The most powerful ingredient of happiness is strong positive social connections and it is so when it comes to making citizens and cities happier. Charles Montgomery speaks at Sam Sullivan's February 2014 Public Salon in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 

How can we be happier in cities? Charles Montgomery looks for answers at the intersection of urban design and the new science of happiness. In psychology, neuroscience, and behavio

ral economics, and in cityscapes from Disneyland to Dubai, he explores the link between the ways we design our cities and the ways we think, feel, and act. His work demonstrates how each of us can change our own lives by changing our relationship with the cities we inhabit.

Order his book from Amazon by clicking on the image or visit your local bookstore. Thank you.  

This is a proposal for the location of a Chinese style Green Grocer in the New Chinese Japanese Historical District of the Old Town Chinatown Neighborhood Association. Ruth Ann Barrett is a sustainability advocate living in the neighborhood with experience in community development, local government, association management and marketing. This is an update of an earlier version. Published on Oct 26, 2014

Portland, Oregon gets a lot of attention for our strategic and efficient land-use planning and we are known as one of the greenest and most livable cities in the world. We've invested in and revitalized places like the Pearl District and Alberta, and they are highly desirable places to live, shop and eat. Portland is a city that strives for equitable and healthy communities, but are those goals tangible enough to get the work done? What will it take to move forward with projects like the Memorial Coliseum and Centennial Mills, which have been hot topics of discussion for decades? Brian Libby will moderate this program, while John Russell addresses these development issues and provides us with his ideas to keep development moving forward in our city, while keeping Portland's values intact. Published on Jan 16, 2013 by City Club of Portland.

Published on Feb 25, 2014

People from all over the world express their concern over climate change and the future of our cities.

Published on Oct 24, 2012 by the A GoodPlanet Foundation project, based on an initiative, 7Billion Others, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and supported by BNP Paribas.

Karen Litfin is the author of "Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community" Check out the website.  Ecovillages from the around the world represent sustainability as they integrate the social, economic, and environmental into the community. Learn about ecovillages as Karen did on her journey.

To order her book from Amazon click on the image, or visit you local bookstore.  Thank you.

Activists Marshall Ganz, Rachel Laforest and Madeline Janis describe how organized people can successfully fight organized money to deliver social change.  Marshall Ganz notes the difference between a movement (about meaning and what is good) and a special interest, how the powerful don't always win, the importance of strategy/structure and narrative and many other important aspects of activisim.  He is associated with the Leading Change Network.

Order his latest book, Why David Sometimes Wins: leadership, organization and strategy in the California farm worker movement  from Amazon by clicking on the image or visit your local bookstore. Thank you.

Friends of Justice, Why Stories Matter, Interview and book, Love, Power and Justice by Paul Tillich referenced in this interview and another must read.

Click on image to order from Amazon or visit your local bookstore. Thank you

Dean Karlan discusses the importance of knowing people and knowing language to change human behavior. With these findings, Dean has developed innovative mechanisms to increase savings in communities across the developing world.

Dean Karlan is a Professor of Economics at Yale University. Karlan is President of Innovations for Poverty Action, a non-profit organization

TEDxMiddlebury Published on Aug 18, 2013

The nearly 10 million people in the city and county of Los Angeles, California require a lot of water -- most of which is imported snow melt from the Eastern Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Mountains, hundreds of miles away. UCLA researchers Stephanie Pincetl and Mark Gold are studying how Los Angeles can reduce its water imports and better capture, store and reuse water for a more sustainable water supply. Published on Jul 12, 2013

Bill Moyers has followed the stories of two Milwaukee families since 1991. Like thousands of others, they were caught in the powerful undertow of a merciless economy and a changing city, constantly faced with devastating challenges and difficult choices. Bill revisits his reports on these families, and also explores the human price of inequality with journalists Barbara Miner and Barbara Garson. Click on images to order their books from Amazon or visit your local book store. Thank you.

Published on Jul 4, 2013