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 The Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) is an active resource and focal point for foundations, nonprofit organizations and other partners working to solve the environmental, social, and economic problems caused by suburban sprawl and central-city disinvestment. TFN informs funders of critical policy and grassroots developments; enables program staff to share effective strategies and tools; builds the capacity of key constituencies to promote smart growth and livable communities; and raises awareness about the interdisciplinary nature of these issues and the need for sustained engagement by a diverse coalition of funders.
History. The Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities was launched in the Spring of 1999 by a group of seven foundations, including the Surdna Foundation, the Turner Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Energy Foundation. The Network was established to inform and strengthen philanthropic funders' individual and collective abilities to support and connect organizations working to advance social equity, create better economies, build livable communities, and protect and preserve natural resources.
Mission. The mission of the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities is to inform and strengthen philanthropic funders' individual and collective abilities to support and connect organizations working to advance social equity, create better economies, build livable communities, and protect and preserve natural resources. The Network operates based on the following values:
Collaboration-a commitment to inclusiveness, diversity of participation, interdependence, multi-disciplinary approaches, and a focus on the common good of the whole community, including children and families.
- Equity-a belief in equal access to opportunity across race, gender, and generational lines, a commitment to social justice, and a focus on inter-generational fairness.
- Optimism-a belief that leadership, sustained commitment, and bringing together diverse individuals in holistic approaches can make a difference.
- Integration-a recognition that achieving sustainable, more livable communities requires equal commitment to the economy, equity and the environment.
- Environmental Stewardship-fostering environmental protection, creating effective partnerships, and making sound land use decisions.
- A Focus on Place-connecting and valuing neighborhoods and regions, striving for livable communities, and focusing on people as well as communities.
Resources. Among the most thought-provoking of The Funders' Network's publications are its periodic Translation Papers. Some selections from this series are introduced below:
Translation Paper #1: Opportunities for Smarter Growth: Social Equity and the Smart Growth Movement. This paper describes the implications of urban sprawl from an equity perspective and articulates why funders concerned with social equity should become involved in the emerging anti-sprawl, smart growth movement.
Translation Paper #2: Opportunities for Linking Movements: Workforce Development and Smart Growth. This article describes the implications of sprawl from the perspective of workforce development and articulates why funders who seek to help workers gain family-supporting skills and jobs should also become involved in the emerging smart growth movement.
Translation Paper #3: Opportunities for Smarter Growth: Parks, Greenspace and Land Conservation. This article describes the implications of suburban sprawl from the perspective of supporters of parks, greenspace and land conservation, highlights the synergy between smart growth and the provision of parks and greenspace, and suggests that land conservation is a pivotal strategy for enhancing quality of life in our cities.
Translation Paper #4: Civic Participation and Smart Growth: Transforming Sprawl into a Broader Sense of Citizenship. This paper highlights how -through participation in and understanding of smart growth - people can further broaden their sense of the duties and responsibilities of civic engagement.
Translation Paper #5: Agricultural Sustainability and Smart Growth: Saving Urban-Influenced Farmland. This new translation paper explores challenges and opportunities surrounding farmland protection, highlights the particular importance of farmland near many existing urban areas, and identifies specific areas where actions are most needed and will be most effective.
Translation Paper #6: Transportation Reform and Smart Growth: A Nation at the Tipping Point. This paper discusses the impact of suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment on issues of importance to America's communities and suggests opportunities for progress thorugh smarter growth policies and practices.
Translation Paper #11: Health and Smart Growth: Building Health, Promoting Active Communities. This paper explores the relationships among growth patterns, community design and public health, as well as the growing body of literature documenting them, and discusses opportunities for funders.
Translation Paper #14: Water and Smart Growth: The Impacts of Sprawl on Aquatic Ecosystems. This paper makes the case that comprehensive land-use reform can become the organizing principle of the nation's water-quality agenda, suggesting strategies that can be taken at the regional, neighborhood and site scales to protect aquatic resources.
Translation Paper #15: Energy and Smart Growth: It's about How and Where We Build. This paper contends there is much to be gained by expanding the smart growth movement to include greater attention to energy. As such, it presents a framework for understanding the connections between energy and land use, focusing on two primary issues: how to build (neighborhood and building design) and where to build (location matters).
Benjamin Starrett is the Executive Director of the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. For more information, visit the website www.fundersnetwork.org.
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