Cities and Sustainability
What does it take?
Changing the direction of a complex organization like a municipality is always challenging, even without the added complexity of sustainability issues and the pressure of shrinking budgets. Still many cities are making real progress, adjusting their sails through municipally-led sustainability strategies and initiatives.
We’ve supported several different approaches - each as unique as the city employing it. Many start by focusing on one element of sustainability, such as municipal operations, energy efficiency, economic sustainability, or environmental impacts. No matter the angle, these sustainability efforts have gained the most traction when they include these key elements:
Leverage
Cities that connect their efforts to larger initiatives can access more resources. In the 2010 Budget, Congress provided $150 million to HUD for a Sustainable Communities Initiative. The initiative’s purpose is to integrate housing and transportation decisions and provide resources to improve land use and zoning as part of regional planning efforts. About $100 million of this total will be allocated to through HUD’s Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program. This is just one of the programs providing sustainability funding as part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities between the EPA, the USDOT, and HUD.
Measuring What Matters
Successful projects also broaden their efforts beyond the sustainability “usual suspects” and tap into the indigenous knowledge of their community to find out what matters. This requires including government staff in multiple agencies and divisions, and engaging elected officials, local businesses, tribes and others in the community. Identifying what matters allows cities to compile a set of meaningful indicators and metrics, document clear progress, engage community members in continual improvement, and inform and inspire others.
Peer-to-Peer Collaboration
Cities also need to reach across the jurisdictional boundaries that often act as barriers. Especially for rural and smaller municipalities, sharing information and combining efforts with peers can be a powerful way to move forward. The recent King County Government Confluence event is a great example of how cities are collectively working together to change direction. More than 200 government representatives learned about existing tools for implementing sustainability like green building rating systems, as well as innovative ideas on the horizon like vertical urban agriculture and eco-districts.
Thankfully in our region, there is something contagious about all this work. The Sustainability Roundtables for Suburban Cities continue to grow and there is growing power in the collective voice for change.
Learn more about local sustainability efforts:
Andrea Lewis is a Project Associate who works on city sustainability strategies and curriculum development.
Rating Landscapes
Reimagining Parking Lots with SITES Pilot
The Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) has selected two local community college parking lot projects to be among the first to participate in a program testing the nation’s first rating system for green landscape design, construction and maintenance. The projects are located at Peninsula College (Port Angeles) and at Olympic College (Bremerton). O’Brien & Company is guiding both projects through the SITES pilot process. Learn more.
Mission & Values
Programs, Planning & Policies
