Sustainable Communities Online

Summary

SCO is a collaborative organization dedicated to smart growth planning and the promotion of sustainability. Through community engagement and marketing initiatives, SCO strives to get communities to think more critically about their health and future.

Organization Description

Sustainable Communities Online aims to assist communities - through tools, research, and engagement programs - in creating and maintaining economic and environmental health, promoting social equity, and fostering broad-based citizen participation in planning and implementation. These initiatives are based on the belief that communities that connect citizens and institutions to develop sustainability principles and a collective vision for the future and that apply an integrative approach to environmental, economic, and social goals are generally likely to be more successful.

 

Job creation, energy use, housing, transportation, education and health are considered complementary parts of the whole. Since all issues are interconnected they must be addressed as a system. The process includes:

 

  • Broad and diverse involvement of citizens
  • The creation of a collective vision for the future
  • The development of principles of sustainability
  • An inventory of existing assets and resources and additional assets that would benefit the community
  • Clear, measurable goals
  • The development of community indicators to evaluate progress
  • Open and transparent communication
  • Early, visible results
  • Celebration of success

 

Sustainability is a process of continuous improvement so communities constantly evolve and make changes to accomplish their goals. The SCO website provides initiatives and resources to help users learn about ways to make their communities healthier, safer, greener, more liveable, and more prosperous.

Submitted By: svannostrand
Last Updated: March 31, 2012, 12:31 pm

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