The Urban Sustainability Directors Network has a vision: "an equitable, resilient, and sustainable future for all."
According to the Kresge Foundation, the USDN is a "peer-to-peer network." The non-profit organization collaborates with local governments that face similar sustainability challenges. With the help of field experts, all parties partner to find innovative solutions.
To make its vision a reality, the USDN focuses on collaboration and education for local government environmental sustainability department officials. It also offers tools for funding and networking.
While the federal government is hit with cuts and freezes on several sustainability efforts, the USDN wants to encourage local action.
The USDN also hosts training programs, like the Energy Utility Regulation Mini-Series. The training series is aimed at educating local governments on how to equitably implement sustainability regulations via communication with local utility companies.
Education does not end in the classroom, however. Once educated, participating local governments take their new understanding and implement change.
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The local angle the USDN takes when approaching sustainability education ensures that communities and community members directly reap the benefits of equitable sustainability. According to the USDN 2023 Annual Report, the network served more than 110 million residents in 2023.
The 2021 USDN Impact Evaluation Report notes that, after learning from and with USDN, equitable sustainability has become a social norm in Fort Collins, Colorado. In Knoxville, Tennessee, members thank USDN for the local government's new ability to not only propose change, but to put it to work.
Local sustainability, according to the Climate Sustainability Directory, not only protects the environment but also boosts economies and encourages social equity and community engagement. It creates jobs, saves consumers money on energy, and brings people together.
Budget cuts in the federal government do not have to be the end-all and be-all of government-run sustainability programs. Thanks to USDN, communities can continue to grow equitably and sustainably, benefiting the people.
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"By equipping [local governments] with the knowledge, resources, and partnerships they need to succeed, USDN helps advance change locally in member communities as well as across the field of practice," the USDN website says.
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