Planning for Sustainable Built Environments in Urban and Regional Planning

The Sustainable Environments aims in working to overhaul our country's outdated and crumbling physical environment with a new approach that will foster healthier, sustainable, and just communities to improve infrastructure make buildings more energy efficient, better manage our water systems and rebuild regional food systems. Focusing on urban areas and their surrounding suburbs, we seek solutions that connect and improve these infrastructure systems in ways that maximize positive impacts and minimize negative environmental, economic and social consequences. Our infrastructure systems are overburdened by increased demand, extreme weather, and shrinking public budgets. The urgency and opportunity behind this challenge is driving us to look at our past grant making efforts around smart growth. Currently, many decisions about infrastructure repair and replacement are disjointed, short on authentic community engagement. Through urban and regional planning, Sustainable Development will be realized.