NJ ecologists compare notes on the changing profile of the state’s forests, and the threats to endangered plant species.
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What if, as the NJDOT Commissioner suggests, we call it a “mobility system” instead of a “transportation system”? By “mobility” we don’t mean phone service. We mean moving around by any means. That was the theme of this year’s NJ Bike & Walk Summit, and it must be noted, the attendees all looked pretty fit!
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The human-driven loss of species is the subject of Elizabeth Kolbert’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The 6th Extinction: An Unnatural History, and the journalist and author addressed a packed lecture hall at Princeton University last week to talk about it.
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Designing for bikes has become a hallmark of forward-looking modern cities worldwide. Bike-friendly city ratings abound, and advocates promote cycling as a way to reduce problems ranging from air pollution to traffic deaths. But urban cycling investments tend to focus on the needs of wealthy riders and neglect lower-income residents and people of color.
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Green infrastructure experts from Philadelphia, NYC and NJ describe the challenges of re-engineering decades of urban building practices.
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NJ residents will soon be able to “subscribe” to shares of solar power
Broader access to the benefits of cheaper and cleaner solar power is the goal of a new pilot Community Solar program. CivicStory has more on the plan to deploy shared solar arrays throughout the state.
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Could proposed changes to New Jersey’s Stormwater Rule assist municipalities with reducing combined sewer overflows?
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Jersey’s Higher Ed Institutions to be Highly Connected
“Digital transformation” was the theme of EdgeCon2019, a three-day gathering of CIOs (chief information officers) from New Jersey higher education institutions, as well as from public school boards and healthcare organizations. NJEdge, the host organization, is prototyping a new “Research As A Service” network.
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“Always uplift, never uproot.” That maxim was greeted with applause by the people who gathered in Trenton Wednesday to mark the release of “Thriving Cities: A New Urban Agenda”, a roadmap for strengthening New Jersey’s urban communities.
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Jersey Water Works convened experts to brainstorm ways to fix and finance improvements to New Jersey’s aging water infrastructure. The meeting highlighted the state of New Jersey’s water systems, how to fix them, and perhaps most frustratingly, how to pay for fixes.
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In a lively exchange with the audience of CivicStory’s forum on “News & Democracy,” panelists and attendees calculate their EQs (election quotients) - meaning, the total number of political representatives each of us votes for.
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We drive, ride, or fly by New Jersey’s massive port operations all the time - and yet we rarely stop to see or even think about the impact on people who live nearby. To paraphrase one of the panelists in a recent Rutgers conference on clean ports, the shipping industry is hiding in plain sight: everybody knows it’s there; everybody benefits from the trade that passes through them, but few take notice of the environmental costs.
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CivicStory was well-represented at an event celebrating the fifth Annual Great Oak Awards, where New Jersey Monthly honors NJ businesses for exemplary work on behalf of charitable causes. Susan Haig, Founder & Creative Director of CivicStory and Steven Pomerantz Board Member, Development Chair attended the event at NJPAC.
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At its last meeting, the CivicStory Board of Trustees elected Scott Fischer as President, and welcomed two new board members.
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Building a college-going culture in Newark may not happen overnight, but the process is well underway, thanks to the efforts of the Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC), which is conducting an ongoing series of roundtable discussions with Newark communities.
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Declaring that “the noblest function of art is to oppose what is ugly,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka launched the Newark Arts Festival with an eloquent description of the power of art in raising people out of the “ugliness” and degradation of poverty and prejudice.
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How to recover from the kind of tragedy that struck Trenton’s popular Art All Night gathering a few months ago? At Artworks Trenton, the healing process included a “Non-Gala” last Saturday evening, complete with food trucks, silent auction, DJ, and an opportunity for the community to reaffirm its support for the annual arts extravaganza.
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While world leaders convene at the UN General Assembly this week, The Climate Group was making sure climate change was on the agenda of public discourse in New York. A series of climate-related events across the city included Monday’s sold-out gathering at the NY Society for Ethical Culture, focused on “Drawdown”, a massive international project comprising comprehensive strategies for reversing global warming.
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“If you want legislative change, then you need culture change.” So said Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith, at the Living the Change workshop, part of the recent Global Climate Action Summit gathering in San Francisco.
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CivicStory Board Vice President Scott Fischer (photo: second from right)recently participated in a Princeton University student-led conference on climate change. In his capacity as Managing Member of Ciel Power LLC, Fischer took part in a “Buildings” round table discussion, and wrote up a summary of the weekend proceedings for the CielPower blog. Read the original blogpost, here.
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