Storm Cunningham

March 16, 2022 Global Earth Repair

RECONOMICS Institute – Washington, D.C. USA

Storm Cunningham is thought to be one of the world’s most prolific leaders on active community revitalization and natural resource restoration. For over two decades he has helped public and private clients around the globe understand how to lead or support resilient prosperity by coaching them on harnessing the latest trends, resources, and opportunities of the fast-growing $3 trillion global restoration economy. He advises mayors, governors, members of U.S. Congress, and executives of foundations, non-profits and corporations. In these confidential roles, he normally stays in the background, so his clients can take full credit when they launch leading-edge policies and initiatives. But in his role as keynote speaker and workshop leader he’s very much in the foreground of our minds.

A former Green Beret, Storm’s hard-hitting, humorous, silo-busting talks can focus on all sorts of topics; water security, housing, job growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, downtowns, brownfields, heritage, climate, social justice or education, just to name a “few.” Essentially, Storm addresses all aspects of “renewal,” whether they be natural and cultural resources, urban and rural communities, industrialized and lesser-developed countries, etc. On any given day, he might be working with educators, fishery biologists, city planners, agronomists, watershed managers, transportation engineers, economic development agencies, environmentalists, real estate developers, GIS software firms, project managers, mayors, ecosystem restorers, brownfields experts, historic preservationists, or catastrophe recovery agencies.

Many consider Storm to be a major catalyst in that recent acceleration of the global “re-” trend. He started writing The Restoration Economy (Berrett-Koehler, 2002) in 1996, and has been lecturing on the subject ever since. RECONOMICS is also the first book to reveal the zero-cost factor that triples the ROI of revitalization efforts, but sabotages them when it’s missing. It’s the guide to healing economies, societies and nature for policymakers, real estate investors, social entrepreneurs, non-profit leaders and climate restoration champions.

“Everywhere one turns these days, “re” words appear: urban regeneration, regenerative agriculture, regenerative economies, coastal resilience, fishery/reef restoration, watershed restoration, economic revitalization, infrastructure renewal, historic renovation/reuse, ecological restoration, etc.“

Books/Publications: The Restoration Economy, reWealth!, Reconomics: the Path to Resilient Prosperity. Storm also writes chapters for the books of other authors, such as Project Management Circa 2025 on the future of the project management profession (Project Management Institute, 2009) and Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes (CRC Press, June 2010).