2Sustain

Last month, The Home Depot Foundation announced the launch of the Sustainable Cities Institute, a program designed to provide tools and resources to city leaders so that they can integrate sustainability principles into policies and practices.

Essentially, it’s a two-part initiative.

The first part involves a website, www.sustainablecitiesinstitute.org, which features content from some of the nation’s top sustainability experts. This website is a resource for information about municipal topics, such as economic development, water, materials management, land use, and transportation. Described as a “dynamic online toolkit,” the website also includes information about ordinances, regulations, communications materials, checklists, and case studies. ( There’s even a page that can help you finetune your message “If you have just 30 seconds with your mayor or city leader.”)

The second part of the initiative is called The  City Program, and it’s set to launch in early 2010. Beginning with two pilot cities, a panel of sustainable development experts will serve as a resource to cities in developing and implementing sustainable community development plans. The Institute’s members will have access to experts with the expertise and experience in addressing issues as varied and interconnected as urban sprawl, inner-city and brownfield redevelopment, economic development and growth, ecosystem management, agriculture, hydrology, biodiversity, green buildings, energy conservation, watershed management, and pollution prevention. where two pilot cities will be selected for the program.

It’s great to see The Home Depot get behind a comprehensive, integrated program to help develop sustainable communities.  We need more proactive solutions like this that will help create healthier, “greener,” cities.