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Examples of Sustainable Community Initiatives
Sustainable community initiatives have emerged in neighborhoods, cities, counties, metropolitan planning districts, and watershed districts at different scales pertaining to community needs. These initiatives are driven by various actor groups that have different methods of effectively planning out ways to create sustainable communities. Most often they are implemented by governments and non-profit organizations, but they also involve community members, academics, and create partnerships and coalitions.

Nonprofit organizations help to cultivate local talents and skills, empowering people to become more powerful and more involved in their own communities. Many also offer plans and guidance on improving the sustainability of various practices, such as land use and community design, transportation, energy efficiency, waste reduction, and climate friendly purchasing.

Some government groups will create partnerships where departments will work together using grants to provide resources to communities like clean air and water, community planning, economic development, equity and environmental justice, as well as housing and transportation choices.

Social movements have gathered momentum, spreading sustainable community ideas around the world, not only through example, but also by offering classes and training on sustainable living, permaculture, and local economics.

City government initiatives
Cities have become a great place to initiate sustainable communities. Cities are defined jurisdictional units that have small divisions of government within them. These divisions of government have the authority to affect environmental and ecological results. Cities are especially important in initiating sustainable communities because they have local authorities that “have political power and credibility to take initiatives to access and deploy resources in ways reflecting local conditions that allows them the capacity to manage and lead urban development for the good of the environment.” It is also necessary to implement sustainable communities in countries that are industrialized because cities are where most environmental and social problems dwell.

When looking at and comparing sustainable cities certain indicators may be used:

•	Does the city have any smart growth programs that are designed to “help manage growth and avoid and eliminate urban sprawl” and minimize impacts on physical environment?

•	Does the city have zoning plans that demonstrate goals for the city in a way that create environmentally-sensitive areas and maintain them?

•	Does the city follow any legal policies that allow advocates and activists to create programs that would help the city become sustainable?

•	How involved in the environmental and social justice movement are programs within the city?

•	Is the transportation system of the city set up to encourage public transportation and not private to reduce pollution?

•	Are there pollution remediation programs in the city?

•	How politically involved are citizens where their voices are equally heard in order to create social justice and a just community?

The 34 elements inside “Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously" can also be used to determine whether a city is considered sustainable or not.

City Examples
A city initiating sustainable communities is San Francisco. The city uses the Precautionary Principal as a framework to develop laws for a healthier and more just San Francisco. This principal gives more power to community members by allowing them stand up against corporations in their neighborhoods and leaves the burden of proof to corporations instead of community members. Companies must prove their are harmless to the community instead of the community having to prove they have been harmed by company endeavors. This allows for a sustainable community as environmental justice and social justice are created.

One city trying to create a sustainable community through political involvement has dedicated studies to discovering why citizens are or are not politically active. Studies from Quebec showed that citizens’ internal and external efficacy is a big part in determining participation in politics. When citizens lack the internal belief that one can make change in government and the external belief that the government will make changes according to citizen concerns political participation dwindles as citizens believe no change will occur. When becoming politically active, a citizen takes into account the history of the city government, the government’s actions, and governement interactions with other citizens.

After noting the city’s sustainability level it is important to note what kinds of communities are targeted and how they are affected through these programs and what kinds of strategies are being used to try to create and transform sustainable communities.