SSDN‘s Green Minds

This episode is a short primer for the fall season of the SSDN Green Minds podcast.  We start with host Robyn Byers sharing a quick recap from the SSDN Annual Conference, held in Charlotte last May.  We even reveal who was "A Spy" for the Charlotte trivia game ;).  There's a short review of what's coming up for the fall episodes and we close out with quotes from you, our network, captured from the conference of your favorite bits.  

Related Links: 

Innovation Barn: https://www.envisioncharlotte.com/innovation-barn/

Join us for this half hour dedicated to trees and urban heat in an urban setting.  We are joined by Dr. Vivek Shandas with Portland State University, Victoria Aguilar - Asst. City Arborist for the City of Charlotte, and Erin Oliverio - Division Manager with the City of Charlotte's Landscape Management team.  

Related Links:

Charlotte's Renew Brew

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story

In this short episode, we share the responses we received from SSDN members on what gives them hope to continue working in sustainability. Through our philosophical musings, we come to suggest a "word of the year" for 2024. 

Is your organization struggling to access federal funding? Michael Dexter and Nick Deffley with the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network present the Inflation Reduction Act and the assistance services provided by the Local Infrastructure Hub. 

Links mentioned in this episode

SSDN's Grant Opportunity Database: https://www.southeastsdn.org/programs/ssdns-federal-programs/southeast-sustainable-recovery-center-ssrc/

SSDN's Local Infrastructure Hub: https://www.southeastsdn.org/programs/ssdns-federal-programs/local-infrastructure-hub-cohorts/ 

LIH Factsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wqpwul1xK-7Uo9LI1KYQbCdiRR-wY9H-/view?usp=sharing 

SSDN's Green Minds rebooted! We welcome a new co-host, Dr. Robyn Byers (Sustainability and Resilience Manager, Charlotte, NC), and we are slightly changing the format of the podcast to be more engaging.

In this conversation, we speak with Laura Thomas, Director of the Office of Sustainability for Richmond, VA, about the recently adopted Climate Equity Action Plan 2030.

Also mentioned in this episode: Charlotte's Strategic Energy Action Plan

The third and last episode of this special series on regenerative design includes three interviews featuring The Sustainability Institute (Charleston, SC), Green Spaces (Chattanooga, TN), and our very own Southeast Sustainability Directors Network. 

These organizations are supported by the Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation that invests in transformative leadership and ideas, and creating a more just and equitable world. Learn more about their work at kendedafund.org.

This is the second episode of three-part series focusing on pioneer practitioners in regenerative design. Co-hosts Catherine Mercier-Baggett and Laurel Creech speak to different organizations across the southeast region about regenerative design. These organizations are supported by the Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation that invests in transformative leadership and ideas, and creating a more just and equitable world. Learn more about their work at kendedafund.org.

Part two features the Southface Institute and the Greenbuilt Alliance. 

This episode is a three-part series focusing on pioneer practitioners in regenerative design as co-host Catherine Mercier-Baggett and Laurel Creech speak to seven different organizations across the southeast region about regenerative design. These organizations are supported by the Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation that invests in transformative leadership and ideas, and creating a more just and equitable world. Learn more about their work at kendedafund.org.

Part One of this three-part series features Dennis Creech, Fund Adviser for Sustainability with the Kendeda Fund, and Shan Arora, Director of the Kendeda Building at Georgia Tech University.

Michael Dexter and Chris Barber, both with SSDN's Southeast Sustainable Recovery Center, explain the basics of the Justice40 Initiative, aimed at distributing at least 40% of federal investments to disadvantaged communities. They also present an interactive mapping tool developed for SSDN's members that compares the various set of criteria that can define disadvantaged communities. 

SSDN's Justice40 Web App: https://uvalibrary.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9973040fb53f4d0faa91e42f4aca364d note this map will be moved to a different address soon - do not bookmark!

White House: Justice40 Initiative | The White House

Columbia University Capstone Report:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DXhzk3Ys54pifVr_PyxulgQHktGseTJQ/view?usp=sharing 

This episode of Green Minds Podcast features the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) - why they are important and how municipalities can engage. First podcast co-host Laurel Creech speaks with Anne Livingston, SSDN Director of Policy Programs, about her knowledge of IRPs. Then we focus on GA and Georgia Power's IRP process that concluded in July 2022 with guests Alicia Brown, City of Savannah's Clearn Energy Program Manager, and John R. Seydel, City of Atlanta Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer.