The “Think globally, act locally” formulation urges people, communities, and movement organizations, to consider the big picture in figuring out what actions need to be taken in their locality.
Sounds straight-forward enough. But there’s a major gap in that formulation, though, regarding instrumentality. What organizational structures are available or, if not currently available, need to be created to engage, empower and enable people, communities, and movement organizations to take effective action?
In this section, we will be focusing on:
- a host of mutually supportive collaborative structures that we think can provide the clout and staying-power to bring about the needed changes and enable holistic, collaborative decision-making
- local organizations that promote sustainable communities or fight against threats to communities
- doings in the municipalities, i.e., more place-based matters
Regarding the collaborative structures
In this section is discussion of [at this time, most of the linked pages are under construction]:
- Perspectives on Collaborative Structures
- The Alliance itself
- Committee of 100/Green Shadow Government
- Community Bills of Rights
- Impact Hubs
- Sustainability Commons
- Transitions Lehigh Valley
- Transitions U
Regarding local organizations
There are many opportunities for becoming involved with others in existing groups and organizations and in attending/participating in their events and projects:
- You can find a host of local organizations and businesses working to promote sustainable communities in our Directory. See what they’re about by reading their descriptions.
- The Alliance Events Calendar and the calendars provided by other organizations provide info about upcoming events and projects.
- The Alliance has a number of projects in the works that are carried out by our various Working Groups. You may find a home here for carrying out your local actions.
- And for students, we offer Internships with the Alliance – you can make a difference and earn academic credit at the same time!
We will also post calls to action (Action Alerts).
Regarding doings in the municipalities.
Dealing with the municipalities here means dealing with unincorporated villages, townships, boroughs, cities, counties, and the school districts. This serves to provide a place-based perspective that complements the organizational approaches cited above. Many ad hoc efforts spring up to deal with particular concerns in the municipalities.