Areas of Focus
Blackstone Ranch Institute supports innovative initiatives that respond to a range of environmental challenges. Our understanding of deep societal change is that it needs to take place across all social sectors and in a number of key areas to be truly effective. As we change, we anticipate that the areas of focus and the mix of social sectors and organizational partners will change as well to reflect broader changes in society and the opportunities that present themselves.
Cities
The majority of the world’s population now lives in cities. Cities are where the majority of the world’s environmental problems are concentrated, but they are also the sources of the greatest civic, scientific and business innovations that will address those problems. We have been supporting cutting edge urban sustainability initiatives since our inception.
View Cities: Laboratories for Innovation in Sustainability from our ten year review (a 10-page, 229kb PDF).
- Launch of World Green Building Council Global Net Zero Carbon Certification Program
- USDN Sustainable Consumption Inititative for Cities
- RMI Mobility Transformation Program
- Collaborating for Resiliency in North American Cities
- The Architecture 2030 Districts Summit
- Second Annual North American Ecodistricts Incubator Program
- Launch of EcoDistricts Institute
- Second National Gathering of Urban Sustainability Directors Network
- Climate Leadership Academy Green Jobs for Cities
- Formation of National Urban Sustainability Directors Network
- Creation of National Climate Leadership Academy
- National Civic Engagement Campaign on Climate Change Mitigation
- Cascadia Region Green Building Market Transformation Summit
- U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Summit
- Formation of Green Cities California
- California Urban Sustainability Directors at Green Gulch Farm
- Rocky Mountain Institute Urban Sustainability Directors Gathering