Green Cities Conference Offers Cities Strategies to Advance Sustainability Goals

December 05, 2011

by Raksha Vasudevan

The 2011 Green Cities Conference in Phoenix allowed attendees to not only engage with peers doing similar work, but also to go home with specific strategies to advance sustainability in their own communities. The conference — one of four offered at this year’s Congress of Cities and Exposition — boasted sessions on the latest sustainability topics that cities and city leaders are tackling.

Experts on a range of issues such as financing strategies, renewable energy, food access, inclusivity, smart grid and resource management presented throughout 12 workshop sessions designed for cities at all stages of their sustainability efforts. Additionally, attendees had the opportunity to listen to and be inspired by thought leaders such as eco-entrepreneur Majora Carter at the Opening General Session, architect Bob Berkebile at the Opening Green Cities Session and economist Ed Glaeser at the Closing General Session.  Additionally, attendees had the opportunity to listen to and be inspired by thought leaders such as eco-entrepreneur Majora Carter at the Opening General Session, architect Bob Berkebile at the Opening Green Cities Session, and economist Ed Glaeser at the Closing General Session.

Several new formats were utilized throughout the Congress of Cities and Exposition to provide more participant engagement and in-depth information sharing.

For example, at the “Measuring Matters: Strategies to Track, Manage and Disclose Sustainability Information” workshop, attendees first heard brief presentations from three issue experts before splitting into small groups lead by each speaker to explore topic areas in more detail.

One group of participants met with Karen Messmer, senior project manager within the Energy Extension Program at Washington State University, and spoke about the benefits of utilizing resource conservation managers for energy and cost savings within city operations.

Others met with Cliff Majersik, executive director of the Institute for Market Transformation, to learn about the methods of establishing and disclosing building ratings as a means to optimize energy efficiency and lower costs within cities.

The third group, led by Michael Bacich, sustainability officer of Riverside, Calif., discussed the specific marketing and communication tools that Green Riverside has utilized to establish accountability and transparency of city sustainability operations. Read more about Riverside’s sustainability efforts on the NLC blog at www.CitiesSpeak.org.

With Jonce Walker, sustainability officer of Maricopa County, as moderator, participants came away with the notion that cities can utilize any number of creative strategies to measure, track and propel sustainability efforts — all the while trimming costs.

The “Expanding Food Access for Healthy, Sustainable Communities” session tackled a different angle of the sustainability conversation. Richard Conlin, City of Seattle’s council president and chair of the Puget Sound Regional Food Policy Council, led a talk show-style discussion with three food and community activists.

First, Jean Wallace, director of development at The Food Trust in Philadelphia, shared the range of work that her organization is involved with, including Philadelphia’s Farm-to-School Program and the Healthy Corner Store Initiative that began as a small pilot and has proven to be extremely successful in bringing healthy foods to numerous corner stores.

Next, Matt Geller, CEO of the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association, emphasized the ability for food trucks to simultaneously bring a community together and stimulate the local economy.

Finally, Cindy Gentry, executive director of Community Food Connections, described her organization’s extraordinary success in improving access to healthy food for Phoenix residents. She told the story of the very successful downtown farmers’ market that accepts food stamps, allowing all residents to enjoy fresh food.

Participants’ follow-up questions led to an animated discussion about the barriers to and opportunities for communities coming together around various food initiatives, such as food trucks, farmers markets, food councils and healthy corner store programs.

In addition to topic-specific sessions, several workshops were presented to provide ideas and resources to help cities build support for sustainability within their internal operations and throughout their communities. During the “Institutionalizing Sustainability: Building and Broadening Support Throughout City Operations” session, a panel of city leaders and staff discussed ways to cultivate a culture of sustainability within their city, focusing on building partnerships, developing comprehensive approaches, raising awareness and demonstrating political leadership.

In another session, “Partnerships for Success: Building and Strengthening Partnerships in Your Community and Region,” representatives from four cities discussed their experiences building partnerships involving community groups, utilities, regional councils and universities.

One thing was clear throughout the Green Cities Conference: engaging in sustainability activities is no easy task. However, through City Showcase programs, content-rich workshops and peer networking opportunities, this event highlighted the tremendously creative work that cities and their constituents are already doing to create sustainable, healthy, inclusive communities.

The outpour of questions and conversations throughout the conference makes it evident that topics such as strategic partnerships, food access and sustainability indicators are part of the next wave of progress towards creating sustainable cities.

Moving forward, NLC’s Sustainability Program is excited to welcome the Sustainable Cities Institute online platform to continue these conversations and provide resources to address many of the most pressing sustainability issues facing cities today.

Details: Visit www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/research-innovation/sustainability/2011-conference-resources for a complete list of programming offered at the Green Cities Conference and a collection of all available presentations. For more information about or to stay connected to NLC’s Sustainability Program please visit www.nlc.org/sustainability, e-mail us at sustainability@nlc.org, or follow us on twitter @NLCgreencities. The Sustainable Cities Institute, coming to NLC in 2012, can be found at www.sustainablecitiesinstitute.org.