New England Grassroots Environment Fund
Encyclopedia
The New England Grassroots Environment Fund (NEGEF), headquartered at Montpelier
in the U.S. state of Vermont
, is a foundation funding environmental initiatives at the local community level. The organization promotes dialogue in open civic forums and promotes social change. The organization funds environmental
initiatives in grants as small as USD $2,500.00 up to $10,000.00.
"The mission of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund is to energize and nurture long-term civic engagement in local initiatives that create and maintain healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable communities
. We envision New England as a place where every citizen is inspired and empowered to participate in creating healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable
communities - the places where we live, work and play."
with the goals to
, air quality, alternative energy, aquifer protection, biotechnology
, community gardens, environmental justice
, energy conservation, forestry, global warming
, land trusts, marine
environment, public health, addressing and controlling urban sprawl, sustainable communities, control and abatement of toxics and hazardous waste, trails, water
quality, watershed management, and the protection of wetlands and wildlife
.
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 7,855 at the 2010...
in the U.S. state of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, is a foundation funding environmental initiatives at the local community level. The organization promotes dialogue in open civic forums and promotes social change. The organization funds environmental
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
initiatives in grants as small as USD $2,500.00 up to $10,000.00.
Mission
The NEGEF was founded to fund initiatives that other foundations do not reach. The organization describes its mission as:"The mission of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund is to energize and nurture long-term civic engagement in local initiatives that create and maintain healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable communities
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
. We envision New England as a place where every citizen is inspired and empowered to participate in creating healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
communities - the places where we live, work and play."
with the goals to
- Increase civic engagement, volunteerism, emerging leaders and community initiatives that create healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable communities at the neighborhood and town level in New England;
- Help community leaders move single issue, backyard debates to positive, inclusive, systemic, constructive, and lasting community solutions;
- Link community-based advocacy with the work of statewide and national organizations without losing local identity;
- Establish and maintain informed networks of activists across the region that are committed to building a just and equitable society.
Small Grants Programs
The NEGEF funds initiatives at two levels. Smaller grants, issued at the USD $2,500.00 level are available for projects in the areas of issues agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, air quality, alternative energy, aquifer protection, biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, community gardens, environmental justice
Environmental justice
Environmental justice is "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." In the words of Bunyan Bryant,...
, energy conservation, forestry, global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, land trusts, marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
environment, public health, addressing and controlling urban sprawl, sustainable communities, control and abatement of toxics and hazardous waste, trails, water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
quality, watershed management, and the protection of wetlands and wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
.
Boston Grants Initiative
Larger grants, in amounts up to USD $10,000.00 are awarded through NEGEF's Boston Grants Initiative. These grants are targeted to Boston, New England's largest urban area including the neighborhoods of Boston, Chelsea, Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Grants funds initiatives in the areas of environmental justice, environmental health, greenspace, and community gardens.See also
- Communal gardenCommunal gardenA communal garden is a normally formal garden for shared use by a number of local residents, typically in an urban setting. The term is especially used in the United Kingdom...
- Commons
- Community Supported Agriculture
- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
- BiodiversityBiodiversityBiodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
- Global warmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
- EcologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
- Earth ScienceEarth scienceEarth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences...
- Natural environmentNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
- NatureNatureNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
- RecyclingRecyclingRecycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
- Conservation MovementConservation movementThe conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....