The Institute of Sustainable Communities (ISC) has a few things to say about what its name represents, they cite four primary “elements,”: Ecological Integrity, Economic Security, Leadership/Civic Engagement/Responsibility, and Social Well-Being.

Wouldn’t it be great to live in a healthy ecosystem with shared resources and fair care for all? It sounds amazing. The Institute was founded in 1991 and they work primarily with factories and cities in addressing structural racism and income inequality through helping others implement change.

Enabling communities with the resilience to deal with climate change while working for social equity can actually save lives. How that happens in urban or rural areas may differ in scale; however, the basic principles remain much the same. Dense urban areas are considerably more energy efficient than suburbs or small towns, have more public transit, etc., but studies show they are equal in the “feeling of attachment to their community” polling at a ratio of 1/6 for both urban and rural communities (Pew Research).

Building sustainability in your community may shift that statistic to a more favorable ratio. There are many ways to do this in the short and long-term, do any look like efforts you can lead or support?