The World Needs Heroes!

I was looking for scholarships(fellowships) and ran across this website which contains all of the current endeavors of the National Academies. I found a few specific one that are of interest to me that I thought that I would share. This document strengthens the arguments that I have been developing for the last few years. I hope that I can have some future influence on policy and political decision making dealing with these ideas and issues.

Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Systems: A Framework for Meeting 21st Century Imperatives (2009)

By concentrating on single projects, technologies, financing mechanisms, or narrowly defined objectives, ad hoc efforts run the risk of wasting scarce resources and increase the probability of serious, unintended consequences. A framework is needed to create a structure within which ongoing activities, knowledge, and technologies can be aligned and leveraged to support critical infrastructure renewal and also to help achieve some of the nation's 21st century imperatives. PG 35

It should not be a vision of concrete, steel, and cables, but rather one of expectations for economic competitiveness, reduced dependence on imported oil, a high quality of life, and harmony with the environment. In the absence of such a vision, ad hoc initiatives and investments for critical infrastructure systems driven by economic forces or disaster recoveries will continue, but it will be difficult to integrate these into a coherent approach to meet 21st century needs. PG 37

They include infrastructure owners, designers, engineers, financiers, regulators, and policy makers, as well as ecologists, community activists, scientists, and researchers. Working within the framework, experts in such areas could begin to identify a full range of new approaches, technologies, and materials for providing the services of mobility, connectivity, water, wastewater, and power to meet multiple objectives. PG 41

I have begun to put my ideas together that are contributions to the solution of these issues here. I appreciate your interest in these issues and actions addressing them for the 21st century. Please contribute your thoughts by sending content to this blog.