Paving the Way for Sustainability in Smaller Towns

In our work we frequently encounter small and mid-sized cities that want to implement sustainability initiatives or address environmental issues in their public property portfolios. However, its larger cities that have the budgets, the staff and resources, and the expertise that allow them to address environmental issues, take on sustainability planning, and otherwise implement sustainability initiatives. But it can be tough for small-town America, despite their equivalent desire to improve their communities and promote green and sustainable solutions. In fact, small towns already struggle to manage their affairs, often finding themselves even further at a disadvantage when it comes to sustainability. A 2010 study by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) found that the smaller cities and municipalities (with populations with less than 5,000 people) were far less likely to adopt sustainability measures when compared to larger cities of 100,000 or more.

Yet, small and mid-sized cities will be at the core of any attempt to create more sustainable, environmentally sound municipalities across the country, because a majority of Americans live in such communities. According to the 2020 Census, about 63% of Americans (203 million people) live in “incorporated places,” and 76% of those had populations of fewer than 5,000 people, with 42% having fewer than 500. The result is that the majority of Americans live in small-town America, and yet small towns often lack the capacity and resources to undertake initiatives that would make their communities more livable.

Progress is being made, though, and some smaller communities are overcoming these obstacles, working with what they have to implement sustainability and environmental initiatives. This says a lot about mayors and city officials who sometimes singlehandedly manage the day-to-day business of their administration while finding the time and resources to take on environmental risks, improve their tax base, drive economic development, and create more livable, citizen-responsive communities.

To this point, sustainability and environmental initiatives don’t have to be revolutionary, they only have to lay down a plan, foster more informed decisions, and facilitate a little more efficiency with public resources, i.e. taking smaller, incremental steps can have, over time, a major impact.

Setting the Stage for Sustainable Progress – Hanover, NH

Hanover, New Hampshire is a good example of a small town getting motivated about sustainability and putting ideas into action. Located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, Hanover is home to Dartmouth College but has remained a small rural community of just over 11,000 residents.

Inspired by the principles of ecological stewardship and a commitment to its citizens and future generations, Hanover has taken proactive steps to ensure a greener, more resilient future. Central to this effort is the Hanover Sustainability Master Plan, an innovative framework that outlines the city’s goals and strategies for sustainable development. Drawing inspiration from the successful model implemented by the City of Kirkland, Washington, Hanover tailored its own plan to address the unique needs and aspirations of its community.

The Hanover Sustainability Master Plan, implemented in 2019, was the culmination of extensive research, community engagement, and collaboration between various stakeholders. The plan builds upon Hanover’s impressive sustainability efforts and sets a clear roadmap for the future. It envisions a thriving community that embraces the key objectives and strategies of developing climate action and resilience, encouraging resource conservation and waste reduction, promoting sustainable mobility and transportation, creating economic vitality and green jobs, and fostering social equity and community engagement.

However, the Hanover Master Plan is distinctive in that it was achieved with a minimal team of town staff and with the oversight of an advisory committee. The process further incorporated extensive public consultation and engagement and worked to create a more equitable and inclusive community by engaging residents, businesses, and organizations in shaping its sustainable vision and ensuring that everyone had a voice in the decision-making process.

The Hanover Master Plan incorporates regular monitoring and evaluation processes that are tracked and enable leadership to monitor metrics and adjust as necessary. In this way, Hanover’s Master Plan acknowledges that sustainability is an ongoing journey for cities and that a good plan is one that is committed to continuous improvement over time.

Hanover’s initiative has already borne fruit too, with notable achievements in renewable energy adoption, waste reduction, and community engagement. The town has witnessed increased solar installations, the expansion of recycling programs, and the successful integration of sustainable practices in various sectors. Their journey toward sustainability serves as a testament to the power of focus and to the fact that, while a small town may have limited resources, through collective action and the focused effort of a few individuals, local governments can indeed tackle sustainability initiatives.

Engagement that Works – Kirkland, Washington

Kirkland, Washington is a city in King County, Washington (a suburb of Seattle) with a population of ~92,000 residents. While not the smallest of locales, Kirkland has emerged as a shining example of how smaller cities can still make a big impact through well planned and executed sustainability initiatives.

