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Sustainable Pennsylvania

Sustainable Pennsylvania

Municipal Certification Project

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Home › Action Resources › Strategic Engagement and Resilience › Sustainability Program

FOCUS AREAS

Related Criteria

SER5 EcoDistricts: The municipality participates in an EcoDistrict process for one or all of its neighborhoods.
A. The municipality has or is actively convening or participating in the convening of community partners exploring the potential of creating an ecodistrict within the community.
B. There is an active ecodistrict process in the municipality with a designated backbone organization planning with community/district level partners to create an ecodistrict plan for the community (or a district within it).

C. The municipality has created or supported the creation of an ecodistrict plan that includes implementable steps for at least the next 2 years has been created.

D. Significant steps of the ecodistrict plan have been implemented and results are reported to the public.
 

Ecodistricts

An ecodistrict refers to an urban planning approach aimed to combine objectives for sustainable development and social equity while reducing the ecological footprint of a neighborhood. Neighborhoods provide a scale at which a community can achieve significant improvements in these areas by examining the local and regional systems that influence a community’s resilience, access to opportunity, environmental conditions, food access, and other quality of life factors. EcoDistricts Protocol, developed by the EcoDistricts organization, manifests in a variety of forms based on capacity, needs, and goals of a community.

How to Explore Bringing Ecodistrict Efforts to Your Community

  1. Learn About the Framework – The EcoDistricts Protocol offers structure and guidance for communities who want to create actionable plans to tackle the issues that are important to local community stakeholders. Understanding the pieces of this framework will prepare you to have conversations with other community members about why an Ecodistrict might be a good fit for your municipality.
  2. Meet With Your Potential Partners (Organizations, Business Owners, Local Government Officials) – Ecodistrict work cannot be done alone by one party and requires the collaborative effort of many local stakeholders working in concert toward a shared vision. Meet with other government officials and leaders at local organizations and businesses to explain the ecodistrict process and how you think it may benefit your community. Understand what your fellow community members’ pressing challenges, needs, and opportunities are so that you can strategize on shared priorities to focus on as you move forward in ecodistrict planning.
  3. Expand the Effort – Community buy-in to the ecodistrict process involves a great deal of outreach and engagement to ensure that a diverse range of feedback and perspectives is included in the effort. This can take many forms, from one-on-one conversations with local stakeholders over coffee or lunch to large-scale community meetings (and everything in between). While meeting with residents and other stakeholders, focus on the principles of mutual education and understanding; while it is important to educate others about what an ecodistrict plan could entail and how it might serve your community, it is equally important to understand the feedback, concerns, and ideas of the many local stakeholders who stand to be impacted by such work.

Resources


Financial Assistance/Incentives
Community Conservation Partnership Program - PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources DCNR offers grants for sustainability planning and related efforts Visit resource website

Programs & Tools
The EcoDistricts Protocol
EcoDistricts Learn more about the framework for EcoDistricts planning, including information on the 3 imperatives, 6 priorities, and 3 cyclical implementation phases that build up an EcoDistricts plan. Visit resource website
EcoDistricts Registry
EcoDistricts Explore various registered and certified EcoDistricts across the country for inspiration for projects, plans, and goals that address diverse community needs and aspirations. Visit resource website

Best Practices & Local Examples
A Case Study of the Millvale, Pa - Ecodistrict
EcoDistricts In Millvale Borough, a community of roughly 3,700 people just outside of the City of Pittsburgh, a coalition of local nonprofits, residents, and the government has worked collaboratively and successfully since 2012 to develop and implement an EcoDistricts plan for the community’s future. Since 2017, the Millvale Ecodistrict Collaborative has expanded its work by collaborating with two neighboring EcoDistricts communities, Etna and Sharpsburg Boroughs, to create the Triboro Ecodistrict. Visit resource website
Eco-D: An Ecodistrict in Detroit, MI
EcoDistricts A diverse multi-sector coalition of partners collaborated to create Eco-D, a backbone organization created to build on existing sustainable community development efforts in Detroit by supporting community leaders in amplifying the community’s voice and vision for its future. Visit resource website

Custom Consulting/Services
EvolveEA
EvolveEA is a multidisciplinary architecture and planning practice situated at the intersection of sustainability and the built environment. They help individuals, communities, and organizations take strategic action and look through three lenses of sustainability: People, Process, and Place. Visit resource website

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About Sustainable Pennsylvania

Sustainable Pennsylvania, a joint project of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and Sustainable Pittsburgh, is a voluntary performance recognition program designed to help municipalities set and achieve sustainability goals, save money, conserve resources, and foster a vibrant community.

Pennsylvania Municipal League

The Pennsylvania Municipal League is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in 1900 as an advocate for Pennsylvania’s 3rd class cities. Today, The League represents participating Pennsylvania cities, boroughs, townships, home rule communities and towns that all share The League’s municipal policy interests.

The mission of the Pennsylvania Municipal League is to strengthen, empower and advocate for effective local government.

Sustainable Pittsburgh

Sustainable PGH is a nonprofit committed to building the knowledge, perspective, and ability needed to create a better tomorrow for our region.

Contact us

Email info@sustainablepa.org or call Leslie Rhoads from PML at 717-236-9469 *237 or Jim Price from Sustainable Pittsburgh at 412-259-5331

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