The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and Siemens Corporation have named the City of Santa Monica a finalist for the 2012 Sustainable Community Award in the medium-size city category, 50,000-500,000 residents.
Now in its fifth year, the awards program honors communities dedicated to improving their overall sustainability through environmental, economic and social solutions.
“Santa Monica is a leader in sustainable strategic planning and has taken a well-rounded approach to ensure that the community’s sustainability goals are met,” said Mayor Richard Bloom. “It’s an honor to have our efforts recognized by being named a finalist for the 2012 Sustainable Community Award.”
Santa Monica’s award application focused on Santa Monica’s adoption of a sustainability- and transit-oriented general plan – the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) – and the city’s use of the Sustainable City Report Card to biennially measure success in eight key goal areas.
The winner in each category will be announced on April 17, 2012 at the BCLC’s 2012 National Conference – Forecast: Corporate Citizenship and America’s Future, in Atlanta, GA. Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis will accept the award on behalf of the city.
This year, 135 communities applied for the award. The community applications were then scored by a panel of the country’s top sustainability experts including:
• Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com
• Amy Chan, City of San Jose, winner of the 2011 Siemens Sustainable Community Award Large Size Community category
• Michael Schmitz, Executive Director, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives USA (ICLEI USA)
• Tom Wright, Executive Director, Regional Plan Association (RPA)
• Dan Nadenicek, Dean, University of Georgia College of Environment and Design
Full information about the Siemens Sustainable Community Awards is available at http://sustainablecommunity.uschamber.com.
