An award-winning writer, Jay Walljasper has extensive experience reporting on subjects ranging from urban issues and contemporary ideas and to music and travel.

He is the author of The Great Neighborhood Book (2007) and Visionaries: People and Ideas to Change Your Life (2001). His new book, What We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons appears in July 2010.

His freelance writing includes articles appearing in a wide range of North American publications and web sites such as National Geographic Traveler, Utne Reader, Better Homes & Gardens, San Francisco Chonicle, Ode, Chicago Tribune, The Nation, Landscape Architecture, Huffington Post, AARP Bulletin, Chicago Magazine, Midwest Living, Toronto Star, Common Dreams, Preservation, Planning, Mother Jones, Philadelphia Inquirer, L. A. Weekly, Notre Dame Magazine, World Changing, Shambhala Sun, Alternet.org, YES! Magazine and Rock & Rap Confidential.

Internationally, Walljasper’s writing has been published in The New Statesman (UK), Australian Financial Review,Courrier (Paris), Sunday Independent (South Africa), Integral (Barcelona), Business Craft (Singapore), Planeto Humana (Madrid), Resurgence (UK), Enjeux Internationaux (Brussels), The Idler (UK), Geographical (UK), Konsumer (Mayalasia) and the Spanish and Slovenian editions of National Geographic Traveler.

Strategic communications is another specialty. Walljasper has written the annual report for Friends of the Mississippi River, a Rockefeller Foundation-funded report on the Coalition for Livable Future in Portland and the annual essay for the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. He’s been deeply involved in developing publicity, media and publishing efforts for On The Commons and Project for Public Spaces.