Kathy Gallant, the owner of the Blue Moon Market & Cafe in Exeter, NH, had run this successful health food store and cafe for 12 years when she recognized it was time for the next phase of the business’ evolution. Last October, the doors re-opened as Blue Moon Evolution, a full-service restaurant featuring organic, locally-grown… Read more
Category: Sample Projects
Healthy People, Healthy Planet: Making the Connections between Wellness and Sustainability
New Directions Collaborative facilitated a World Cafe dialogue, in partnership with the Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living and Integrative Medicine at Brown. This fun and inspiring evening forged new connections among Rhode Island’s wellness and sustainability communities, to discover new ideas and solutions that support wellness of people and the health of our planet. The interactive… Read more
“Catalyzing a Network” Training Session for Food System Leaders in Vermont
When the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and its partners were ready to launch the Vermont Farm to Plate (F2P) Network, they recognized that they needed to build the understanding of network approaches among people in the food system who would be leaders in implementing a network. New Directions Collaborative, in partnership with the Interaction Institute… Read more
“Catalyzing Networks” Workshop for EPA New England’s Office of Assistance & Pollution Prevention
New Directions Collaborative provided a one-day training and strategic planning session for the staff of EPA New England’s Office of Assistance & Pollution Prevention on how to catalyze networks. The training was designed to build on the strengths of their previous work by viewing it through a network lens. We shared an overview of network… Read more
Vermont Farm to Plate Network: Collective Impact to Transform a Food System
I have seen the future of how we can transition to a healthy local food system and it is in Vermont. Picture this: 180 people from all parts of the state’s food system, in one room, reflecting on how they have worked together over the past year in a coordinated way towards goals of doubling… Read more
Vermont Farm to Plate Network Gathering – Year 2
Last year, we had the pleasure of helping design and facilitate the launch of the Vermont Farm to Plate Network, working in collaboration with Curtis Ogden of the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. During the past year, over 150 organizations have been meeting to advance the Farm to… Read more
Gathering to Launch the Vermont Farm to Plate Network
The state of Vermont had committed to double local food production over 10 years, as a way to boost economic development, increase jobs, and increase access to healthy food. The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) had gathered input from hundreds of Vermonters to create a Farm to Plate Strategic Plan that defined the sub-goals and… Read more
Boosting the Networking at NHBSR’s Spring Conference
We recently helped New Hampshire Business for Social Responsibility (NHBSR) start off its Spring Conference with a focused networking session. After welcoming remarks by the conference hosts, Beth Tener facilitated a one-hour session to generate new connections by creating ways for people to have meaningful conversations in small groups. The room of about 170 people… Read more
Collaborating to Enhance Energy Efficiency in Transportation
New Directions Collaborative, in collaboration with Sonia Hamel of Hamel Environmental Consulting and Pat Field of the Consensus Building Institute, helped to facilitate a cross-agency collaborative process to develop a framework for considering energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in transportation decision-making. The initiative was led by the Colorado Department of Transportation and the… Read more
Amplify What Works as a Frame in Strategic Planning
“Well, that meeting was not nearly as painful as I expected.” This “ringing endorsement” came from a participant in a strategic planning workshop we co-facilitated for the environmental department of a large corporation. Part of what made this meeting more engaging than most was a focus right at the start on identifying what was working… Read more