Objectives                                2008-2009 Focus

The Partnership for a Green City (the Partnership Project) began when representatives from the three major Louisville public entities came together because of shared common interests and concerns—a vision of a greener, more sustainable Louisville. The collaborative dialogue and explorative process among these representatives was named the Green City Partnership. The Partnership Project itself was the process through which these representatives began building the foundation for their shared vision—that the health and education of our children and how we reduce waste, use energy, manage our natural resources, and build green infrastructures are the keys to our success in a city.

As the Project evolved, the linkages among education, the greening of the Metro area, and quality-of-life issues became viewed as opportunities. The opportunities encompass treating the environment as a unifying theme to change current practices for better results, including student test scores and improving the budgets and performance accountability of the three partner organizations. The Project defined three objectives important for Louisville:

• Environmental Education – develop strategies to further holistic environmental education in all three organizations.
• Public Health – conduct research to assess the correlation between environmental exposures and health impacts that may affect student cognitive learning abilities or behavior.
• Environmental Management – identify strategies for JCPS, U of L, and Metro Government to create sustainable, green public infrastructures.

In 2005, the Partnership, and the three agencies adopted a Statement of Environmental Principles. Students at the Brown School adapted the principles with student language. These will be used to guide policy, budget and program decisions being made by the Partners to incorporate sustainable ideas. Teams have been created to address the issues surrounding most of the principles and teams are added as additional priorities become evident.

The focus of the Partnership has remained in place with expansion to include climate change as a new team in 2007. Participants have a new focus for 2008-2009 which can be accessed by the link at the top of the page. Climate Change is an overarching focus of the Partnership with six issues that fit under the climate change umbrella as well as continuing to work on the initial objectives from 2004.

The Teams

Partnership committees were formed from the original objectives. Accomplishments of the committees are the result of almost 200 people from the three entities and the community working diligently to toward the goal of a more sustainable Louisville.

• Climate Change creating a local climate action plan to meet the greenhouse gas emission reductions of the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. There are six working groups under this team working on different aspects of the draft plan.
• Communications designs consistent internal and external communication messages.
• Energy Use pursues proven strategies to reduce energy use.
• Environmental Education focuses on creating coherent environmental education programs for all Partners and an environmental curriculum for schools.
• Environmental Health creates a research agenda to improve public health in all three entities.
• Green Fleets pursues strategies to increase fuel efficiency, right-size vehicles and promote car pooling and alternative transportation.
• Green Issues Orientation develops a green issues orientation and professional development programs including an introductory video.
• Green Purchasing seeks out joint "green" purchasing policies, practices and opportunities among the Partners.
• Interagency Coordinating Committee links the Partners with top leadership and facilitate coordination with other organizational objectives.
• Steering Committee formed as a cross-functioning team of partner representatives and the Director to oversee the project and assist the various committees in their planning. This committee was also charged with securing funds for recommended initiatives.
• Waste Management enhances waste management systems including increasing recycling and improving waste disposal efficiencies at the three institutions through potential cooperative efforts. The committee is seeking ways to combine efforts that will produce operational savings