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Nine Local Governments Win Sustainability Leadership Awards
by Don Knapp
At the Local Action Summit, recipients accept their Sustainability Leadership Awards
in the Community Outreach Innovation category. From left to right: Jeb Brugmann,
ICLEI's founding Secretary General; Harriet Tregoning, Director of the Office of Planning,
District of Columbia; Councilmember Maryann Moise Derwin, Town of Portola Valley, CA;
Richard Balgowan, Director, Department of Public Works, Township of Hamilton, NJ;
Martin Chavez, ICLEI USA Executive Director
For ICLEI staff, one of best parts of the job is getting to spotlight the successes and innovations of our local government members. At the Local Action Summit’s Sustainability Leadership Awards ceremony, we honored the outstanding efforts of a handful of cities, towns, and counties -- and two individuals. Picking the award winners wasn’t easy, since innovation is flourishing at the local level from coast to coast. But we made some hard choices and recognized the following communities, big and small.
Click the links to read details on each local government’s award-winning creativity, leadership, and results—and see why they’re setting the bar so high for all local governments. Congratulations to all our winners!
Energy Efficiency Implementation Innovation Awards:
- City of Aspen, CO, Small Community Category
- City of Bellingham, WA, Medium Community Category
- City of Austin, TX, Large Community Category
Planning Innovation to Institutionalize Sustainability Awards:
- City of Keene, NH, Small Community Category
- City of Burlington, VT, Medium Community Category
- Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact, Large Community Category
Community Outreach Innovation Awards:
- Town of Portola Valley, CA, Small Community Category
- Township of Hamilton, NJ, Medium Community Category
- District of Columbia, Large Community Category
Read more about our two individual award winners, Anne Hunt and Councilmember Pamela Bensoussan
A note about why we chose these three award categories:
- Energy efficiency is a key to fighting climate change and achieving energy independence, and in 2010 we’re in the midst of an explosion of programmatic innovations among local governments (thanks in part to federal stimulus funding) to spur efficiency across their communities. We’ve selected some of the most compelling examples of these programs.
- Long-term sustainability success requires making it part of the decision-making fabric of a local government—incorporated into the simplest operations and the highest-level policy decisions. We’ve recognized some of the best examples of local governments institutionalizing sustainability into their planning decisions.
- Community outreach is one of the biggest challenges for local government working toward climate and sustainability goals. But our winners are finding more effective and creative ways to engage constituents in decision-making and on-the-ground initiatives.
