DeepSummary
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) was founded in 1974 in Washington D.C. by David Morris, Neil Seldman, and Gil Friend, with the goal of promoting local self-reliance, community resilience, and decentralized production. The city's backdrop of economic turbulence and social unrest, including the aftermath of the 1968 riots, influenced the Institute's mission.
ILSR focused on sectors like solid waste management, recycling, and energy, where local authorities could have significant control. Neil Seldman led the anti-incineration movement, successfully stopping the construction of many incinerators across the country and promoting recycling and composting instead.
Over the years, ILSR expanded its work to other cities, such as St. Paul, Minnesota, where David Morris helped implement the "homegrown economy" concept. The Institute remains grounded in principles of decentralization, community authority, and local production, while also engaging in national policymaking.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) was founded in 1974 in Washington D.C. to promote local self-reliance, community resilience, and decentralized production.
- ILSR focused on sectors like solid waste management, recycling, and energy, where local authorities could have significant control.
- Neil Seldman led the anti-incineration movement, successfully stopping the construction of many incinerators across the country and promoting recycling and composting instead.
- ILSR expanded its work to other cities, such as St. Paul, Minnesota, while remaining grounded in its principles of decentralization, community authority, and local production.
- The Institute has shifted towards engaging in national policymaking while maintaining its grassroots approach and commitment to local empowerment.
- ILSR's mission is to empower communities to produce their own basic needs and achieve a level of self-reliance, without necessarily becoming completely independent.
- The Institute aims to change mindsets and perceptions around resource utilization, energy, and the role of communities in production and decision-making.
- ILSR's approach combines developing conceptual frameworks and practical, on-the-ground implementation to test and refine their ideas.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Local self reliance is the ability of a community to produce its basic needs without having to rely on outside sources. Not to become completely independent, but to be able to produce enough that a city has leverage on the outside world.“ by Neil Seldman
- “We wanted to change the way people thought about resources, about energy. We wanted the institute to become a household word, and we're pretty close to that right now.“ by Neil Seldman
- “We're always focused on the decentralization of production, the decentralization of authority, and the decentralization of responsibility. Those three things we sometimes call it the arc of community authority, responsibility and capacity. And that's what local self reliance means.“ by David Morris
- “So local self reliance is, in fact, the name and remains the name, but only in the last ten years will I say that people almost always get it right. Now.“ by David Morris
Entities
Person
Location
Organization
Concept
Event
Episode Information
Building Local Power
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
5/2/24