Urban Sustainability Directors Network
Background on the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN)
Municipal sustainability leaders formed the Urban Sustainability Directors Network in April 2009 to enable us to learn from each other and accelerate achievement of ambitious city sustainability goals.
While this committed cadre of local government leaders has burgeoned, we have worked in isolation of each other, often tackling similar issues as our peers across North America without a network to share experiences and partner.
USDN GOALS
USDN members rely on the network to help us to:
- Form new and deeper relationships with other sustainability directors
- Efficiently gather new sustainability contacts, ideas and practices
- Learn from each other’s experiences
- Address together key sustainability challenges
- Contribute practices and tools to the field of urban sustainability
USDN Main Activities
Building Connectivity Among Member Sustainability Directors
- USDN Private Member Forums on the Sustainable Cities Institute (SCI) Website (Click here to access the forums.)
- Monthly USDN Idea Sharing Conference Calls
- E-news Updates
- Help Desk
- Encouragement for Regional Networks
- Learning Opportunities for Staff in Other Departments
- Pilot Mentor Program (for Core Members)
- Annual Meeting (for Core Members)
Supporting Member-driven Work Groups and Projects (for Core Members)
- Public Behavior Change Learning Group
- Municipal Employee Buy-In Learning Group
- EECBG Implementation Learning Groups
- Sustainability Performance Management
Spurring Collaborative Innovation (for Core Members)
- Innovation Opportunity Fund, which provides grants to support collaborative initiative development among member cities.
USDN Membership
USDN Core Members are North American heads of broad sustainability initiatives within cities who are responsible for cross- departmental and citywide collaboration on sustainability. Core Members pay a modest fee and commit to being active participants in the Network, including conference calls, the annual meeting (for which expenses are paid), web-based discussions, and joint projects. The Planning Committee tries to sustain a diverse core membership representing 75 cities of all sizes and all regions of North America. As members change jobs, slots open up for new Core Members.
To expand the potential for exchange, the USDN created an Associate Membership. Associate members can participate in private USDN forums on the SCI website and monthly network conference calls. They can participate in additional network activities if space permits.
If you would like more information about becoming a Core or Associate Member, please contact the USDN Coordinator, Julia Parzen at usdn@sustainablecitiesinstitute.org, or contact a member of the USDN Planning Committee (see below).
USDN Members AS OF JUNE 1, 2010
The Co-chairs of the Planning Committee for the Network are Sadhu Johnston, City of Vancouver, and Amanda Eichel, City of Seattle. The Planning Committee also includes Mandy Mahoney, Atlanta; Dorian Dale, Babylon; James Hunt, Boston; Andrew Watterson, Cleveland; John Coleman, Fayetteville; Gayle Prest, Minneapolis; and Rohit Aggarwala, New York City.
Core Members are from: Ann Arbor, Annapolis, Asheville, Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Babylon, Baltimore, Berkeley, Boston, Boulder, Burlington, Calgary, Cambridge, Charleston, Chattanooga, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dearborn, Denver, Dubuque, El Paso, Eugene, Fayetteville, Flagstaff, Fort Collins, Fort Wayne, Frederick County, Halifax, Helena, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Keene, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Madison, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Minneapolis, Montreal, New Haven, Newark, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Portland (OR), Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, St. Paul, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica, Savannah, Seattle, Toronto, Tucson, Vancouver, Victoria, Washington, D.C., Winnipeg and Winston-Salem.
Associate Members are from: Alameda County (CA), Branson, Columbia (MO), Columbus, Corvallis, Decatur, Dedham (MA), Edmonton (Alberta), Fairfield (IA), Frederick County, Garland (TX), Iowa City, Las Cruces, Northhampton (MA), Oak Park, Orlando, Park City (UT), Pitkin County (CO), Sarasota (FL) and St. Louis.
USDN members all are members of SCI and use SCI public and private forums for communication. Membership to SCI is free and we encourage you to join.
