The insights uncovered in Black & Veatch’s 2018 Strategic Directions: Smart Cities & Utilities Report demonstrate a growing awareness among communities and utilities that modern, digital infrastructure such as data collection networks, infrastructure automation and advanced communication systems are the key components of today’s smart city initiatives. It is only through these systems that cities and utilities can optimize operations to realize the promise of the smart city – and create a sustainable future.

Benevity, Inc., a global provider of corporate social responsibility and employee engagement software, announced today that General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, has made a strategic investment in the company. This investment comes as Benevity achieves record client growth with its workplace giving, volunteering and community investment technology.

“With $84 million through eBay for Charity in 2017, we are demonstrating our commitment to supporting the thousands of charities who use our platform to connect and raise funds every day,” said Brenda Halkias, General Manager of eBay for Charity. “This year, we will continue to focus on leveraging our platform for good and delivering new experiences on behalf of the eBay community. Together with our eBay buyers and sellers, we aim to raise $1 billion for charities by 2020."

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of reports, research, analysis and articles out there, because there just isn’t enough time in the day to read every hot new report. To make it easier for you, we have compiled a list of important BCtA reports and tools from the past two years that you should add to your early 2018 reading list.

Achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 will require new tools, financing mechanisms and partnerships to fill the estimated $3 trillion investment gap. Development Impact Bonds (DIBs) are an emerging area of innovative financing to achieve social and development outcomes by bringing together private investors, implementers, governments and donors to pave the way for a more-results oriented and sustainable approach to supporting health and economic prosperity, especially in growing markets. The risk of failure is shifted to investors, allowing governments and other donors to spend resources more effectively.

Today, ReFED, a multi-stakeholder nonprofit committed to reducing the $218 billion of food waste in the United States, launched the Retail Food Waste Action Guide, which finds that food waste represents an $18.2 billion opportunity for grocery retailers.

Rebuilding Together will host the 23rd annual community revitalization project, Kickoff to Rebuild, on Friday, February 2 leading up to Super Bowl LII weekend. This Super Bowl-sanctioned event will take place in the Tilsenbilt neighborhood of Minneapolis; the first neighborhood in Minneapolis to end housing discrimination in the 1950s.

The world’s forests face multiple threats: climate change, agricultural conversion, urban encroachment, and intensifying wood harvesting used in construction and a variety of consumer products. Crucial to addressing this problem is understanding the causes of deforestation, and the severity of related ecosystem disturbance and threatened species losses. SCS' groundbreaking LCA study on behalf of Stella McCartney compared the environmental performance of ten different raw material sources of MMCF.