Community action/Detroit

Location data
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Location Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates 42° 19' 53.58" N, 83° 2' 47.91" 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 Detroit.

News

Detroit
Michigan
US
Earth
  • News Recent Canadian wildfires are record-breaking – and will threaten US air quality for days, Eric Holthaus, theguardian.com (May 30, 2025)
Read more
  • News Michigan accuses big oil of being ‘cartel’ that fuels climate crisis and high energy costs, theguardian.com (Feb 05, 2026) — In first-of-its-kind complaint, state accused four fossil fuel majors and US oil lobbying group of climate disinformation
  • News New grant program asks residents to ‘throw shade,’ foster climate resiliency in Flint, flintbeat.com (Aug 02, 2023)
  • News The greening of career education: US students learn new skills as climate crisis intensifies, theguardian.com (Feb 15, 2026)
  • News Local Barley Becomes Local Booze at a Wisconsin Distillery Prioritizing Ag Sustainability, insideclimatenews.org (Feb 09, 2026)
  • News These US states want polluters to pay for the rising insurance costs of climate disasters, theguardian.com (Feb 08, 2026)
  • News Introducing Katcha: An African Democratic Innovation Network, demnext.substack.com (Feb 19, 2026)
  • News The planet’s other forest crisis, latimes.com (Feb 19, 2026)
  • News ‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics, theguardian.com (Feb 19, 2026)

Networks and sustainability intiatives

International events

Global or International events

  • Event Feb 02, 2026 (Mon) — World Wetlands Day, Feb 2, annually, worldwetlandsday.org
  • Event Feb 20, 2026 (Fri) — World Day of Social Justice, Feb 20 each year, un.org
  • Event February 21 - March 1, 2026 (Sat - Sun) — Real Bread Week, annual, international celebration of additive-free bread and the people behind its rise, sustainweb.org

2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events

Cosmolocal discovery club

Each week 3 different short videos from across the world.

Community networks, Community action/Finland, Community action/Peru / ...This week's featured UK videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

Detroit video

Community involvement

Food activism

City Commons, cooperative of Detroit farms - Detroit Black Community Food Security Network - Detroit Dirt, compost company working to turn forgotten parcels of land in Detroit into urban farms that not only feed, but revitalize community - Detroit Food Policy Council - Earthworks Urban Farm

Community resources

  • Citizens data initiative: DetroitData, Collaborate, compile, and share open data for effective community-based decision making in Detroit.

Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle

Recycle Here!

Sharing

Maps: Detroit Solidarity Economy v2

Sustainable transport

The QLINE is a 3.3-mile-long (5.3 km) streetcar system in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Opened in 2017, it connects Downtown Detroit with Midtown and New Center, running along Woodward Avenue for its entire route. It is supplemented by the Detroit People Mover, which serves as a circulator route in downtown Detroit, and also connects to DDOT and SMART bus routes as part of a comprehensive network of transportation in metropolitan Detroit.

Cycling activism

Detroit is flat with an extensive road network and a number of recreational and competitive opportunities for cycling. The city has invested in greenways and bike lanes and other bicycle-friendly infrastructure. Bike rental is available from the riverfront and tours of the city's architecture can be booked.

The city has a cycling heritage, and first embraced cycling during the "golden age" of the 1890s.

Cycling Maps

Open spaces

Detroit RiverFront Conservancy

Trees, woodland and forest

The Greening of Detroit is a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental organization whose mission is to inspire the sustainable growth of a healthy urban community through trees, green spaces, healthy living, education, training and job opportunities. The Greening serves communities in Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck, Michigan.

News archive

  • Eco-friendly 'green' district launched in Detroit, Jun 7, 2017...@detroitnews
  • Detroit Imagines a Citizen-Led Smart City, May 31, 2017...citylab.com
  • Public, not private, interests now rule riverfront plan, Mar 11, 2017...@freep
  • Re-imagining the Civic Commons: A 21st Century Vision for Detroit, Feb 15, 2017...civiccommons.us
  • Detroit's new LED streetlight network is illuminating the city while cutting its emissions, Jan 25, 2017...fastcoexist.com
  • The Detroit Collective That Fuses Cycling and Storytelling, Dec 2, 2016...citylab.com
  • America's first sustainable urban agrihood is growing in Detroit, Dec 1, 2016...@CurbedDetroit
  • Detroit Vacant Lots Make Room for Green Stormwater Design, Jun 9, 2016...Next City
  • Banding Together to Build a Better CSA, November 10, 2015...resilience.org
  • Why bike commuting is taking off in the nation's car capital, October 27, 2015...FastCoExist
  • Saying Goodbye to Grace Lee Boggs, October 6, 2015...YES! Magazine
  • Open-source Mapping Supports Social Justice Work in Detroit, September 16, 2015...Shareable
  • How This Woman Is Helping Revitalize Detroit, One Garden At A Time, June 4, 2015...huffingtonpost.com
  • Can soup change the world? March 13, 2015...BBC News
  • A brief introduction to Detroit's civic tech ecosystem, September 30, 2014...modeldmedia.com
  • Detroit: Citizen-led growth, May 1, 2014..NewStart
  • World's largest urban farm planned for the city of Detroit, Hantz Farms, April 2, 2009

About Detroit

In the 2010s, several initiatives were taken by Detroit's citizens and new inhabitants to improve the cityscape by renovating and revitalising neighbourhoods. Such include the Motor City Blight Busters and various urban gardening movements.

Planning and development in Detroit includes efforts aimed at enhancing Detroit's economy and quality of life. In 1970, the private group "Detroit Renaissance" began to facilitate development in the city, while its successor, Business Leaders for Michigan, has continued to facilitate development into the 21st century. Projects have included new commercial facilities, revitalization of neighborhoods, hospitality infrastructure, and improvements to recreational and public facilities, such as the QLine.

Page data
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Cite as Phil Green (2017–2025). "Community action/Detroit". Appropedia. Retrieved February 26, 2026.