Institute For Sustainable Communities

HELP COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES.

THE PARTNERSHIP FOR RESILIENT COMMUNITIES:THE PARTNERSHIP FOR RESILIENT COMMUNITIES, FUNDED BY THE JPB FOUNDATION, TRANSFORMS THE NATIONAL URBAN CLIMATE RESILIENCE FIELD BY BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF 10 BLACK AND BROWN LED COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS (CBOS) TO DEVELOP GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND CLEAN AND RENEWABLE ENERGY CHOICES SUCH AS SOLAR, TO STRENGTHEN THEIR COMMUNITY'S CAPABILITY TO BE LESS AFFECTED BY AND RECOVER FROM EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS AND NATURAL DISASTERS EXACERBATED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. ISC PROVIDES INFRASTRUCTURE TO EACH PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATION IN THIS INTENSIVE CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAM IN THE FORM OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, GRANT FUNDING AND CONNECTION TO A NATIONWIDE NETWORK THAT BUILDS INFLUENCE FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR LED CBOS TO BE EFFECTIVE IN DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING LOCALLY LED CLIMATE SOLUTIONS, POLICY APPROACHES AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT.

SUSTAINABLE COTTON PRODUCTION IN INDIAAS PART OF ITS MISSION TO HELP MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES COPE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WWF-INDIA, STARTING IN 2020, ISC HAS TRAINED 200,000 COTTON GROWING FARMERS IN YAVATMA IN THE MAHARASHTRA STATE OF INDIA ON SUSTAINABLE CULTIVATION PRACTICES THAT LOWER THE USE OF INPUTS AND HELP ADDRESS CLIMATE RISKS LIKE DRY SPELLS. IN ADDITION, ISC UNDERTOOK A STATE LEVEL RESEARCH TO IDENTIFY THE VULNERABILITY OF COTTON FARMERS ARISING FROM CHANGES IN CLIMATE PATTERNS (MAINLY RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE). WATER HARVESTING MEASURES UNDERTAKEN AS PART OF THIS PROJECT GENERATED 182 MILLION LITERS OF WATER WHICH PROVIDED A SOURCE OF ASSURED IRRIGATION FOR THE FARMERS.

MEKONG SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING ALLIANCE:THE MEKONG SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING ALLIANCE (MSMA) SUCCESSFULLY MOBILIZED OPERATIONS IN 2021 WITH FUNDING FROM USAID AND THE EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION. KEY ACTIVITIES INCLUDED HIRING THE CHIEF OF PARTY, DEPUTY CHIEF OF PARTY, AND OPERATIONS AND FINANCE DIRECTOR POSITIONS; SECURING TEMPORARY LEGAL OPERATIONSIN THAILAND AND VIETNAM; DELIVERING PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS AND PLANNING ON GENDER, EQUALITY, AND SOCIAL INCLUSION (GESI), A GENDER INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENTACTION PLAN (GIDAP), A MONITORING AND LEARNING (MEL) PLAN, PROGRAM WORK PLANS, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ALLIANCE LEADERSHIP GROUP (ALG) - A COMMITTEE OF 10 GLOBAL MANUFACTURING BRANDS THAT PROVIDES CRITICAL ENGAGEMENT ON MSMA'S ENIVORNOMNETAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) STRATEGY WHICH WAS ADAPTED TO A COVID-RESILIENT ESG APPROACH. MSMA ALSO DESIGNED AND LAUNCHED IMPORTANT REGIONAL ASSESSMENTS OF THE ESG MARKET AND ECOSYSTEM ACTORS, FINANCEABLE ESG SOLUTIONS, AND ESG INTERVENTIONS UNDERWAY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. THIS WORK COLLECTIVELY WILL SUPPORT MSMA'S 2022 ESG TRAINING, FACTORY ENGAGEMENT, CAPACITY BUILDING, AND DEMONSTRATIONS WITH BRANDS.