Greenest Regional Compact workshop

Many communities are using the GRC Framework and we’ve assembled a few communities to share their experiences and help you make use of the tool. We are offering two free GRC Framework workshops this summer. Sign up for one and invite your staff and commissioners to participate. Sign up through the links below: July 18th, 10 AM – noon in Highland Park August 6th, 10 AM – noon in Grayslake

You are invited to attend a meeting of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Environment Committee to demonstrate the Greenest Region Compact (GRC) Framework in a workshop format. In this first of 2 workshops offered, the City of Highland Park, the Village of Wilmette, and the Village of Hoffman Estates will share their experience working with the GRC Framework.

The GRC Framework is a powerful tool that municipalities can use to guide their sustainability planning. It is scalable for communities that are new to sustainability planning and simply want guidance to prioritize their sustainable actions. It can also be used to create a comprehensive community sustainability plan or update an existing one.

Metropolitan Mayors Caucus staff will introduce the Greenest Region Compact; and GRCorps members will facilitate both discussion and guide practice in using the GRC Framework. Communities of all sizes and strengths are invited to come learn from peers about this powerful tool to help accelerate sustainability planning and guide actions.

Municipal staff, elected officials, and citizen commissioners are invited. Please come ready to participate in the workshop by applying the GRC Framework to your own community’s achievements and objectives for environmental sustainability. If you have already been using the GRC Framework, please come share your experiences with other workshop participants. We’d love examples of sustainability plans that have been built using the GRC Framework.

The workshop is free and open to all working in sustainability in their community. Register at a workshop convenient to you. Also offered is a workshop in Grayslake on August 6th, 10:00 AM to noon.

Background:

The Greenest Region Compact has two parts.

1. The Greenest Region Compact (GRC) is a municipal pledge to support commonly-recognized sustainability goals. It is now adopted by 119 municipalities and 3 counties through formal resolution. Adoption of the Compact does not require a commitment to specific actions.

Take action: Adopt the GRC through municipal resolution. Download the GRC and model resolution. Report your community’s successful adoption to emakra@mayorscaucus.org

2. The GRC Framework is a companion tool offering an extensive menu of sustainability objectives and strategies aligned with the consensus goals of the GRC. To create this tool, the Caucus synthesized sustainability goals from 30 sustainability plans published by municipalities in our region, and 9 regional and national plans. Municipalities often compare plans and programs produced by neighboring communities to inform their own initiatives. The GRC Framework does this for you and presents options in a clear and strategic format. The GRC Framework is designed to help communities work at their own pace on their own priorities. No specific actions nor reporting are required.

Take action: Download the GRC Framework as an interactive tool in Excel format to begin assessing your community’s current actions and guide planning for future sustainability initiatives.