Initiatives

Blackstone Ranch Institute supports innovative initiatives that respond to a range of environmental challenges.  Our understanding of deep societal change is that it needs to take place across all social sectors and in a number of key areas to be truly effective.  As we change, we anticipate that the areas of focus and the mix of social sectors and organizational partners will change as well to reflect broader changes in society and the opportunities that present themselves.

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• Renewable Energy and Green Jobs

  Renewable Energy and Green Jobs

  In the years to come, an increasing number of metropolitan areas will rely on a mixed portfolio of energy supplies that will be tailored to their needs and regional ecosystems. The sources will include wind and solar power, the use of biomass and biofuels, and will necessitate the development of a workforce that will be responsible for developing and managing a new energy infrastructure.

  Among the earliest sponsorships of Blackstone Ranch Institute have been pioneering regional initiatives to map out the details of a fossil free future and develop a state level green jobs workforce. 

  • Formation of Green Jobs Collaborative in the Age of Renewables
  • Dreaming New Mexico
  • Community Environmental Council of Santa Barbara Fossil Free Future
• Green Living Environments

  Green Living Environments

  Among the greatest contributors to global warming have been the buildings that we live and work in. The majority are not energy efficient, nor have most been built with ecologically safe materials. There is now a small but growing number of professionals in architecture, civil engineering and product design who are adapting the ways of natural ecological systems to design buildings and new consumer products.
  
  These are important initiatives that will not only improve the quality of life but contribute much to ongoing efforts to limit the impact of human beings on the planet’s natural systems.

  • Biomimicry Design Challenge
  • National Green Plans at Bioneers Annual Conference
  • Biologist at the Design Table Training
  • Cascadia Region Green Building Market Transformation Summit
• Development of Global Carbon Markets

  Development of Global Carbon Markets

  The management of carbon emissions will be key to combating climate change in the years ahead. Many of the efforts to limit or decrease carbon emissions in transportation and industry and in the use of natural resources are in their infancy. One of the most significant ways to encourage businesses to invest in the technologies to do so will be the development of reliable and effective carbon trade markets.

  Blackstone Ranch Institute has sponsored important initiatives that have focused on creating a set of global accounting standards for measurement of global carbon stocks and generating a movement to incorporate grasslands carbon into the larger global equation.

  • Grasslands Carbon Working Group
  • Global Carbon Measurement Collaborative
  • California-European Dialog on Climate Change
• Environmental Sustainability in Cities

  Environmental Sustainability in Cities

  The majority of the world’s population now lives in cities. Cities are where the majority of the world’s environmental problems are concentrated, but they are also the sources of the greatest civic, scientific and business innovations that will address those problems.

  Blackstone Ranch Institute has been supporting urban sustainability initiatives since its inception.

  • National Urban Sustainability Directors Network
  • Climate Leadership Academy
  • Formation of National Urban Sustainability Directors Network
  • Creation of National Climate Leadership Academy
  • National Civic Engagement Campaign on Climate Change Mitigation
  • U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Summit
  • Formation of Green Cities California
  • California Urban Sustainability Directors at Green Gulch Farm
  • Rocky Mountain Institute Urban Sustainability Directors Gathering
• Natural Resources Management

  Natural Resources Management

  As societies continue to grow, the link between human behavior and natural resources decline will become more and more apparent. Some of the most important attempts to manage resources responsibly, and in ways that actually enhance natural systems, are starting to come from companies and businesses that rely on them for the production of their products.

  Blackstone Ranch Institute has supported innovative efforts to inculcate an ethic of ecological stewardship and sustainable management into the business environment.

  • Blackstone Innovation Challenge Grant to National Geographic Explorers
  • New Mexico Food System Summit
  • Stewardship of Ecosystem Services in the West
  • Alexandra Cousteau Blue Legacy Campaign
  • Strategic Dialogs: Cleaning Up Canada's Tar Sands
  • Blackstone Innovation Challenge to National Geographic Explorers
  • Formation of National Business and Ecosystems Leadership Group
  • Forest Ethics Do Not Mail Campaign Corporate Dialogs
  • Global Mapping for Languages, Cultures and Bio-Diversity
  • Forest Ethics Do Not Mail Campaign Corporate and Non-Profit Dialogs
• Education of Future Leaders

  Education of Future Leaders

  Perhaps the most important factor in the development of environmentally sustainable practices in the future is the behavior of coming generations.

  Blackstone Ranch Institute supports efforts to influence those who are becoming or will be leaders of society and potential pioneers of change.

  • Environmental Health Curricula for Medical Schools
  • Presidio School of Management Executive Intensives
  • Orion Society at Ghost Ranch
  • Children and Nature: National Geographic Photo Camp
  • Bioneers Annual Conference
  • Hollyhock Social Venture Institute
  • Hollyhock Social Change Institute