Institute for Sustainable Communities

Mission

ISC's mission is to help communities around the world address environmental, economic, and social challenges to build a better future shaped and shared by all. At ISC, we believe that sustainable communities are possible. We believe that climate change demands that communities must transform, engaging their citizens, reorienting their institutions and shifting their resources and investments. We are in the business of unleashing the power of people to transform their communities. Our approach ensures solutions emerge from within the community, rather than being imposed from the outside. By combining technical expertise and leadership training with strategic investments in local organizations, we strive to spark creative solutions and bring lasting change.

We believe that climate disruption is the defining challenge of our moment in time. Unlike other challenges that face us today, which have been around as long as humans have lived in community, this one is unfamiliar, unprecedented, and accelerating. We understand that people of color and low income communities have contributed the least to the climate and environmental crisis, yet suffer the most from its ill-effects, and we prioritize working with these communities because they are closest to environmental and climate solutions.

ISC's work in China, India, and Bangladesh addresses the following strategic initiatives: (1) Advancing sustainability and climate solutions in cities and urban regions; and (2) Advancing EHS (environment, health and safety) compliance and sustainable manufacturing practices.

ISC's work in the U.S. addresses the following strategic objective: Advancing equitable sustainability and climate solutions in cities and urban regions. To date, we have served over 500 U.S. communities.

Organization Information