CivicStory Blog
Latest news and thinking on civics, community, and sustainability
Broader access to the benefits of cheaper and cleaner solar power is the goal of a new pilot Community Solar program. CivicStory has more on the plan to deploy shared solar arrays throughout the state.
Read MoreCould proposed changes to New Jersey’s Stormwater Rule assist municipalities with reducing combined sewer overflows?
Read More“Digital transformation” was the theme of EdgeCon2019, a three-day gathering of CIOs (chief information officers) from New Jersey higher education institutions, as well as from public school boards and healthcare organizations. NJEdge, the host organization, is prototyping a new “Research As A Service” network.
Read More“Always uplift, never uproot.” That maxim was greeted with applause by the people who gathered in Trenton Wednesday to mark the release of “Thriving Cities: A New Urban Agenda”, a roadmap for strengthening New Jersey’s urban communities.
Read MoreJersey Water Works convened experts to brainstorm ways to fix and finance improvements to New Jersey’s aging water infrastructure. The meeting highlighted the state of New Jersey’s water systems, how to fix them, and perhaps most frustratingly, how to pay for fixes.
Read MoreIn a lively exchange with the audience of CivicStory’s forum on “News & Democracy,” panelists and attendees calculate their EQs (election quotients) - meaning, the total number of political representatives each of us votes for.
Read MoreWe drive, ride, or fly by New Jersey’s massive port operations all the time - and yet we rarely stop to see or even think about the impact on people who live nearby. To paraphrase one of the panelists in a recent Rutgers conference on clean ports, the shipping industry is hiding in plain sight: everybody knows it’s there; everybody benefits from the trade that passes through them, but few take notice of the environmental costs.
Read MoreCivicStory was well-represented at an event celebrating the fifth Annual Great Oak Awards, where New Jersey Monthly honors NJ businesses for exemplary work on behalf of charitable causes. Susan Haig, Founder & Creative Director of CivicStory and Steven Pomerantz Board Member, Development Chair attended the event at NJPAC.
Read MoreAt its last meeting, the CivicStory Board of Trustees elected Scott Fischer as President, and welcomed two new board members.
Read MoreBuilding a college-going culture in Newark may not happen overnight, but the process is well underway, thanks to the efforts of the Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC), which is conducting an ongoing series of roundtable discussions with Newark communities.
Read MoreDeclaring that “the noblest function of art is to oppose what is ugly,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka launched the Newark Arts Festival with an eloquent description of the power of art in raising people out of the “ugliness” and degradation of poverty and prejudice.
Read MoreHow to recover from the kind of tragedy that struck Trenton’s popular Art All Night gathering a few months ago? At Artworks Trenton, the healing process included a “Non-Gala” last Saturday evening, complete with food trucks, silent auction, DJ, and an opportunity for the community to reaffirm its support for the annual arts extravaganza.
Read MoreWhile world leaders convene at the UN General Assembly this week, The Climate Group was making sure climate change was on the agenda of public discourse in New York. A series of climate-related events across the city included Monday’s sold-out gathering at the NY Society for Ethical Culture, focused on “Drawdown”, a massive international project comprising comprehensive strategies for reversing global warming.
Read More“If you want legislative change, then you need culture change.” So said Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith, at the Living the Change workshop, part of the recent Global Climate Action Summit gathering in San Francisco.
Read MoreCivicStory Board Vice President Scott Fischer (photo: second from right)recently participated in a Princeton University student-led conference on climate change. In his capacity as Managing Member of Ciel Power LLC, Fischer took part in a “Buildings” round table discussion, and wrote up a summary of the weekend proceedings for the CielPower blog. Read the original blogpost, here.
Read MoreThis story was originally published as a guest blog of the Jefferson Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen engagement organization working on crafting democratic solutions to today's toughest challenges. (https://jefferson-center.org/)
“How can we provide our youth with safe places for creative expression? How can we encourage young professionals to live, work, and raise families here?”
These and dozens of other questions…
Read MoreThe Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) is the first North American choir to win the title of “Choir of the World” at the International Choral Kathaumixw competition and festival in Powell River, British Columbia, Canada.
Read MoreCivicStory's PR assistant Jessa Henschel graduated from Skidmore College in 2017 as a Psychology major, and will be commencing a Masters Degree in Professional Studies, Art Therapy, at the School of Visual Arts in NYC this fall.
Read More“Welcome everyone, and thank you for coming today. I'm Theresa Turner and this is Arlene Reagan, and we had the honor and pleasure of serving on the New Providence Public Art committee with Marjan Saniee.”
Read MoreIt’s not every day that you'll find an electric car charging station inside a Newark house of worship, let alone in the sacred chancel area in front of the pews. But for thirty members and guests of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Newark and Vicinity who gathered on Monday, May 21…
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