Pennsylvania

Location data
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Location Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates 40° 58' 11.96" N, 77° 43' 40.38" W

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Pennsylvania.

News

  • News The Landmark Settlement That Could Get Plastic Pellet Pollution Out of America’s Rivers, reasonstobecheerful.world (Sep 22, 2025)
  • News Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze, BBC Future (Apr 27, 2025)
  • News ‘It will be beautiful to see our kids grow up with this’: how communities around the world are planting trees, theguardian.com (Apr 19, 2025)

Read more

Video

Networks and sustainability initiatives

Community involvement

SeeClickFix, community issues in Philadelphia

Imagine Philadelphia: Laying the Foundation (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) on Participedia

Food activism

Fair-Amount Food Forest, initiative to create a community food forest

Community energy

Citizens data initiative

Land activism

Maps

  • Grounded in Philly, "facilitates the transitioning of vacant land into community-controlled green spaces, gardens and gathering places."
  • Lots to Love, "a guide for community organizations and residents who are interested in transforming vacant lots into well-loved spaces." Strengthening and greening the Pittsburgh region.

Towards sustainable economies

Lehigh Valley

The Mutual Aid Network of the Lehigh Valley addresses the social determinants of health of communities' most vulnerable members, including formerly incarcerated people, juveniles aging out of the foster care system, homeless populations, individuals recovering from addiction, and newly settled refugees. This project address tackles these issues by tackling social isolation, one of the key factors that contributes to poor life and health outcomes...Shareable.

Community resources

Free Library of Philadelphia

The Free Library of Philadelphia has more than books for loan. From a health lending library with food scales and blood pressure cuffs to kitchen cupboards stocked with cataloged cake pans and a musical instrument collection with banjos, steel drums, and keyboards, you can find almost anything you need to borrow among its 54 branches. Philly even has a "Tiebrary" as part of one branch's Job Readiness Lab...Shareable, Paige Wolf, April 22, 2019

Other community resources

Arts, sport and culture

City of Asylum, nonprofit in Pittsburgh

Sharing

Sharing City Philadelphia: At over 11,000 residents per square mile, Philadelphia is among the most densely populated cities in the country. And those miles offer a rich history of community, shared spaces, and pooled resources. From thriving open markets to urban gardens and a wealth of public art, the metropolis has vast resources to help residents make do without the need for car ownership, large homes, or mass personal consumption...Shareable, Paige Wolf, April 22, 2019.

Sustainable transport activism

Cycling activism

Philadelphia's bike-share system: Philadelphia's Indego bike-share system offers affordable and convenient access to two-wheeled transportation. With 120 bike stations throughout the city comprising more than 1,200 bikes, the company has announced plans to double capacity to more than 250 stations in the next few years and expand to serve an additional 15 square miles of the city. The mayor recently announced plans to build 20 miles of separated bike lanes in the next two years, making biking safer throughout the city...Shareable, Paige Wolf, April 22, 2019.

Biodiversity

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program

Open spaces

About Pennsylvania

Campaigns

Green Justice Philly, new coalition to protect Philadelphians' health and safety from the city's fossil fuel industry, and to create a sustainable 21st century economy that will support clean air and water and healthy communities...greenjusticephilly.org, press release, October 14, 2015.

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, Lake Erie and New York to its north, the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east, and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie. Pennsylvania's most populous city is Philadelphia. The state capital is Harrisburg. Among all states, Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous with over 13 million residents as of the 2020 United States census, the ninth-highest by population density, and the 33rd-largest by land area. The largest metropolitan statistical area is the southeastern Philadelphia metropolitan area, centered on Philadelphia, the state's most populous and nation's sixth-most populous city. The second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Pittsburgh, is centered in and around Pittsburgh, the state's second-largest city.

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn, the son of the state's namesake. Before that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden, a Swedish colony. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system, and religious pluralism. Pennsylvania played a vital and historic role in the American Revolution and the ultimately successful quest for independence from the British Empire, hosting the First and Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the latter of which formed the Continental Army commanded by George Washington in 1775, during the American Revolutionary War, unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

Near you

Page data
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Cite as Phil Green (2014–2025). "Community action/Pennsylvania". Appropedia. Retrieved November 28, 2025.