From GOVERNING: GOVERNING invites you to participate in a FREE Webinar on April 12, 2011 from 2:00pm ET-3:00pm ET: Smart, Sustainable, Livable Communities: Plans, Projects and Key Market Drivers 80% of voters nationwide agree that sustainable communities are an important part of rebuilding the national economy. 84% of Americans believe that our country is too … Continued
Back in October, we brought you information on ICLEI’s new STAR Community Index, a national framework and performance-management system expected to be launched in 2011 that will allow local governments to measure and rate their sustainability performance. ICLEI has now announced the nine selected STAR Beta Communities. They are: Atlanta, GA Boulder, CO Chattanooga, TN … Continued
The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability is tracking 160 different projects for progress toward Greenworks strategic sustainability goals. Developing a system of measurement that was efficient, feasible, and useful was no easy feat. A new article in Governing describes what has been done and offers suggestions for other local governments interested in using performance … Continued
Shelley Poticha, the Director of the HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, blogged today on efforts to break down the walls between federal agencies and to move toward greater partnership and cooperation. She writes: When each federal agency ‘did its own thing,’ there was no real progress toward building sustainable and livable communities defined … Continued
In this free ICLEI webinar, learn how three innovative local governments — Bloomington, IN, Iowa City, IA, and Oberlin, OH — work hand-in-hand with local colleges and universities on climate protection and sustainability. Specific topics will include: Aligning sustainability goals of a large campus with those of the local government to avoid costly duplication of … Continued
If your city is revisiting its sustainability objectives or developing guiding principles for the first time, this new report from the National League of Cities (NLC) identifies ten general steps toward sustainability that all cities can pursue and offers examples from around the country. What principles guide sustainability efforts in your local government? How were … Continued
How can your community position itself to best take advantage of federal sustainable communities opportunities emerging from the HUD-EPA-DOT partnership? With support from the EPA, the Smart Growth Leadership Institute (SGLI) developed a Smart Growth Toolkit to help communities develop their own assessments and strategic plans related to growth. The toolkit includes tools like policy, code … Continued
A blog post from Mark Muro, Policy Director for the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, describes a new effort by USDA to fund regional planning in rural areas. It parallels the regional focus and silo-busting strategies of the Sustainable Communities Partnership. Called the Regional Innovation Initiative, the USDA explains (p. 14): In recent years, rural communities have been … Continued
The North Carolina General Assembly recently passed legislation establishing a Sustainable Communities Task Force within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. North Carolina is now the latest state to recognize the connections between cross-agency governance at the state level, coordination with stakeholders at the local level, and sustainable communities on the ground. With $250,000 … Continued
The design of our built environment has a major influence on public health outcomes ranging from asthma rates to childhood obesity. NACCHO, PolicyLink and the Convergence Partnership hosted a webinar yesterday to help communities translate this evidence into action. Dwayne Marsh, Senior Advisor to the HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, made it clear that public health … Continued