In 2020, Kirkland adopted a Sustainability Master Plan that reflects its comprehensive and multifaceted approach to sustainability. The plan encompasses eight focus areas: energy supply and emissions, buildings and infrastructure, land use and transportation, natural environment and ecosystems, sustainable material management, sustainable governance, sustainable business and healthy community, and includes strong community engagement practices. It identifies how Kirkland will implement and measure sustainability strategies and defines actions for achieving a more livable and sustainable community.

It is a commitment to creating a sustainable future, but, more importantly, it integrates sustainable decision-making into the Kirkland’s processes. To do this, the plan introduced a new decision-making matrix which is a weighted decision-making tool that helps officials make more informed decisions on projects, programs, and policies and institutionalize sustainability throughout the organization.

It is noteworthy that Kirkland’s Plan is a product of over two years of extensive community engagement with residents, businesses, and community organizations and whose participation in the resulting programs and initiatives were actively encourage. In fact, the plan includes a section detailing how community members can help make Kirkland more sustainable, a recognition that widespread participation will be needed to achieve a community’s sustainability and environmental objectives..

By fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration on sustainability, Kirkland’s Plan holds tremendous significance for smaller towns looking to embark on their own sustainability and environmental journeys. It shows that if smaller jurisdictions can garner citizen support, it has a multiplier effect and can amplify limited financial or human resources. After all, creating and implementing a sustainability plan can be challenging and requires time, research, and analysis, and political commitment as you navigate priority choices and solve problems. Smaller jurisdictions have to do all of this with limited resources, so leveraging community engagement and support can help get the job done.

Kirkland has achieved it too, publishing their plan, creating a sustainability dashboard/website, and showcasing their tangible results and achievements, all with limited resources. Its success is a testament to the power of a core team of local leaders that leveraged community engagement and through a focused, holistic, and transparent effort implemented a sustainability plan in their community.

Paving the Way for Smaller Towns

These examples demonstrate that sustainability can be successfully initiatives can be carried out in smaller jurisdictions where there is often less capacity and fewer resources to create and implement such plans. In fact, cities of all sizes can avoid the old approach of ad hoc policy responses and one-off development solutions and adopt a comprehensive strategy toward sustainability. Smaller jurisdictions can do this by:

• Setting simple, achievable goals – aspirational goals are important, but sustainability initiatives are grounded in incremental steps that can be taken now, in the short term with the available resources. After all, every journey begins with a single step.

 

• Seek help – collaboration, input, and guidance from stakeholders and knowledgeable professionals can go a long way in jumpstarting the initiative and making it successful, not to mention support its acceptance and adoption as a new way of doing city business.

 

• Stand on the shoulders of others – sustainability initiatives don’t need to be created from scratch, there are successful models and experiences that can be leaned upon to accelerate the process and improve its implementation. The cases above are just a few of the good examples.

 

• Appoint good people – as the cases show, you don’t need a team of 20 to undertake a sustainability initiative. You need a small team of focused, entrepreneurial individuals who can champion the effort and work under political leadership to take action and achieve milestones.

 

• It’s just a plan – sustainable solutions can come in many forms, so any sustainability plan is just a blueprint for where a community hopes to go and what it intends to prioritize. Inevitably, however, plans need to change to allow cities to capitalize on new opportunities or new circumstances, redefining what success means for their community.

 

• It’s a journey – sustainability initiatives aren’t complete with the adoption of a plan and some measurement of performance at year one or two. Achievements should certainly be recognized, but initiatives are really about marking a change in mindset toward the community and laying out the principles that will guide officials on a new long term roadmap for governance.

 

• Sustainability is good business – sustainability plans are not just about being green or implementing climate adaptation measures, they are plans for social progress and economic development, and they present opportunities to be realized rather than simply tasks to overcome.

SaSAA supports cities of all sizes in their sustainability journeys and can provide assistance and expert guidance in all your sustainability and environmental initiatives.  Contact us for more information at info@smartandsustainableaa.org