Activities
Activities » Shared Visions
Efficient Resource Use: Future prosperity, economic or otherwise, will not occur unless Nebraska’s community leaders find consensus on identifying and efficiently managing our most fragile natural resources.
Environmental Quality: Degradation of water quality and supply, loss of habitat and food production to poor land use practices, and toxins in our water, soil and air threaten the very survival of plant, animal and human communities. Species failure is a loss not only for our environment, but a dire warning of our own fragile ecological condition.
Alternative Energy: Communities need to act quickly to address future energy challenges, working on a regional and statewide scale to increase the use of clean, alternative energy and to make energy efficiency and the efficient use of resources (materials reuse and recycling) a priority through building code improvements and incentive programs.
Economic Opportunities: Valuable natural resources – water, wind, soils, and our four-season solar climate – are underutilized or misallocated in many communities large and small. Regional cooperation, coupled with long-term planning are keys to economic sustainability and substantial improvements to quality of life.
Effective Public Policy: No single jurisdiction can afford to foot the bill for the future, yet competitive tensions within and between jurisdictions often lead to inefficiencies in natural resource allocation and infrastructure investment. Policies designed to address 19th century conditions are not suited to the global and environmental challenges of the 21st century. Community leaders must work together to develop policies and incentives based on a shared vision of preferred growth patterns, land use policies, and economic goals.
Healthy, Vibrant Cities: Policies and incentives are needed to encourage healthy, walkable, and culturally rich communities that offer transportation and housing choices in mixed-use developments that concurrently protect habitat, water supplies and local culture/history.
Food-Based Coalitions: Rural/urban interests are in conflict as farmland and fragile natural environments are lost to sprawl, acreage-style development and other non-food crop uses. Leaders need to explore ways to renew ties between populations and local food communities.
Environmental Quality: Degradation of water quality and supply, loss of habitat and food production to poor land use practices, and toxins in our water, soil and air threaten the very survival of plant, animal and human communities. Species failure is a loss not only for our environment, but a dire warning of our own fragile ecological condition.
Alternative Energy: Communities need to act quickly to address future energy challenges, working on a regional and statewide scale to increase the use of clean, alternative energy and to make energy efficiency and the efficient use of resources (materials reuse and recycling) a priority through building code improvements and incentive programs.
Economic Opportunities: Valuable natural resources – water, wind, soils, and our four-season solar climate – are underutilized or misallocated in many communities large and small. Regional cooperation, coupled with long-term planning are keys to economic sustainability and substantial improvements to quality of life.
Effective Public Policy: No single jurisdiction can afford to foot the bill for the future, yet competitive tensions within and between jurisdictions often lead to inefficiencies in natural resource allocation and infrastructure investment. Policies designed to address 19th century conditions are not suited to the global and environmental challenges of the 21st century. Community leaders must work together to develop policies and incentives based on a shared vision of preferred growth patterns, land use policies, and economic goals.
Healthy, Vibrant Cities: Policies and incentives are needed to encourage healthy, walkable, and culturally rich communities that offer transportation and housing choices in mixed-use developments that concurrently protect habitat, water supplies and local culture/history.
Food-Based Coalitions: Rural/urban interests are in conflict as farmland and fragile natural environments are lost to sprawl, acreage-style development and other non-food crop uses. Leaders need to explore ways to renew ties between populations and local food communities.
