The following websites contain information on sustainable development, historic preservation, urban design, ecology, and economic development.

Local Community and Economic Development Organizations

Massachusetts Housing Partnership
A statewide public nonprofit affordable housing organization that works in concert with the Governor and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to help increase the supply of affordable housing in Massachusetts.

Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA)
CHAPA’s mission is to encourage the production and preservation of housing that is affordable to low and moderate income families and individuals and to foster diverse and sustainable communities through planning and community development. 

Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC)
MACDC is an association of mission-driven community development organizations dedicated to creating places of opportunity where ALL people can live with dignity while participating in and benefiting from our Commonwealth’s economy.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission
The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is the regional planning agency for Berkshire County, the western most county in Massachusetts. BRPC assists the thirty-two Berkshire cities and towns in a diverse set of topics including community and economic development, community planning, data and information services, emergency preparedness planning, environmental and energy planning, regional services, public health planning and services and transportation.

1Berkshire
As the official Regional Economic Development Organization and Regional Tourism Council, 1Berkshire is here to assist businesses in becoming a part of this dynamic region in Western MA, which is well positioned for investment, growth, and development.

National Community and Economic Development Organizations

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, known as LISC, is one of the largest organizations supporting projects to revitalize communities and bring greater economic opportunity to residents. These include more affordable housing, better schools, safer streets, growing businesses and programs that improve the financial outlook of people. LISC provides the capital, strategy and know-how to local partners to get this done. Their work impacts the lives of millions of Americans in both rural areas and urban centers across the country.

The Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute provides leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. ULI is the oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate and land use experts in the world. ULI is its members. Through their members’ dedication to the mission and their shared expertise, the Institute has been able to set standards of excellence in development practice.

Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise improves communities and people’s lives by making well-designed homes affordable. They bring together nationwide know-how, partners, policy leadership and investment to multiply the impact of local affordable housing development.

Congress for New Urbanism
The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is an international nonprofit organization working to build vibrant communities where people have diverse choices for how they live, work, and get around. They believe that well-designed cities and neighborhoods are crucial for our health, economy, and environment. Their 2600 members are diverse global thought-leaders on design, development, policy, implementation, and activism. They work in communities across the world—from major urban centers to historic small towns. From our annual Congress to our strategic policy initiatives, CNU connects and empowers the professionals, leaders, advocates, and citizens building places where people and businesses can thrive and prosper. Their goal is to steer cities and towns away from sprawling development, building more beautiful and sustainable places, preserving historic assets and traditions, and providing a range of housing and transportation choices.

Project for Public Spaces
The Project for Public Spaces is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build strong communities. They are the central hub of the global placemaking movement, connecting people to ideas, resources, expertise, and partners who see place as the key to addressing our greatest challenges.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization, works to save America’s historic places. They are the cause that inspires Americans to save the places where history happened. The cause that connects us to our diverse pasts, weaving a multi-cultural nation together. The cause that transforms communities from places where we live into places that we love. As the leading voice for preservation, they are the cause for people saving places. Their mission is to protect significant places representing our diverse cultural experience by taking direct action and inspiring broad public support. They do this by fostering a deep sense of community, commitment, and passion for saving places.

Regional Plan Association
Regional Plan Association is America’s most distinguished urban research and advocacy organization. RPA works to improve the prosperity, infrastructure, sustainability and quality of life of the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region. Some of the region’s most significant public works, economic development and open space projects have their roots in RPA ideas and initiatives, from the location of the George Washington Bridge to the revitalization of downtown Brooklyn, Stamford and Newark to the preservation of open space and development of parks in the Palisades, Governors Island and Gateway National Recreation Area. RPA has pursued these goals by conducting independent research, planning, advocacy and vigorous public-engagement efforts.

First Nations Development Institute
First Nations Development Institute’s mission is to strengthen American Indian economies to support healthy Native communities. They invest in and create innovative institutions and models that strengthen asset control and support economic development for American Indian people and their communities. With the support of individuals, foundations, corporate and tribal donors, First Nations Development Institute improves economic conditions for Native Americans through technical assistance & training, advocacy & policy, and direct financial grants in five key areas: Achieving Native Financial Empowerment, Investing in Native Youth, Strengthening Tribal & Community Institutions, Advancing Household & Community Asset-Building Strategies, and Nourishing Native Foods & Health.

The Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Their mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level.

Environmental and Green Building Websites

Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land’s mission is to create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Every park, playground, and public space they create is an open invitation to explore, wonder, discover, and play. The Trust for Public Land is proud to say that they’ve been connecting communities to the outdoors—and to each other—since 1972. Today, millions of Americans live within a 10-minute walk of a park or natural area they helped create, and countless more visit every year.

Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth-its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. NRDC experts use data and science to unearth the root causes of the problems that confront us. They use that information to blueprint transformative solutions, and they mobilize the support of partners, members, and activists to advocate for laws and policies that will protect our environment far into the future.

Best Green Home Tips
Best Green Home Tips offers everything you need to stay green at home; from green building, to earth-friendly furniture, to gardening, to tips and how-tos for keeping it green.

U.S. Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a sustainable, prosperous future through LEED, the leading program for green buildings and communities worldwide.

The Rocky Mountain Institute
Rocky Mountain Institute transforms global energy use to create a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future. RMI engages businesses, communities, institutions, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively shift from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables. They employ rigorous research, analysis, and whole-systems expertise to develop breakthrough insights. They then convene and collaborate with diverse partners—business, government, academic, nonprofit, philanthropic, and military—to accelerate and scale solutions.

Center for Neighborhood Technology
The Center for Neighborhood Technology delivers game-changing research, tools, and solutions to create sustainable and equitable communities. They help neighborhoods, cities, and regions work better, for everyone. CNT is committed to improving cities’ economic and environmental sustainability, resilience, and quality of life. They work to help all people access:
• Shared prosperity through improving economic and job opportunities and reducing the cost of living.
• Livable, connected, and equitable neighborhoods with better choices in transportation, energy, water and other basic needs.
• Resilient communities in the face of the changing climate and economy.
• Innovative infrastructure that is efficient, cost-effective, environmentally friendly and, whenever possible, at a community scale.

BuildingGreen, Inc.
BuildingGreen helps architects, designers and other sustainability professionals make their projects greener and healthier.