Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

09/24/2026

How can regions plan for transportation amid uncertainty about climate change, demographic shifts, and emerging technologies?

A new Lincoln Institute case study examines how the Mid-America Regional Council incorporated exploratory scenario planning into its transportation planning for Greater Kansas City. By considering multiple plausible futures, the region could test assumptions and adapt its long-term vision as conditions change.

The publication is part of a three-case series exploring scenario planning in regional transit systems.

Read more:

This case reviews efforts of Mid-America Regional Council to incorporate exploratory scenario planning into its transportation plan. The council wanted to look at forces like climate change, demographic change, and technological advancements, and modify its vision accordingly.

09/23/2026

The Lincoln Institute and the Land Trust Alliance are pleased to announce that Andy Dana has been presented with the 2026 Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award at the Alliance’s annual national land conservation conference, Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference, held this year in Denver, Colorado.

“Andy Dana has been an invaluable contributor to the integrity and durability of land conservation in Montana, the Northern Rockies and throughout the United States,” said Chandni Navalkha, director of conservation and stewardship at the Lincoln Institute. “His leadership, long-standing dedication to the conservation movement, and remarkable legal expertise have left a lasting mark on private land conservation policy and practice and on land trusts and practitioners across the country. We look forward to the insights Andy will share as the 2026–2027 Kingsbury Browne Distinguished Practitioner at the Lincoln Institute.”

Andy Dana has been presented with the 2026 Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award at the Alliance’s annual national land conservation conference, Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference, held this year in Denver, Colorado.

09/23/2026

El río Colorado es un recurso de enorme importancia para cinco estados de Estados Unidos y dos estados de México, tanto por el agua que les abastece como por la energía generada en las represas del río. El cambio climático y las sequías han agudizado la desigualdad en la distribución del agua entre las distintas regiones. John Farner, Director del Centro Babbitt de Políticas de Suelo y Agua, comenta sobre las “batallas hídricas” aún incipientes, y qué se podría hacer para evitarlas.

Una investigación periodística documentada a lo largo de 3 mil kiló...

09/23/2026

Today the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Land and Water impact area and Center for Geospatial Solutions, together with World Wildlife Fund, will be unveiling the new digital Freshwater Basin Threshold Tool (BTT), developed in collaboration with the Freshwater Hub of the Science Based Targets Network, at Climate Group's Climate Week NYC.

Designed for corporations, NGOs, water researchers, and other decision-makers, the publicly available BTT Online Beta turns complex freshwater science and data into accessible, actionable information. The tool helps users understand environmental needs at the basin scale, establish science-based freshwater targets, and identify where action and investment can have meaningful impact, while making the evidence and methodologies behind those insights more accessible.

Learn more:

Designed for corporations, NGOs, water researchers, and other decision-makers, the publicly available digital Freshwater Basin Threshold Tool turns complex freshwater science and data into accessible, actionable information.

09/22/2026

The Lincoln Institute recently published an online resource that presents information about the negative impacts of assessment limits, including shifting the tax burden toward poorer neighborhoods, creating disparities in tax bills for owners of similar properties, and discouraging mobility. This resource outlines tax relief measures that can serve as an alternative to assessment limits.

Access it: https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-09-01/ps5913

09/22/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out to Detroit for the 2026 I'm HOME Annual Conference!

For two days, residents, advocates, state and local officials, lenders, developers, manufacturers, researchers, and funders worked collaboratively to discuss innovative approaches to increasing housing production that address housing affordability.

Detroit Council member Scott Benson opened us up, and from there we got into the State Policy Playbook and the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and what the legislation opens up for manufactured and modular development. The sessions that followed kept coming back to the same themes: resident power and the state policy reforms it drives; the standards and regulatory consistency that let off-site construction scale; and the practical work of preserving and recovering the communities that already exist. Day one wrapped up in North Corktown and included a stop at Ginosko developments after a session on community land trusts. Seeing factory-built infill on the ground in a Detroit neighborhood changed the conversation about the land and finance questions behind it.

Day two picked that up in our urban infill lab, with working tables on pre-development, finance, utilities, local approvals, and factory coordination. Thank you to every speaker, partner, and attendee who made this event happen. The I'm HOME Network looks forward to continuing to fight for factory-built housing solutions to the attainable housing crisis in the US.

Learn more about the I'm HOME Network: https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-09-22/ps5sh3

09/21/2026

Our new book "Building Postcarbon Futures" comprises two sections. Today we're diving into the first. "An Atlas for Postcarbon Futures" is a collection of 29 exemplary projects that, as editor Billy Fleming writes, "represent, often imperfectly, the kinds of worlds that climate justice activists intend to build."

Like climate justice itself, the initiatives are all multi-dimensional. 10, however, focus on renewable energy systems deployment, emphasizing collective ownership, decision-making, and material redistribution. Just a few examples:

In Hellisheidi, Iceland, a direct air capture (DAC) facility drawing power from one of the world’s largest geothermal plants aims to extract 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.

In the Andean salt flats of Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina, Indigenous people, scholars, and other activists established the Plurinational Observatory of Andean Salt Flats (OPSAL), an organization protecting the lithium-rich salt flats from harmful extractivism.

21 African nations are partnering with the International Renewable Energy Agency to establish a continental network of clean energy generation, storage, and transmission facilities. By the completion of the first phase in 2030, renewables will provide half the region's electricity.

Learn more about these projects: https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-08-31/ps58t9

09/20/2026

It was a packed house at "Building Postcarbon Futures" editor Billy Fleming's book talks in Boulder, Colorado, last week!

Over the next few months, Billy, accompanied by select contributing authors and special guests, will explore the book’s central themes of climate resilience, justice, design, and sustainability at events across the country: https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-09-01/ps58yh

09/19/2026

Housing conditions shape health—but data can turn that connection into action.

In Cleveland, a community-led coalition linked housing records with health outcomes, address by address. The resulting platform helps renters understand risks and policymakers target solutions, and the collaborative’s work helped drive stronger lead-safe housing standards.

Rob Walker's latest City Tech column explores how breaking down data silos—and building trust among communities, hospitals, and government—can make healthier housing possible.

Read more:

09/18/2026

It's !

Today, former Babbitt Center Dissertation Fellow Jessica Bremner discusses the Indigenous water dispossession that fueled the colonial settlement of California’s Coachella Valley and describes the importance of understanding the relationships among people, place, and power.

Read Jon Gorey's interview: https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-08-31/ps58b9