Author(s)

J. Hoffman

Abstract

Local economic development literature has directed attention to the \“milieu” effects of local interactions among firms and with governments on the qualitative nature of economic development. This article introduces the concept of the green milieu: a local economic development climate that is conducive to promoting sustainable economic development and encourages a local area to succeed economically over the long run while protecting its environmental base. It argues that watershed collaborations can create such a milieu. New York City’s complex watershed collaboration is analyzed for the ingredients of a green milieu and its current record reviewed for indicators of success as a green milieu. Keywords: sustainable development, local development, watershed, collaboration, environmental regulation, milieu, New York City. 1 Introduction A green milieu is a local economic development climate that is conducive to sustainable economic development. The intellectual underpinnings of this concept can be found in the discussion of adaptation to change found in four economic literatures. Local development literature analyzes the role in development of learning and the local interactions among firms and with government. The literature of sustainable development discusses the means of moving towards sustainability. The environmental regulation literature reports on the effectiveness of collaborative approaches to our non-point pollution problems because collaborations engage stakeholders and consideration of their economic concerns into the protection process and thus enhance cooperation. In the

Keywords

sustainable development, local development, watershed, collaboration, environmental regulation, milieu, New York City.