ISC | Publications

Publications

Annual Reports

Fact Sheets and Brochures

Climate Leadership Academy (410 KB)

Gulf Coast Sustainable Communities Network (823 KB)

Environment, Health, and Safety Academy Brochure (2 MB)

China (256 KB)

Civil Society: ISC in the Balkans (156 KB)

U.S.-China Partnership for Climate Action (551 KB)

Newsletters

Climate & Environment

The Green Boot Camp Resource Guide: Scaling Up Building Energy Retrofitting in U.S. Cities (A Resource Guide for Local Leaders) (1.91 MB)

Published June 2009

A resource guide to best practices for improving, accelerating and scaling up integrated building energy retrofitting and green job creation initiatives in US cities. The Guide was prepared for ISC's Green Boot Camp held in conjunction with Living Cities in June 2009 for senior climate, energy and economic development leaders from 16 US cities. The camp was part of our Climate Leadership Academy program.

The Chicago CLA Resource Guide: Promising Practices in Transportation Efficiency (A Resource Guide for Local Leaders) (2.0 MB)

Published September 2009

This guide focuses on two types of resources: case studies on some of the leading transportation and land use related climate solutions from around the country that are either in motion or under development; and menus of resources (studies, reports, websites, etc.) that we believe practitioners will find useful. The Resource Guide was created for ISC's Climate Leadership Academy held in Chicago in September 2009 for senior transportation, planning, energy and sustainability leaders from 16 North American cities. Visit the homepage of our ongoing Climate Leadership Academy program to learn more.

The Green Jobs CLA Resource Guide: Promising Practices in Green Job Creation (3.3 MB)

Published May 2010

This guide is a synthesis of the best available information we were able to find on the ways in which experts and practitioners across the country are working to meet the challenges of creating green jobs. It is intended to help practitioners in cities and metropolitan regions meet those challenges, by showcasing “promising practices” in green job creation, and by providing efficient, user-friendly access to some of the very best information and resources that are available. The Resource Guide was developed as part of ISC's third Climate Leadership Academy, held in May 2010 in Washington, DC for teams of senior officials and key stakeholders from 15 U.S. cities and metropolitan areas. A summary report from the event is also available.

New England: New Century, New Game (487 KB)

Published May 2007

An expert examination of the major strategic issues facing New England communities in the 21st Century—and how the region can pull together to address them while improving the region's quality of life—has been published by the Institute for Sustainable Communities. The publication, which examines critical issues like energy independence and climate change, affordable health care systems, and smart growth, is a compilation of articles by veteran journalists Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson published in 27 newspapers.

ROLL's Environmental Health Impacts: Examples from the Field (487 KB)

Published April 2004

ISC's ROLL program is helping Russians improve their environment and health by introducing cutting-edge health risk assessment methods that lead to efficient, practical solutions to serious environmental health problems. Read about the lives ISC has improved in this four-page publication.

Replication of Lessons Learned in Russia (379 KB)

Published November 2003

The Replication of Lessons Learned (ROLL) program has helped communities all across Russia develop and share cost-effective solutions to a wide range of environmental, social, and economic challenges while creating model government, business, and NGO partnerships that are relevant and workable in Russian conditions. Learn about ISC's approach and impact in this eight-page publication.

LEAP: Improving Environmental Management through Citizen Participation (110 KB)

Published 2003

Local Environmental Action Programs (LEAPs) provide a forum for bringing together diverse individuals with different interests, values, and perspectives to guide the community through the planning process. This four-page publication details the LEAP process and provides a look at the results that ISC has achieved with its LEAP projects in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Poland and Russia.

Profiles in Positive Change: Nizhnii Tagil, Russia (1.2 MB)

Published September 2001

ISC's involvement in Nizhnii Tagil, one of Russia's most polluted cities, lasted from 1993-2001. Profiles in Change reports on the activities, results and lessons learned from Nizhnii Tagil's Environment project, Solid Waste Management project, and Green Futures project.

Guide to Implementing Local Environmental Action Programs in Central and Eastern Europe (3.1 MB)

Published February 2000

This 166-page guide provides local governments and NGOs with a step-by-step process for developing and implementing Local Environmental Action Programs (LEAPs).

Education for Sustainability

Guidebook: Community-Based Approach to Education for Sustainability (2 MB)

Published by Institute for Sustainable Communities, Plock Regional Center for Environmental Education (RCEE), and Körlánc Hungarian Association for Environmental Education | November 2001

The goal of this book is to help communities address their economic, social, and environmental challenges in a sustainable way by creating a lifelong learning culture-supported by community-based education-that is shaped and shared by all members of the community.

Renkei: Demonstrating Education for Sustainability through Community Partnerships (536 KB)

Published August 2002

This report provides a detailed summary of the two-year Renkei project, designed by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and its partners, that successfully strengthened the practice of education for sustainability (EFS) in the United States and Japan on both the local and national levels.

Advocacy and Leadership

The Quantum Leadership: Community in Motion (2.2 MB)

by Jennifer Milewski | Published in 2006

Based on research generated from ISC's Leadership for a Changing World program, this book illustrates the methods and strategies that leaders use to catalyze and strengthen their communities.

Voices for Change: A Field Report from Bulgaria on Building Civic Advocacy (339 KB)

Published April 2002

In a country that is learning how to make democracy work, Voices for Change portrays the vanguard of a dynamic Bulgarian civil society.

Advocacy for Social Justice: A Global Action and Reflection Guide (Amazon.com)

By David Cohen, Advocacy Institute; Rosa de la Vega, Advocacy Institute; and Gabrielle Watson, Oxfam America | Published by Kumarian Press 2001

Based on a legacy of experience from the Advocacy Institute and Oxfam America, this volume is the first comprehensive guide for worldwide social and economic justice advocates. Intended for the practitioner, trainer and student of activism, it explores the elements of advocacy and offers a toolkit for taking action, comprehensive case studies, as well as hundreds of resource listings.

Civil Society

Russian Far East Civic Initiatives Program: Impacts (257 KB)

Published September 2004

ISC's Civic Initiatives Program is helping citizens of the Russia Far East find effective community-based approaches and solutions to many of the region's most pressing needs. This publication tells the stories of how a few of these organizations are making a difference.

Shaping Peaceful Change: A Field Report on Building Civil Society in Macedonia (644 KB)

Published May 2002

Across Macedonia, a wide range of people are participating in the initiatives developed by NGOs with support from ISC through its Democracy Network Program. Shaping Peaceful Change tells the successful stories of NGOs that proved it is possible for people of diverse backgrounds and opinions to come together around shared concerns, work toward common goals, and shape peaceful change for a brighter future.

Leading Lights: A Report from the Field on Civil Society in Bulgaria (188 KB)