Association of Bay Area Government's Smart Growth Strategy/Regional Livability Footprint Project (www.abag.ca.gov/planning/smartgrowth) is a visioning effort of elected officials, local and regional government staff, community representatives, regional stakeholders, and business, equity and environmental coalitions. The Project seeks to determine and lay out strategies for how the nine-county Bay Area can grow smarter and become more sustainable over the next 20 years and beyond.
California Center for Regional Leadership (www.calregions.org) is a statewide nonprofit organization established to support, facilitate, and promote innovative regional solutions for our major economic, environmental, and societal challenges, to help achieve a more sustainable California. CCRL works with a network of collaborative regional organizations from throughout California, and works on behalf of this network to encourage and enable effective regional strategies by local and state government. Smart growth is one aspect of their work.
California Futures Network (CFN) (www.calfutures.org) is a statewide coalition created to educate and organize at the state, regional and local levels to achieve land use policies that are fiscally, socially and environmentally sound. CFN Affiliates are united in the belief that California should steer public and private investments toward existing developed areas; provide for increased social justice, economic, and housing opportunities; and conserve the state's agricultural and natural lands. To accomplish these goals, CFN is conducting research and education to develop effective alternatives to the current "rules of the game" governing growth and development in California—specifically the taxing, spending, land use, and infrastructure investment policies now in play at the local, regional, and state levels.
California Native Plant Society a statewide non-profit organization seeking to increase the understanding of
California
’s native flora
Center for Livable Communities (www.lgc.org) is a national initiative of the Local Government Commission (LGC) based in Sacramento, CA. A nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization of elected officials, city and county staff, and other interested individuals throughout California and other states, the Local Government Commission helps local governments identify and implement solutions to today's problems. The Center for Livable Communities helps local governments and community leaders adopt programs and policies that 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. The LGC developed the Ahwahnee Principles for resource-efficient local and regional land use planning.
Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) (www.cnu.org) is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that was founded in 1993. The center works with architects, developers, planners, and others involved in the creation of cities and towns, teaching them how to implement the principles of the New Urbanism. These principles include coherent regional planning, walkable neighborhoods, and attractive, accommodating civic spaces
Cool Communities (www.coolcommunities.org) works to improve Georgia's air and water quality and to promote healthy and livable communities by advocating urban heat island mitigation using sustainable cost-effective strategies for development, construction and existing structure retro-fitting.
Greenbelt Alliance (www.greenbelt.org) works to protecting the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area's greenbelt and improving the livability of the region's cities and towns. Greenbelt Alliance and Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California have jointly developed the Housing Crisis Report Card,
Local Government Commission (LGC) (www.lgc.org) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization that provides inspiration, technical assistance, and networking to local elected officials and other dedicated community leaders who are working to create healthy, walkable, and resource-efficient communities. The LGC's membership is composed of local elected officials, city and county staff, planners, architects, and community leaders who are committed to making their communities more livable, prosperous, and resource-efficient.
Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development (www.i4sd.org/toolkit.htm) offers the Sustainable Development Tool Kit, which is a set of collaborative processes to support vision based planning and community development. They work in conjunction with GIS and place-based planning and decision support tools to aid communities in developing and implementing consensus-driven sustainable development.
Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) (www.swcs.org) SWCS fosters the science and the art of soil, water and related natural resource management to achieve sustainability.
Urban Ecology (www.urbanecology.org) is an Oakland based nonprofit that believes that vibrant, successful cities are not only possible but necessary for the health of society and our planet. UE plans and designs cities that sustain the people, natural resources, and economy necessary for everyone to thrive.
Urban Land Institute (ULI) (www.uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported and directed by its 13,000 professional members of developers, owners, and investors; financial analysts; public officials; architects and planners; academics; and attorneys. Its mission is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment.
