Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute

the blue ridge sustainability institute (brsi) creates, aggregates, and communicates knowledge to provide leadership for sustainable economic growth throughout western north carolina. drawing on the region’s extraordinary biodiversity, its pioneering history of ecological awareness and self-reliance, and the intellectual depth and vitality of its burgeoning creative class, brsi seeks to forge a twenty-first century innovation system that models sustainable behaviors replicable throughout the nation and the world. this innovation system is developed through linking: • scientific research related to the atmosphere and water resources, • applied research in the built and natural environment, and • action research in economic development. by identifying and generating appropriate strategies for improving our understanding of and dedication to a socially, environmentally, and economically interdependent future, brsi encourages fresh thinking in government and industry, and provides practica