CitiesGoGreen - November 2008 - (Page 16)

ICMA Embraces Sustainability CitiesGoGreen talked with Randall Reid, Chair of the International City/County Management Association’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, about the ICMA’s growing involvement with sustainability issues and how he is pursuing sustainability as manager of Alachua County, Florida. Here’s what he had to say. ICMA and the Sustainability Advisory Committee ICMA does a lot of work involving issues that affect local and county governments in the United States and worldwide. They have been part of the Smart Growth Network for years, and have done a lot of the leading work with the EPA and others on the smart growth idea. It has been a long-term goal of most local governments to be sustainable—to be building good places for people to live in and to be good environmental stewards. That, combined with issues of climate change, changing economies, and the rising cost of energy, made it apparent that sustainability ought to be a major emphasis of our organization. At the ICMA national conference in October 2007, the members passed the resolution recommended by our subcommittee. It targeted ICMA members to be aware that sustainability in its broad context is the issue of our age. That’s how it’s phrased in all of our professional materials: “the issue of our age.” The Sustainability Advisory Committee is working to make sure the members of our association are aware of the concept of sustainability and of our role in promoting it within local government. We 16 who are particularly inclined to innovation are members of that organization as well. As managers we have a lot of roles, and we want to make sure our members are aware they have an obligation and a responsibility to educate people on sustainability. We are trying to convey that to the public and to our elected officials, to organize and convene forms and seminars on various techniques for building more sustainable communities, to foster leadership from a community and organizational standpoint. And finally, we are all As managers we have a lot of roles, and we students; we need to keep learntechnologies. The events want to make sure our members are aware ing these shaping climate change that are they have an obligation and a responsibility are something that every manager must be aware of and must be sento educate people on sustainability. sitive to, so we’ve been doing a lot of educational programs. our members being dedicated to implementing sustainability within our communities, and that is what the resolution calls for as well. We put out an ICMA Management Perspective article (pdf ) to our members, and we are also encouraging new technologies. Our members tend to be innovators. The Alliance for Innovation is our sister organization, and many of our members are currently doing that through teleconferences and through meetings at both annual and state conferences. Our annual conference is international, typically held in the United States but with members from multiple countries in attendance. There are also state meetings—for example, Florida has the Florida City County Management Association, the FCCMA—and each of the state associations is working towards developing programs related to sustainability. We see What is sustainability? One of the ways we explain sustainability is with a three-circle Venn diagram: the economy, the environment, and social equity or fairness (see below). The area in the center is where we need to try to make our decisions. In the center are the things that are sustainable for the community, that have a synergy that helps create a longNovember 2008 http://icma.org http://smartgrowth.org http://smartgrowth.org http://icma.org/upload/bc/attach/%7BE92CF435-1512-47F3-A14B-26DEA69F6E1D%7D08-078%20Mgmt%20Prsptv%20Sustainability%20v04.pdf http://icma.org/upload/bc/attach/%7BE92CF435-1512-47F3-A14B-26DEA69F6E1D%7D08-078%20Mgmt%20Prsptv%20Sustainability%20v04.pdf http://www.transformgov.org http://citiesgogreen.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CitiesGoGreen - November 2008

CitiesGoGreen - November 2008 Contents In Motion Disaster Housing for $200: The Hexayurt Coming Soon: A Code-Ready Green Building Standard from ASHRAE ICMA Embraces Sustainability Fort Collins, Colorado Interview: ClimateWise, Business Smart 12-for-1 Parking: Bike Corrals Fresno County More Biking and Walking for Better Communities

CitiesGoGreen - November 2008

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