Sustainable Systems Research Foundation

SSRF was founded in 2015 by Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Kevin W. Bell and Thomas Rettenwender, instructors in the Sustainability Studies minor at UC Santa Cruz’s Rachel Carson College. All three wanted to develop projects that seemed unlikely to be approved or supported by the University, and small, independent non-profit appeared to be a more feasible and attractive vehicle for these projects. You can learn more about the founders, staff and volunteers who sustain the organization on the “Who We Are” page and about our work by clicking on the Project icons on the landing page.

The Sustainable Systems Research Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit green think tank and eco-project incubator for the Monterey Bay Area and Central Coast of California. SSRF seeks to create a sustainable Central California Coast through local, participatory community development of sustainable systems and practices. SSRF develops active collaborations with organizations, public agencies, funders, donors and small private companies that share our interests and goals. Our philosophy is that the best form of activism is that which benefits the community, is reproducible, scalable and easily adopted and adapted to other places. Our projects and programs go beyond vision to actual deployment–to function as models that can be replicated in other cities in California, the United States and the World.