles of sustainability into their lives.