Summits convene state and federal leaders and encourage their cooperative goal-setting and mutual investment in response to key rural priorities in Vermont.

Summit on Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change – 2015

The Summit on Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change brought together over 400 innovative business, non‐profit, and community leaders, elected officials, public policy advocates, students, and interested residents to begin to frame policy and investment strategies to advance the development of the Vermont Climate Economy. Over the course of the day, Summit participants developed…

A call for action

By Steve Pappas, Times Argus: www.timesargus.com A summit at Vermont Technical College on Wednesday showed exactly how far Vermont has progressed when it comes to climate change, but also how far we still have to go if we want to be economically viable — and sustainable — on the world stage. “Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change” was the name of the conference…

2015 – Community Leaders of St. Albans

On Wednesday , February 18th the Vermont Council on Rural Development  presented the Vermont Community Leadership Award to the community leader who have led the renaissance of downtown St. Albans over the last few years.  The award was presented at the Summit on Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change at Vermont Technical College in…

Living Economically: Ramp it up with Vermontivate, the game that inspires behavior change and fun

By Laurie Caswell Burke, published in the Shelburne News: http://shelburnenews.com/?p=20752 Last month I joined 400 Vermonters from around the state to participate in the Vermont Council on Rural Development’s Summit on Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change. Business leaders, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders and community citizens, like myself, came together at Vermont Technical College campus…

Opinion: A crisis and an opportunity

Published in the Times Argus: http://www.timesargus.com/article/20150308/OPINION06/703089979 By Brian Shupe, Executive Director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council Many people have raised alarms about the need to do something about climate change. By doing something, I mean two things. We must prepare for it, because we are already seeing the effects — and they will only…

Video ~ Climate Economy Summit

This video captured sessions at the Summit on “Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change” held at the Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center on February 18, 2015. [Video by Rick McMahan of Vermont In Person: http://www.vermontinperson.com/ Part 1: Opening Remarks and Panel Discussion Opening remarks by Paul Costello, Executive Director of the Vermont Council on…

Opinion: Moving forward on climate change

By Bill Laberge, owner of Grassroots Solar, and published in the Times Argus: http://www.timesargus.com/article/20150301/OPINION06/703019960/1014 Despite the thermometer suggesting otherwise, the February sun is starting to give us the sense of change, slowly melting our hibernating souls. You can feel the warmth starting to thaw out the dormancy, although maybe that is just a reaction to…

VCRD Awards its Annual Vermont Community Leadership Award and a new Community Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award

MONTPELIER, VT – On Wednesday , February 18th the Vermont Council on Rural Development  presented the Vermont Community Leadership Award to the community leader who have led the renaissance of downtown St. Albans over the last few years. The award was presented at the Summit on Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change at Vermont…

Summit to tackle climate change, economy

This week’s Summit on Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change isn’t about the debate over climate change, organizers say. Instead, it’s about how to use climate change to benefit Vermont’s economy. The summit Wednesday at Vermont Technical College in Randolph will be a daylong conversation including panel discussions, work groups and keynote addresses. Gov.…