The nominees for the Community Sustainability Award, one of four categories of program excellence awards in ICMA's Annual Awards Program, represent programs or innovations developed by local governments that balance a community’s social, economic, environmental, and cultural needs. The 2010 nominees came from a wide variety of local governments and addressed a number of sustainability issues. Listed below are some of the highlights and common themes of the nominees in this category. Follow the links to read more about these local government programs in their award nomination submissions.
The award winners in the Community Sustainability category were selected by a 17-member awards evaluation panel. Bayside, Wisconsin’s program, Measuring Green, won the award for communities with populations of less than 10,000. Measuring Green sought to reduce the village’s overall carbon footprint, enhance energy efficiency, promote environmental stewardship in the community, and provide leadership in enhancing the village’s environmental concern. In the category for jurisdictions with populations between 10,000 and 49,999, Hickory, North Carolina took the prize for its program to facilitate reinvestment in vacant buildings through a vacant building inventory tool, which fostered improved customer service to developers and citizens. Finally, for populations of 50,000 or greater, Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands won the award with a new development that incorporated solar energy and sustainable water systems into daily life.
In addition to these award winners, the nominees in the Community Sustainability category also showed leadership in the field. A number of nominees were credited with creating programs that provided residents with recreational activity areas. In Casselberry, Florida local government leaders developed a kayak and canoe waterway trail restricting boat ramp use to passive and non-motorized boats only. Munster, Indiana converted an old landfill into a park, which not only provided a recreational space, but also resulted in increased development in the area. To promote water conservation knowledge, local government officials in Peoria, Arizona created a garden using low water use landscaping. Sparks, Nevada created a sports complex that included playing fields and walking trails.
Additionally, many local governments created and implemented recycling programs in their jurisdictions. Highland Park, Illinois created a program to offer low, flat-rate recycling to all businesses and multi-family residences to give citizens an economic incentive to participate in recycling. Mesa, Arizona and Wake County, North Carolina have both developed recycling programs to partner recycling with local schools.
Due to a rising number of vacant or abandoned properties and rising costs of living, local governments have created new development and redevelopment programs. Manassas, Virginia and Sandy Springs, Georgia, for example, created programs to clean vacant properties to prevent future crime. Local government leaders in Richardson, Texas are credited with developing a program that gives homeowners economic incentives to reinvest in their own properties instead of selling and/or moving to a new jurisdiction. Officials in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina sought to provide opportunities for private developers to produce housing that is affordable for moderate-income households, especially for essential workers such as teachers, nurses, police officers, and fire fighters. Other similar nominated programs include those from Polk County, Florida, Arlington, Texas, and Austin, Texas.
Many of jurisdictions were nominated based on their use of technology or technological innovation. Programs varied from broadband networks in Ponca City, Oklahoma to a technology-enabled time-sharing currency that helps citizens do work for each other without money in Lathrup Village, Michigan. Moreover, local government leaders in Aurora, Colorado created a program they hoped would serve as an educational resource for the public about the benefits of an energy campus, while simultaneously becoming a leader in research and development for alternative energy.
Finally, a substantial number of nominees developed action plans for to incorporate sustainable practices into long-term community goals, including Evanston, Illinois, Whitehorse, Melbourne, Australia, Matanuska Susitna, Arkansas, Alachua County, Florida, San Jose, California, Sedgwick County, Kansas, and Bannockburn, Illinois. Germantown, Tennessee and Las Cruces, New Mexico also received nominations for their programs which quantified and encouraged sustainable practices in their jurisdictions.
To find more information about program award nominees, please visit the Knowledge Network’s “Documents” page and select “Award” as the document type.