Projects and Partners
The Network facilitates collaborative projects among state-level programs that result in scaling action across municipalities as well as the creation of new shared best practices, tools, and resources. Municipalities have the benefit of being a part of both their state and a national network. Our partnerships with national organizations couple the best national technical expertise with on-the-ground assistance needed to get projects up and running.
EQUITY PROJECT
Equity is a critical pillar of sustainability. To realize a sustainable future, we intentionally address, support, and drive community progress in tackling racial and broader social equity.
A cohort of six Sustainable States Network members, supported by national and local consultants, works together to put social equity front and center in their programs. This informs the work of all Network members. The project developed shared resources including equitable best practices, a database of equity resources for communities, a community equity toolkit, and resources on evaluation and metrics.
Participating state programs include: Florida Green Local Government, Sustainable Maryland, Michigan Green Communities, Minnesota GreenStep Cities, Sustainable Jersey, and Sustainable PA.
SUSTAINABLE STATES COMMUNITY ENERGY CHALLENGE
Large cities are often recognized for their clean energy efforts, yet suburban and rural communities are also setting goals and achieving impressive results. The Community Energy Challenge supports 30 cities, towns, and villages in five states to compare clean energy progress and identify areas of excellence and improvement. The challenge pairs the national expertise of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) with on-the-ground technical assistance from state-level programs. Each participating community receives a progress assessment using the ACEEE Local Clean Energy Scoring Tool, help to choose a clean energy project to pursue, and local and national technical assistance. Cities in each state are a part of a state-level peer cohort that shortens the learning curve for all. The project is a joint effort of Sustainable CT, Green Cities California, Sustainable Maryland, Minnesota GreenStep Cities, Sustainable Jersey, and the Sustainable States Network. An introductory webinar describes the project and is available here.
UTILITY ENERGY REGISTRY PROJECT
In 2015, the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) partnered with Great Plains Institute, Sustainable Maryland, and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to support the creation of an online platform that provides public access to community-scale utility energy data. This data is essential for both local and state-level clean energy and climate planning. The web-based platform developed through the project can enable the use of community-level data nationally by municipalities and other interested parties. The Utility Energy Registry can be found at https://utilityregistry.org. This project was made possible through a grant from the US Department of Energy’s State Energy Program.
WORK WITH US
To find out more about how you can partner with the Sustainable States Network, please contact Lola Schoenrich at the Great Plains Institute at lschoenrich@gpisd.net.
