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Impact.

Build a future where sustainability is the norm for every community.

Our Work

**The Network**
The Sustainable States Network enhances the power of local governments to advance education and action on sustainability, energy, and climate mitigation and resilience.
**We connect statewide, regional, and national local government sustainability programs that collectively support community action at scale.** The Network enables members to:
- Share resources and best practices
- Build capacity
- Foster and scale the success of local initiatives
- Collaborate on projects that advance shared goals

Member and Affiliate Programs

Impact of the Network

Network members support over 2000 communities across the nation, engaging local governments as change agents for progress on sustainability, resilience, and climate mitigation. The results impact more than 65 million people across the US.

Impact In Action

“I am able to provide more quality technical assistance to my communities seeing certification because of the knowledge and resource sharing through the Network.”

- Kelsey Waidhas, Green Communities Program

“I was inspired by other member states’ activities and used their programs as a model for our revamped Regional Energy Planning Assistance grants.”

- Joanne Bissetta, Massachusetts Green Communities

“We use the shared website and so were able to leverage other program’s improved features in the 10th anniversary launch of our new website.”

- Brandy Espinola, Sustainable Maryland

Importance of the Network

Across the US, municipalities are taking action to address climate change and become more resilient. State- and municipal-level networks and programs support this work by:

Providing information, tools, and best practices tailored to state-specific local authorities
Connecting local government staff and elected officials across neighboring communities to problem-solve and collaborate
Connecting communities to state-specific resources, including interns, fellows, funding, and technical assistance
Ensuring communities don’t have to tackle complex challenges alone

Measures of Success

Sustainable States Network participants focus on the following high-leverage actions:

**How the Network Works**

Through the Sustainable States Network, members learn, share successes, support each other, and access resources to enhance their state and regional programs while addressing challenges.
As a peer-learning network focused on making sustainability the norm, we focus on:
**Driving collective impact**
- Mobilizing action across hundreds of cities
- Collaborating on shared projects to increase the impact of individual programs
**Centering equity and shared learning**
- Prioritizing social equity in our work
- Fostering new areas of sustainable development practice
**Providing tools and visibility**
- Developing shared tools and resources for local governments
- Sharing evaluation tools to accelerate success
- Creating visibility and a unified voice for municipally-focused work and impact
- Educating funders and national policy makers
**Network Priorities**
- Program excellence
- Climate and energy
- Equity

State Spotlight:

Minnesota’s GreenStep Cities

Impact: Participation represents 48% of Minnesota’s population

Visit our State Programs page for details on work, impact, and success across our network.

The Network