Category Archives: Hurricane Sandy

This article was originally published on December 30, 2012 in the Dead River Journal (Seeking Sustainable Growth in the Wake of Sandy)

The Center for Regenerative Community Solutions and Regenerative Community Ventures, Inc. have recently circulated a position paper on “Laying a Foundation for Sustainable Growth in New Jersey in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy” with policy makers and community leaders in the state. Here is a final version, and several excerpts. The authors are co-founders of the Center for Leadership in Sustainability, the Sustainable Leadership Forum, and Acumen Technology Group, LLC. Jonathan Cloud is Senior Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Managing Partner, Acumen Technology Group, LLC. Victoria Zelin is Principal, Regenerative Community Ventures, Inc., a licensee of Unified Field Corporation.

Superstorm Sandy has dramatically altered NJ’s economy as well as its geography for years to come. While there may be a short-­?term “bounce” from the money spent on reconstruction, the thinking about how that rebuilding should be carried out is already moving very quickly toward the view that it needs to be substantially more hurricane-­? proof and disaster-­?resistant, more resilient, and — in a word — more sustainable.

This paper sets out some considerations and recommendations for creating a foundation for sustainable growth in New Jersey, describes some of the initiatives we are taking through our new nonprofit organization, the Center for Regenerative Community Solutions, and makes specific suggestions for policies and programs for state and local government to support these and similar initiatives from other organizations.

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Regenerative Community Ventures, Inc., a licensee of Unified Field Corporation, engages communities in processes that lead to economic, environmental, social and cultural resilience. UFC has developed a “sustainable community partnership development model” that helps keep local dollars working locally through profitable projects that provide more sustainable ways of living and strengthen local economies.

What We Do

1. We  plan, fund and implement high impact local projects, providing the capital and expertise to help communities rebuild sustainably — to become more resilient, more self-sufficient in energy and infrastructure, and help restore the strength of local economies, creating jobs and economic opportunity.
2. We build the community’s grass roots funding potential and help to keep local money working locally.
3. We apply these principles as a demonstration of sustainable local whole systems economics within an application for permission to organize and operate a locally owned Unified Field Bank™
4. We bring together experts in sustainability, business development, finance, green building, permaculture, renewable energy, energy and environmental conservation, and community development.
5. As a social enterprise, we bring together the resources of the private sector — the strength of innovation and entrepreneurship, the power of private capital and of business acumen — with planners, community leaders, and local, state, and federal officials, to make things happen quickly while taking into account the long-run objectives of resilience, self-sufficiency, and sustainable development.

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