The Pilgrim’s doorway to the “New World” is once again poised to become a launching point for an exploratory way of life – a green living mindset. Just as the Wampanoag Native Americans here taught settlers how to survive in their new environs, UMass Dartmouth's Sustainability Initiative and our Green Outreach Services can spread the message of adapting for a sustainable future.
The hub for the Sustainability Initiative's Green Outreach Services is a revitalized downtown New Bedford historic building where we share space with the Workforce Investment Board, Economic Development Council, and other local entities forcused on building a strong future for our region.
- Our Green Outreach Services include consulting and workshops in renewable energy transformation, sustainable policy development, and smart land use consulting.
- These services are positioned to form a bridge between the community, academics and research seeking to advance sustainable practices.
- By offering outreach services, we intend for the University and the community to work together in problem-solving teams with differing aspects of sustainability depth of knowledge.
- Our Outreach Offices in downtown New Bedford will be an access point for those looking for guidance applying sustainability principles to their businesses and homes.
- The Offices in New Bedford will also be a gathering place for public discussions about the challenges and opportunities of sustainability.
- Green business entrepreneurs may look to our consultants for accelerator advice designed to help them become successful in their endeavors.
- Modeled on agricultural extension services offered by farmland-based universities, UMass Dartmouth may root its sustainability outreach services in downtown New Bedforod where community members can find guidance in adopting lifestyle choices that are eco-friendly.
New Bedford is just a few miles from the UMass Dartmouth campus. It is a city that people around the world can identify as an average home town. People here work hard to get by on a modest income. Yet, they have suffered from economic and social collapse due to greed and unsustainable choices made primarily by those in control of the marketplace at high levels over which the working man had no influence.
In eras past, the business men of this region made their fortunes first on aggressive whaling, then on textiles (moved to overseas manufacturers), and most recently by harvesting fisheries. After years lost in desolation, the city is experiencing a renaissance thanks to the determination of regular people – visionaries and dreamers, educators, artists, historic preservationists, small business and non-profit startups joining hands with those who believe in green innovation, clean energy, reviving local farmland, and new millennium ocean sciences as this region’s destiny.
