ABOUT US
About the Sustasis Foundation
The Foundation's name, Sustasis, is a Greek word that means "to stand together" as in a collaboration. The Foundation is a small catalytic organization that seeks to convene other collaborators in strategic ways, and thereby leverage its small resources for maximum effect. We develop and share tools to promote vibrant, livable neighborhoods, while at the same time addressing the critical issues of resource depletion and climate change. We focus on capacity-building tools at the neighborhood scale, including codes, pattern languages, peer-to-peer design tools, and regulatory tools and incentives that make it easier to do good development.
We were formed in 2007 to take forward recovery planning work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Working as part of the Unified New Orleans Plan team, we recognized that "top-down" planning and aid from government entities would not be sufficient, and new "bottom-up" approaches were also badly needed -- including peer-to-peer and "capacity-building" tools at the neighborhood scale. Following the suggestion of Andy Kopplin, Executive Director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, we incorporated as a non-profit "public benefit" corporation to take forward this work. Since then we have continued our work on a related set of topics within a range of projects in the US and internationally