To help address the impacts of cities on climate change and the impact of climate change on cities, we are developing the world’s most comprehensive and inclusive resources and awards program around resiliency and sustainability to accelerate the movement of cities and communities toward this goal. With your help, this prestigious annual award will be the richest and most comprehensive awards program in the world for resilient and sustainable cities.
In addition, the awards program will help drive the most comprehensive information portal in the world to promote sustainable cities, while helping them avoid roadblocks and pitfalls that waste time and scarce resources. Although there are some impressive award programs and information portals for sustainability, none has the breadth and depth that we envision to expedite the process and maximize the impact of the sustainable city movement.
This program will attract hundreds of leaders and stakeholders from around the world every year to share resources, best practices and recognize excellence. The event will include seminars, workshops, tours, and a trade show to add value to the event and momentum to the sustainable city movement.
Global media coverage will help educate stakeholders around the world about the economic benefits associated with efficiency and resiliency. This showcase will motivate and empower additional cities to improve their visioning and planning for maximum impact.
“It’s in the cities that the battle to tackle climate change will be won or lost,” said former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.
In collaboration with the host and the sponsors we will refine a program that will generate massive amounts of news around the world. We will recruit a high-profile advisory committee and judges, announce the call for entries, and announce the winners. The web portal and the award will include all categories of sustainable and resiliency practices, including:
- Urban planning
- Renewable energy
- Green building
- Commercial and residential energy efficiency
- Green vehicles and fleets
- Transportation alternatives
- Urban forestry
- Rooftop gardens
- Waste reduction and recycling
- Water conservation, collection and recycling
- Disaster prevention, planning and resilience
- Purchasing programs
- Investment strategies and options
- Public education, empowerment and motivation programs
- Encourage multiple partnerships to realize efficiencies, along with resource and best-practice sharing among communities.
- Public policy
- Taxation
Promoting Sustainable Cities
The Greener Cities program will help communities develop better and more comprehensive plans faster because it will help engage all segments of a community and it will encourage the consideration of multiple strategies. While it will promote sustainable living and efficient uses of limited public resources, it also will help many communities plan for eventual changes caused by climate change.
Although the intent of this program is to improve the community visioning and planning process, it also will positively impact the quality of life in these communities. Those impacts will include improved communication across entire communities and better cooperation among stakeholder groups.
This program also provides the opportunity to move quickly in the fight to minimize the impact of human activity on the critical environment that sustains all forms of life. Instead of a process involving large institutions and organizations, this effort will motivate and empower entire city/county/provincial governments and millions of their citizens quickly. In summary, this program will:
- Empower hundreds, even thousands, of local communities and millions of citizens to become active in developing and implementing solutions to climate change and resiliency.
- Increase the capacities of local leaders to engage citizens to collaboratively develop solutions to climate change.
- Create both online and personal networks of community leaders and citizens who can share experiences, ideas, and resources in their pursuit of local and regional solutions.
- Promote a new grassroots perspective about sustainability and climate change, which is necessary to promote vital behavioral changes and new policies on all levels.
- Maintain a healthy planet that can sustain life for future generations.
- Further position the host and our founding members as leaders in sustainability.
- Generate valuable global media coverage.
- Generate new revenue streams for the host city and the founding members.
Greener Cities International. Copyright 2008, Earth Tones, Inc. and Crossbow Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.
