Aaron Nousaine is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning. He is currently working with the Land-of-Sky Regional Council in Asheville through the Carolina Economic Revitalization Corps (CERC). On October 8th the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, Advant … Read more

Jeff Hughes is the Director of the School of Government’s Environmental Finance Center and a School of Government Faculty Member. Where you live matters. This may seem obvious to anyone in the community and economic development field in the process of promoting their local community, but it might no … Read more

Leah Elliott is a rising junior in UNC’s undergraduate departments of Political Science and Public Policy and a CCP intern working in Caswell and Lenoir Counties. This past summer, the drive up Highway 86 to Yanceyville, N.C. was by far my favorite. Pass through downtown Hillsborough, enter a good t … Read more

Matt Dudek is a graduate student in the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning, the School of Government, and a CERC intern working with the Cape Fear Council of Governments. Last week Monday Mikki Sager and Calvin Allen from the North Carolina chapter of the Conservation Fund came to speak ab … Read more

John Killeen is a recent graduate of UNC’s Department of City and Regional Planning and a CCP intern working in Caswell County. The economy of Caswell County has been facing a fundamental transition since the decline of the domestic tobacco market. At the same time, short-term subsidies from the Nor … Read more

Catalyzing a new strategic approach to economic development and energy security, the Land-of-Sky Regional Council has initiated a project aptly called Building the Clean Energy Economy in Western North Carolina. Funded in part by the NC Rural Center and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the … Read more

As local governments begin to assume a larger role in reducing their community’s carbon footprint, more and more are finding a new reason for community engagement: promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on residential and commercial properties. There are many options for program i … Read more

Glenn Barnes is a project director with the Environmental Finance Center based at the UNC School of Government. In January, Lisa Stifler wrote in this blog about how some rural counties are using landfill gas projects to spur community and economic development.  In particular, Lisa highlighted the E … Read more

Lisa Stifler is a Research Associate with the Community & Economic Development Program. Historically, rural communities throughout the country and this state have lagged behind urban areas when it comes to rural infrastructure, whether power, paved roads, water and sewer, phone lines, mobile pho … Read more

Across the country, organizations are looking inside to identify ways that they can improve their impact on the environment. Some are taking a formal approach: conducting inventories, hiring sustainability coordinators and adopting green building policies. Others are just trying to do the right thin … Read more