An Oregon 501(c)3 Public Benefit Corporation

Reg. no. 462867-95

 

Sustasis in the news:

               Review of our book Cities Alive: Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander and the Roots of the New Urban Renaissance, in Public Square journal

               Our research published by Delft University of Technology, showing the connection between sprawl and up to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions

               Executive Director Michael Mehaffy interviewed in the Guardian newspaper about tall buildings and their impacts on livability 

               UN-Habitat article about event at COP21 with Executive Director Michael Mehaffy

               Our interview in Scientific American about "planning and pseudo-science," with our ESRG colleague Stephen Marshall

               Our interview on Voice of America about the power of cities -- and the limits of 'density' in isolation             


                   



New Reports and Resources


NEW BOOK available for ordering - A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. Also check out the free wiki at npl.wiki!


INTERVIEW with Ward Cunningham, inventor of Wiki and pioneer of Pattern Languages of Programming, Agile, et al.


NEW BOOK!  Cities Alive: Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander and the Roots of the New Urban Renaissance.


ADDRESS TO HABITAT III CONFERENCE on implementing the "New Urban Agenda" by Michael Mehaffy, Executive Director


VIEW TRAILER FROM OUR FORTH- COMING FILM:  "Christopher Alexander: Life in Buildings." (We are seeking donations in support of this important project.)


ANNOUNCING OUR NEW BOOK   "A City is Not a Tree, 50th Anniversary Edition" of the landmark paper by Christopher Alexander


Our new book: Design for a Living Planet - now available


New video: Mathematician and urbanist Nikos A. Salingaros on "Pattern Language and Form Language" - a mini-course online that introduces the work of Alexander as well as Salingaros


A NEW GENERATION OF WIKI:  "Federated Wiki," in development led by Sustasis board member Ward Cunningham, takes forward his world-changing invention, with new applications for neighborhood-scale planning (among others)

 

REPORT: The impact of tall buildings, including new research and case studies


NEW LINKS TO CLASSIC FILMS: Important films by and about the work of Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander, Kevin Lynch and more.


NEW LEARNING MODULES: Five

new on-line course modules in sustainable urban development.


REPORT: "The unbearable costs of sprawl:" the link between the mortgage meltdown, the global financial crisis, and unsustainable land use 

 


 


Sustasis

 Foundation

Developing and applying neighborhood-scale tools for the complex challenges of the future

 

 

  

About Us       Annual reports...  2009      2010     2011      2013     2014      2015      2016     2017      2018     2019     Donate

 

                            

About the Sustasis Foundation

 

The Foundation's name, Sustasis, is a Greek word that means "to stand together" as in a collaboration.  The Foundation is a small catalytic organization that seeks to convene other collaborators in strategic ways, and thereby leverage its small resources for maximum effect.  We develop and share tools to promote vibrant, livable neighborhoods, while at the same time addressing the critical issues of resource depletion and climate change.  We focus on capacity-building tools at the neighborhood scale, including codes, pattern languages, peer-to-peer design tools, and regulatory tools and incentives that make it easier to do good development.


We were formed in 2007 to take forward recovery planning work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  Working as part of the Unified New Orleans Plan team, we recognized that "top-down" planning and aid from government entities would not be sufficient, and new "bottom-up" approaches were also badly needed -- including peer-to-peer and "capacity-building" tools at the neighborhood scale.  Following the suggestion of Andy Kopplin, Executive Director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, we incorporated as a non-profit "public benefit" corporation to take forward this work. Since then we have continued our work on a related set of topics within a range of projects in the US and internationally.    

 

Our foundation's work can be divided into three categories:

 

Publications:  We publish books, videos, webinars, and wikis, furthering our educational mission.

 

Project consulting and research activities:  We work on a number of project collaborations, including neighborhood-scale development projects and peer-reviewed research.  We focus on the topics of sustainable urban development, climate change, and social and ecological resilience.  Executive director Michael Mehaffy serves as advisor to a number of research projects and NGOs, and sits on the boards of two international urban research journals. 

 

Michael has also played a strategic role in the recovery planning of New Orleans, where he developed proposals for resilience and capacity-building.  A notable example is a proposal for "Neighborhood Resource Recovery Centers" that is now part of the Unified New Orleans Plan, which has now been adopted as the City's permanent master plan.


ESRG - The Environmental Structure Research Group:  The ESRG is a consortium or "research coordination network" that we facilitate, convening over 30 leading researchers from around the world, including Christopher Alexander, Nikos Salingaros, Wiki inventor Ward Cunningham, and a number of other "thought leaders," researchers, academics and practitioners.  

 

The ESRG has held a number of symposia (at University College London, the University of Oregon, New Orleans and elsewhere) and published a number of papers on sustainable development and best practice in design, in Journal of Urbanism, Urban Design International and other leading professional journals.


For more information see our web page about the ESRG.


We are grateful for your support, however modest! We are a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit in the USA and all donations by US taxpayers are tax-deductible. We are registered with GuideStar, an information service for non-profit transparency and accountability.  For more information visit our Guidestar Exchange Member page. 


You can make a donation conveniently via this link:

Donate Button

We welcome your interest in this work, and we welcome your contact!

 

Sustasis Foundation

P.O. Box 2579

White Salmon, WA 98672

 

Email: sustasisfoundation at the gmail domain