R2G is a Collective Action toward A Sustainable Future in NY State

  • R2G NY is the Rust to Green New York Action Research Initiative
  • R2G NY envisions a shift from a narrative of loss- RUST- to a narrative of potential-GREEN- in New York State’s Rust Belt.
  • R2G NY is collaborative and action-oriented and acts to foster positive change that is locally driven, participatory, place-based, creative and innovative and that both builds on and fosters the social, cultural, economic and environmental assets, strengths and resilience of communities and regions.
  • R2G NY believes that academia and higher education are among Upstate NY’s most valued assets and that they have a vital role to play in helping New York’s Rust Belt cities and communities “bounce back,” grow more resilient and ultimately prosper.
  • R2G NY helps Cornell educators, researchers and students act together with community partners and stakeholders to identify community assets and potentials as well as problems and needs and then to imagine and implement innovative and transformative strategies, solutions and action steps.
  • R2G NY plays a linking and networking role by facilitating collective place-based problem solving, using sustainable design and planning theories, principles and practices, that is enabling, actionable and visionary.
  • R2G NY, by action and process, mobilizes key actors, creates and activates integrated networks and systems and identifies and generates knowledge and resources relevant to communities, planners, designers, policymakers and citizens.
  • R2G NY’s home base is in Cornell University's Department of Landscape Architecture and is the direct result of USDA Hatch Project entitled From Rust to Green Places and Networks: Mapping a Sustainable Future for Upstate NY (NYC-146455).
Where does R2G NY work?

Utica’s Story

The hope is to grow the R2G Network for increased dialogue.

R2G NY is currently at work in Utica NY and surrounding Oneida County. It aims to continue expanding across Upstate NY to include all of the Upstate cities, known as the New York Seven, identified by the Brookings Institute as having potential for prosperity. In each community where it works, R2G NY aims to foster the creation and sharing of relevant knowledge, creative and collaborative problem-solving, and co-learning and networking that results in greater innovation, self-reliance, capacity-building and urban and regional renewal and resilience. The hope is to “grow” the R2G network and activate increasing dialogue and networking between cities in Upstate NY so that they can collectively participate in problem-solving and learning both together and from one another.

Rust To Green Initiative in Utica NY

R2G NY as a part of Cornell's Engagement Mission

R2G NY speaks directly to Cornell's goal of promoting "stronger collaborations and partnerships between the university and stakeholders that can make use of and strengthen Cornell's research." See: www.cornell.edu/strategicplan