SSDN Celebrates New Growth in 2021

As we steadily navigate through the challenges brought our way in 2020, we want to share our deep gratitude for our members’ passion, expertise, and leadership in recovering our Southeast communities after COVID-19. Thank you to our 2020 Steering Committee for the invaluable guidance they have provided over the last year. In 2021, we continue…

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Enhancing Sustainability in Small Southern Communities

Every day, we have the opportunity to hear about our members’ innovative projects, recent successes, and exciting ambitions for building and implementing sustainability in their communities. Through our Workgroups, committees, surveys, trainings, and more, we also have the pleasure of receiving valuable feedback from our members about how their participation at SSDN continues to broaden…

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SSDN Launches the Southeast Sustainable Recovery Center

In August 2021, SSDN launched the Southeast Sustainable Recovery Center (SSRC) program. This collaborative effort between SSDN and its many valued partners strives to provide more education and direct guidance to SSDN’s local government members related to federal funding opportunities that support climate action. SSDN believes that local governments in the Southeast, who have been…

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Nashville’s Partnership with Goodwill Industries Leads to Green Jobs for the City

Resilience is the result of sustainability being the driving force of a community’s growth. With this in mind, SSDN’s Southeast Sustainable Communities Fund (SSCF) provides governments in the Southeast with the financial capacity to foster tangible, resilient growth in their communities. Equipped with a $300,000 grant from SSDN, Tennessee homeowners are now able to rely…

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Local governments take active role in reducing North Carolina carbon emissions, setting own goals, weighing in on Duke Energy’s long range power plans

North Carolina is on the front lines of climate change, managing through hurricane seasons with increasingly frequent and intense storms and battling health and economic impacts from other extreme weather events – intense heat, drought and heavy rainfall. In the last few years, local governments across the state have taken on the task of reducing…

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Volusia County, FL: An All Ages Approach to Community Resiliency

If you hear the words “flooding” and “Florida” in the same sentence, you would not be alone in thinking of a beachfront community. However, inland areas in Florida can be just as, if not more, susceptible to flooding than their coastal neighbors Spring Hill, a neighborhood in DeLand, Florida, has experienced repeated flooding for years.…

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Duke Energy Solar Expansion Approved by Florida Regulators

As was announced in recent news, utility regulators at the Florida Public Service Commission voted 4-to-1 to approve Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connections program. Under the program, Duke will build ~750 MW of new solar projects. Thanks to the input and direct engagement from SSDN and dozens of Florida local government sustainability directors, approximately…

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SSDN 2020 Annual Report

Ferns Photo by Elias Tigiser from Pexels

Our culture has always been focused on building trusted relationships, and those relationships have persevered in a time of disconnection and intense anxiety. As a result, our members continued to show up for the network and for each other. They continued to demonstrate impact in their communities despite insurmountable challenges. Read the full 2020 Annual Report.…

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