In the newly published 2015 Sustainable Cities Index, Frankfurt, Germany, ranks first with its new master plan of “100% Climate Protection”. It is also noticeable that no U.S. cities in this index ends up among the Top 10 most sustainable cities. Boston, being the most sustainable in the United States, only ranks 12th. It is time to make changes, and the Knowledge Network offers the following resources to help you get on track and make progress:

• ICMA’s Citylinks program has launched the 2015 Climate Adaptation Partnership Program (CAPP), designed to address the climate and sustainability problems through joint efforts between international partner cities and a U.S. resource city.
• The Regional Climate Action Framework, published by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, is a good source for similar regional climate change cooperation.
• The white paper, Global Perspective: Local Governments Transcending Their Borders to Fight Climate Change, also actively advocates the idea that working together is the best way to effect change.
• ICMA has collected a number of resources focusing on ways, including an “adaptation checklist,” to help local communities lower greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency, utilize solar energy, and grow in smart ways.
• In September, the 2015 National Brownfields Training Conference will be held in Chicago. The topic of climate change mitigation and adaptation is part of the agenda.
• The use of solar energy is among one of the efforts to make changes on climate change, and there is an informative and inspiring Knowledge Network discussion about implementing solar power into municipal facilities.

Would you like to dig into more information related to climate change? Do you have some interesting stories in your efforts to make changes? If so, please comment and share below.

Yalan Qin

Knowledge Network Intern