Bothwell to explore sustainability as Orton Fellow

CNU board treasurer Stephanie Bothwell has been selected as the second Orton Family Foundation Fellow. This relatively new fellowship program supports land-use innovation efforts in an attempt to encourage new approaches to the land use planning challenges that face American cities, towns, and countryside.

Bothwell’s proposed research project will focus on reward mechanisms for community-scale sustainable design. Such rewards can operate on levels ranging from the financial community to the municipality to the grass roots level. Bothwell observes that the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED system for green buildings and the emergent, CNU-sponsored LEED for Neighborhood Development, or LEED-ND, provide incentives for developers and professionals to build sustainable, green communities. A landscape architect and urban planner, Bothwell is interested in exploring possible incentives for individuals beyond the select realm of new urbanist planners and developers. She believes that we need to look for meaningful and affordable ways for communities to participate in sustainable practices and is particularly interested in the feedback loops and systems that convince individuals that their efforts are meaningful.

Along with the LEED-ND program, Bothwell’s project reflects how a prevailing emphasis on green buildings is giving way to an emphasis on green neighborhoods. In a  recent article “Hood Intentions” on the award-winning environmental website Grist.org (www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/10/12/shaw), board member Doug Farr explores the meaning and potential of this shift.