Special thanks to the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce for generously hosting Green Mondays. Presented this season thanks to the generosity of Progress Energy.
Through its Green Mondays series, the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute shares information, solicits new ideas, and develops consensus in pursuit of sustainable community and economic development. Read More
February 22, 2010
What choices should we be making now in order to diminish the impact of development on the natural world? Better yet, from a more positive point of view, what are the opportunities for designing the built environment so that it encourages human interaction, improves productivity and conserves natural resources? Read More
January 11, 2010
What are the opportunities for sustainable bioenergy in Western North Carolina? How do we integrate environmental, economic, and social sustainability into the biofuels supply chain? Read More
December 14, 2009
Concern about climate and related environmental change tends to focus on the impact on the natural environment, exemplified by effects on plant life, and on the built environment, exemplified by coastal flooding and attendant loss of property. But these changes can also have a profound effect on human health. Increases in air pollution—particularly of ozone and aerosols—have a demonstrable, significant impact on respiratory health, even though the consequences of aerosols are only now being researched and understood. Addressing public health in the context of climate and environmental change is especially important in Western North Carolina, with its higher than average incidence of asthma and other respiratory disease in children as well as adults. Read More
November 9, 2009
Scientists at the National Climatic Data Center have projected a high probability of a return to drought conditions for our region. In addition, they have stated that future rainfall is more apt to occur in high volumes but in limited areas. The combination of those factors, plus ongoing development practices that favor rapid channeling of rainwater off of residential and commercial property, would lead to further reduction in groundwater supplies as well as increase erosion, the #1 source of NC water pollution. Read More
October 19, 2009
An important conversation on advances in sustainability measurement throughout the region and through BRSI’s own Sustainability Indicators Project (SIP). Read More
June 8, 2009
“How does air quality fare in Western North Carolina, in light of atmospheric aerosol loading and other atmospheric pollutants?”
“What impact do atmospheric aerosols and pollutants have on the region’s ecology and economy, and on human health?”
“What can be done to reduce atmospheric aerosols and pollutants, and to mitigate their effects?” Read More
May 11, 2009
“How can we make our farms, forests, and land more sustainable?”
“What is the relationship between our natural environment and our urban communities?”
“Which changes to the built environment have a negative impact on the ability of our land to produce, and how can we grow and gather more from our land without destroying it?” Read More
March 30, 2009
“Which established practices would best help Western North Carolina become more sustainable, in terms of energy, the environment, and the economy?”
“Are there cities at home and abroad with lessons to teach us, despite the unique characteristics of the people and the landscape of our region?”
“Can models of success be adopted so we need not start from scratch, or adapted to our particular needs?” Read More
February 23, 2009
“What does sustainability look like?”
“How can we know what we need to do to achieve it?”
“What will it look like when we get there, and how will we recognize it?” Read More
December 1, 2008
“What are the current and emerging Green Economy job and entrepreneurial opportunities in our region?”
“What will a Green Economy innovation network look like here?”
“What must Western North Carolina do now to jumpstart its Green Economy?” Read More
Through its Green Mondays series, the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute shares information, solicits new ideas, and develops consensus in pursuit of sustainable community and economic development.
The primary goal of the Green Economy Asset Mapping Project is to understand Western North Carolina’s growing green economy as a system of assets and shared knowledge.
