Sharing local innovations helps communities succeed without “reinventing the wheel.” The fiscal crisis beginning in 2008 inspired many local governments to develop innovative strategies, many of which can be applied in international settings. Here are four award-winning innovations in climate change and sustainability.

Palo Alto, California (population 58,200). In 2006, the mayor of Palo Alto established the Green Ribbon Task Force on Climate Protection, whose report to the city council at the end of the year provided recommendations on various aspects of the community, including energy, transportation, the built environment, and citizen education. The council put global climate change on its list of the top four priorities, and a sustainability team of four existing staff members completed a climate protection plan, which the council approved.

The plan includes a detailed assessment of current greenhouse gas emissions from city operations, Palo Alto residents, and nonresidents who work in or visit Palo Alto; an expanded methodology for incorporating the environmental impact of transportation, energy use, solid waste, and both “upstream” and “downstream” emissions into municipal and community assessments; 120 recommendations for curtailing emissions; specific reduction targets that would bring the city and community above and beyond compliance with California’s climate change legislation; and detailed cost-benefit assessments of many of those recommendations to allow the council and the public to assess their budgetary and carbon-cutting impacts.

The community outreach portion of the plan created the Community Environmental Action Partnership, which has representatives from the faith community, nonprofits, schools, businesses, government, and neighborhoods. The partnership determines how its members will implement emission reductions programs to reach the reduction targets set out in the plan.

Berkeley, California (population 101,400). In November 2006, Berkeley voters issued a call to action on greenhouse gas emissions by overwhelmingly endorsing a ballot initiative that set the goal of reducing the entire community’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050. Although the measure is technically advisory, the city of Berkeley is acting on it as if it is binding, and the steps it is taking illustrate how widespread community and local government involvement can support the development of a Climate Action Plan.

The city hired a full-time “climate action coordinator,” formed a cross-departmental project team to help identify and analyze potential and existing emissions reduction strategies, organized a six-month community engagement and input process, and conducted significant qualitative and quantitative research.

Committed to producing and implementing a plan that reflects community diversity, expertise, ideas, and concerns, Berkeley is partnering with many community groups to host and actively participate in a series of events, focus groups, and workshops to ensure community participation in the plan’s development and implementation. The city also launched a “community climate action forum” (BerkeleyClimateAction.org), an online resource for posting draft reports for public review, conducting public surveys, and further engaging and educating community members on the issue of climate change.

Pinellas County, Florida (population 917,400). Guided by the results of a community visioning process and surveys of citizens, Pinellas County developed a comprehensive approach to advancing sustainability. The approach begins with a staff advisory team that draws on groups from within each department and on technical committees organized by themes, such as sustainable economy and business, to make recommendations, and with citizen focus groups to provide guidance.

All the input that is received then flows through the county’s Bushnell Center for Urban Sustainability, a partnership between the county and University of Florida’s Cooperative Extension Service, which identifies and coordinates organization-wide sustainability programs and initiatives, such as energy independence and security, a green fleet program, and sustainable purchasing.

The center seeks to be a catalyst for creative problem solving and organizational management and innovation, as well as a conduit for strategic partnerships with external stakeholders (e.g., the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida) and the University of Florida and other academic institutions. In its centralized coordination and leadership role, the Bushnell Center has been instrumental in assisting the county’s strategic focus area teams to integrate their efforts under an overall sustainability umbrella. If several teams emerge with conflicting strategic goals or objectives, for instance, the Bushnell Center will facilitate a solution that creates an opportunity out of a potential conflict.

In addition, the center has piloted the use of a net benefit analysis methodology for comparing the sustainability of alternative purchasing scenarios for products and services that the county acquires. In the long run, the Bushnell Center will work with the county to institutionalize and enhance this type of analysis in the decision-making process for county infrastructure.

Santa Rosa, California (population 154,200). In August 2005 the Santa Rosa city council passed a resolution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its municipal operations to 20% below 2000 levels by the year 2010. The city has since initiated many programs to save money, reduce greenhouse gasses, and generate clean, renewable energy.

Major efforts include retrofitting all city buildings with high-efficiency lighting and appliances and cool roofs; buying hybrid and alternatively fueled vehicles; pursuing long-standing and aggressive water conservation measures for residential, commercial, municipal, and industrial users; implementing the Santa Rosa Build It Green (SR BIG) program, installing five large solar energy (photovoltaic) arrays; adopting an “Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy,” and injecting 11 million gallons of recycled water into the Geysers Steam fields. The Geysers project produces more than 85 megawatts of clean green energy each year.