New Ecology, Inc. ["NEI"] was founded in 1999 to spearhead sustainable development in distressed urban communities in New England. In four years, we have developed an innovative program responsible for several important on-the-ground accomplishments. One of just a handful of organizations across the country dedicated to joining the pursuit of environmental quality with economic development in urban communities, our work has evolved from largely experimental in nature to a more distinct and intentional theory of change, promoting strategies that represent best practice in the emerging area of sustainable development.



NEI seeks to change the urban development system by intervening substantively in that system to reposition our selected constituencies - Community Development Corporations ["CDCs"], private developers, and universities - as well as the underlying public policy networks to more effectively advance sustainable development outcomes, faster and at a greater scale. Our work has been grounded in these constituencies. Since 1999, we have been involved in over two dozen projects with CDCs, private developers, and universities, each of whom plays an essential role in shaping the physical and economic landscape of the greater Boston region, of Massachusetts, and beyond. In addition, NEI has helped influence public policy to support sustainable development. Our program design establishes an intentional, collaborative, and integrated strategy for change. We believe it represents an important model, one that will significantly help improve the quality of life and the environment in cities and beyond.



THE PRINCIPLES OF NEI



Below are the organizational principles by which NEI conducts its day-to-day business, delivers its programs, develops its strategic plans, and measures its success.



NEI`s Board and Staff commit to:

1. Recognizing that human communities and the physical environment are interdependent systems, and that social and economic health and environmental quality are mutually reinforcing.



2. Insisting on the importance of robust democratic process to environmental decisionmaking at all levels, from the neighborhood and firm level to the regional, national, and global level, and that traditionally marginally or disfranchised voices especially must participate in that decisionmaking.



3. Striving for constant improvement in knowledge and practice by encouraging direct and open communication between a diverse group of colleagues and stakeholders from the private sector, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and community groups.



4. Accepting responsibility for the consequences of organizational and program decisions upon human welfare and ecosystem health.



5. Seeking to find opportunities in challenges and avoid knee-jerk responses to new situations.



6. Creating solutions to problems that restore environmental quality and eliminate waste, provide meaningful and direct economic opportunities for community residents, and build the capacity of communities to support and ensure a healthy, sustainable future.



7. Respecting the importance of place in designing and implementing environmental protection and economic development strategies.



8. Believing in the possibility of good faith and the ability of all people, organizations, and institutions to change for the better and to respect the interdependence of human and non-human nature.



9. Understanding that we live in a world of grays, not black and white, but this does not preclude the possibility of seeking and achieving results that accord with our best social and environmental principles.



10. Abiding by and incorporating the above-mentioned principles to the greatest extent possible and, in the event NEI`s ability to do so is compromised in a particular situation, NEI will take all steps necessary to correct the situation or will withdraw from it.