Welcome to the Sustainable Appalachian Communities Resource Guide!

There are many amazing organizations listed on the web working towards the formation of Sustainable Appalachian Communities. You could spend days reviewing programs and barely scratch the surface of what’s out there. This is why you might find the Sustainable Appalachian Communities Resource Guide helpful. This website is designed to offer assistance in your search for information on healthy Appalachian communities. We hope to serve as a guidebook for resources you might find useful and provide opportunities for you to connect with other Appalachian communities who can give guidance in the direction you are interested in. Ideally, the exchange of information and experience will benefit all parties from the resulting transfer of enthusiasm and knowledge between communities and projects.

Each section of this site provides information about organizations established in the Appalachian region and information regarding that sector of community. We also encourage you to visit Communities by Choice for additional resources on sustainable community development.

What do we mean by “Sustainable Appalachian Community”?

Good question. Many people and numerous organizations have defined the term “sustainability.” We will do our best to help you understand what we mean when we refer to a Sustainable Appalachian Community.

Community refers to something different for everyone. In this context, we refer to community as a group of people living in the same area who share a common economy and natural resources. This could mean anything from a coal mining community to an EcoVillage. When we say an Appalachian community, we refer to the region of beautiful mountainous country that runs from Pennsylvania to Georgia. The information and resources that are provided on this website more closely pertains to Southern Appalachia. See Map.